Edward the Caresser: The Playboy Prince Who Became Edward VII Reviews

One of the things I found almost all fascinating is comparing the life of this Prince of Wales with that of Charles, the present Prince of Wales. Although a full century separates them, they are made from the same cloth. Both men have spent the majority of their lives in the role of Prince of Wales. Both their mothers are long livers, and they've had to go through life doing inane jobs waiting to become king. They were both married to beautiful women who were adored the world over, and both cheated on their brides. At least Charles hasn't had a stable of mistresses (unlike Bertie), however ironically, the present prince must have assumed he was still living in Victorian society when it was perfectly fine to remain married to your wife and have a mistress, also. There is also irony in that1of Bertie's favorites, Alice Keppel, was the great-grandmother of Charles' current squeeze, Camilla Parker Bowles. Charles has also gotten himself into his fair share of controversy over the years, and we are left to wonder whether he will ever reign as king. (These comparisons are mine only, and are not made by the author in this book).

In terms of the book itself, I became a little bored when Weintraub went into great detail about the Prince's Indian expedition and got tired of reading the details about what he bagged on each hunt. Weintraub also has a disturbing habit of alternating between proper names and titles when mentioning various individuals. For instance, he sometimes mentions Benjamin Disraeli and sometimes Lord Beaconsfield (they are1in the same). It gets confusing with less well-known individuals. I also think that the author does not do just to Bertie's wife, Alexandra.

All in all, Edward the Caresser is an enjoyable read. The author states that Bertie "was a walking argument for the defects of primogeniture." After reading this book,, you will wonder how the monarchy survived.

Heir to the throne must be a difficult position in the best of circumstances and despite his luxuriant lifestyle, Bertie's circumstances were not the best. His mother decided early on that her eldest son was uneducable (Weintraub argues he was dyslexic), unreliable, untrustworthy, and at least partially at fault for the early death of the Prince Consort, the husband she worshipped. As the decades passed, she refused to modify this harsh judgment, viewing him as a wayward and unruly child even after the Prince was himself a grandfather. In fact, if never an intellectual like his father (Weintraub seems to doubt the Prince ever in his life read a book cover to cover), Bertie proved himself clever, sympathetic, popular with the people, and a fairly skilled, if unofficial, diplomat. Nevertheless, the Queen would not allow him access to state papers, or hand off to him any however the almost all minor of ceremonial duties.

Barred by custom from involvement in politics, and by his mother from any meaningful preparation for his inheritance, Bertie devoted himself to the1area he could influence the almost all, society. Weintraub's biography shines in its illustration of how the Prince's active social life, essentially frivolous in many ways, nevertheless helped him discover talents and develop skills that served him in great stead as sovereign. And while never prurient, Weintraub is nevertheless comprehensive in his treatment of Bertie's many extramarital affairs, from his brief flings to his longstanding relationships with Lillie Langtry, Alice Keppel, and others (including, lest we forget, his beautiful and long-suffering wife, Princess Alix of Denmark).

Weintraub's picture of Albert Edward, in short, is a fully drawn one, and the reader can develop a fairly complete understanding of him as a man and as a Prince. I found him human, disturbing and yet sympathetic. I would endorse this biography to any student of Britain's Royal Family or historian of the Victorian era.