Royal Baccarat Scandal
Encyclopedia
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
gambling scandal of the late nineteenth century involving the future King Edward VII
Edward VII of the United Kingdom
Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...
.
Background
On 8 September 1890, Sir William Gordon-Cumming and the Prince were among the guests at a house party at Tranby CroftTranby Croft
Tranby Croft is a large country house and estate at Anlaby, near Hull in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The mansion is now a co-educational, independent day school, Hull Collegiate School.Tranby Croft is a Grade II listed building....
, the country house of shipbuilder Sir Arthur Wilson
Arthur Wilson (shipping)
Arthur Wilson was a prominent English ship-owner who is best known for playing host to his friend Albert Edward, Prince of Wales at his home Tranby Croft, the scene of the Royal Baccarat Scandal.- Life :...
. That evening the guests played baccarat
Baccarat
Baccarat is a card game, played at casinos and by gamblers. It is believed to have been introduced into France from Italy during the reign of King Charles VIII , and it is similar to Faro and Basset...
, a gambling game which was illegal in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
but was a favourite of the Prince. During the evening, several players observed Sir William apparently cheating by altering the amount of the bets he had on the table after he won or lost a hand. Alerted to this, they watched him more closely the next evening and confirmed his actions. Sir William won a total of £228 during the two days of playing.
On the morning of 10 September, six of the guests conferred as to what they should do about Sir William's behaviour. They decided to inform the Prince and to confront Sir William. Sir William denied any wrong-doing but finally agreed to sign a pledge that he would never play cards again in exchange for an agreement that the matter would be kept secret.
The matter, however, did not remain secret; it quickly became common knowledge throughout the social circles inhabited by Sir William. Many believed that one of the people spreading the tale was Daisy, Lady Brooke
Daisy Greville, Countess of Warwick
Frances Evelyn "Daisy" Greville, Countess of Warwick was a society beauty, and mistress to King Edward VII.-Family:...
, a notorious gossip nicknamed "Babbling Brook", and the current mistress of the Prince of Wales. Sir William found himself ostracized by society.
Trial
Sir William decided to defend his reputation by suing his original accusers for defamation in civil courtLawsuit
A lawsuit or "suit in law" is a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...
. The defendants were George Loms, Lycett Green
Green Baronets
There have been five Baronetcies created for persons with the surname Green, one in the Baronetage of England, one in the Baronetage of Great Britain and three in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. Only one creation is extant as of 2007....
and his wife, Capt. Berkeley Levett
Berkeley John Talbot Levett
Berkeley John Talbot Levett CVO , was a Major in the Scots Guards and later a Gentleman Usher for the Royal family. He was a witness in the Royal Baccarat Scandal of 1890 in which the future King Edward VII was drawn into a gambling dispute which painted him in an unflattering light.-Life and...
(Scots Guards
Scots Guards
The Scots Guards is a regiment of the Guards Division of the British Army, whose origins lie in the personal bodyguard of King Charles I of England and Scotland...
), Arthur Wilson (Sir Arthur's son) and his wife, George Coventry, 9th Earl of Coventry
George Coventry, 9th Earl of Coventry
George William Coventry, 9th Earl of Coventry PC , styled Viscount Deerhurst until 1843, was a British Conservative politician...
, and Lord Somerset
Edward Seymour, 16th Duke of Somerset
Brigadier-General Edward Hamilton Seymour, 16th Duke of Somerset KBE, CB, CMG was the son of Reverend Francis Payne Seymour and wife Jane Margaret Dallas . He was also a baronet....
. The Prince was not named as a defendant but he was called as a witness. The suit, Gordon-Cumming v. Wilson and Others, made the incident public knowledge, when it became known as the Royal Baccarat Scandal or the Tranby Croft Scandal. Sir William was represented by Sir Edward Clarke
Edward George Clarke
Sir Edward George Clarke QC QC was a British barrister and politician, considered one of the leading advocates of the late Victorian era and serving as Solicitor-General in the Conservative government of 1886–1892...
, one of England's most talented barristers, and the defence was represented by Sir Charles Russell
Charles Russell, Baron Russell of Killowen
Charles Arthur Russell, Baron Russell of Killowen, GCMG, PC, was an Irish statesman of the 19th century, and Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales.-Early life:...
. The trial was heard by the Lord Chief Justice
Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales
The Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales is the head of the judiciary and President of the Courts of England and Wales. Historically, he was the second-highest judge of the Courts of England and Wales, after the Lord Chancellor, but that changed as a result of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005,...
Lord Coleridge
John Coleridge, 1st Baron Coleridge
John Duke Coleridge, 1st Baron Coleridge PC was a British lawyer, judge and Liberal politician. He held the posts, in turn, of Solicitor General for England and Wales, Attorney General for England and Wales, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas and Lord Chief Justice of England.-Background and...
and began on 1 June 1891. Levett
Levett
Levett is an Anglo-Norman territorial surname deriving from the village of Livet-en-Ouche, now Jonquerets-de-Livet, in Eure, Normandy. Ancestors of the earliest Levett family in England, the de Livets were lords of the village of Livet, and undertenants of the de Ferrers, among the most powerful of...
, Wilson and others were forced to testify in open court, and the proceedings became a society spectacle.
The Prince of Wales was reluctant to testify as a witness in such a case. He had been called to appear as a witness once before, in an adultery case in 1870 where he denied having an affair with Lady Mordaunt
Sir Charles Mordaunt, 10th Baronet
Sir Charles Mordaunt, 10th Baronet was a wealthy English country gentleman, a Conservative Member of Parliament for South Warwickshire , High Sheriff of Warwickshire 1879, was notorious for involving the Prince of Wales in his divorce case.Sir Charles was married on 7 December 1866 to Harriet...
. However, his testimony was compelled when Sir William invoked Article 42 of the Queen's Army Regulations
Queen's Regulations
Queen's Regulations are a collection of orders and regulations in force in the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force, forming guidance for officers of these armed services in all matters of discipline and personal conduct...
that as an officer, the Prince had been required to report the illegal action of Sir William, another officer. Sir William forced the Prince to admit he had not done so and to acknowledge his own participation in the evening's events.
Although Sir William performed well, he was unable to overcome the testimony of the defendants as to what they had witnessed as well as the evidence of Sir William's signed confession (which he now stated he had only signed to prevent involving the Prince in a public scandal). The trial ended on 9 June and the jury deliberated for only ten minutes before finding in favour of the defendants.
Aftermath
Sir William was dismissed from the army and retired to his ScottishScotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
estate. He never re-entered high society and remained bitter about the incident until his death years later. One happy note was that his fiancée, American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
heiress Florence Garner, supported him throughout the scandal. The couple wed the day after the trial ended and went on to have four children.
Following the trial, the Prince of Wales changed his behaviour to some extent. Although he continued to gamble he did so in a more discreet manner, and he stopped playing baccarat altogether, taking up whist
Whist
Whist is a classic English trick-taking card game which was played widely in the 18th and 19th centuries. It derives from the 16th century game of Trump or Ruff, via Ruff and Honours...
instead.
In fiction
- "The Tranby Croft card scandal" is one of the three stories in Flashman and the TigerFlashman and the TigerFlashman and the Tiger is a 1999 book by George MacDonald Fraser. It is the eleventh of the Flashman books.-Plot introduction:Presented within the frame of the supposedly discovered historical Flashman Papers, this book describes the bully Flashman from Tom Brown's Schooldays...
. - A dramatized account, The Royal Baccarat Scandal by Royce RytonRoyce RytonRoyce Thomas Carlisle Ryton was an English playwright. During the war he served in the Royal Navy; afterward, he went to train as an actor at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art. As an actor, he played in many repertory theatres, including Bromley, Minehead, and Worthing. He also toured...
, was first produced at the Chichester Festival TheatreChichester Festival TheatreChichester Festival Theatre, located in Chichester, England, was designed by Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya, and opened by its founder Leslie Evershed-Martin in 1962. Subsequently the smaller and more intimate Minerva Theatre was built nearby in 1989....
, in 1988. It was also a 2-hour radio play on BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
in December 1991. - The scandal is mentioned in Ian FlemingIan FlemingIan Lancaster Fleming was a British author, journalist and Naval Intelligence Officer.Fleming is best known for creating the fictional British spy James Bond and for a series of twelve novels and nine short stories about the character, one of the biggest-selling series of fictional books of...
's third James BondJames BondJames Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
novel Moonraker. Bond's assignment is to catch Sir Hugo Drax while cheating at bridge and MM (James Bond)M is a fictional character in Ian Fleming's James Bond series, as well as the films in the Bond franchise. The head of MI6 and Bond's superior, M has been portrayed by three actors in the official Bond film series: Bernard Lee, Robert Brown and since 1995 by Judi Dench. Background =Ian Fleming...
compares the potential publicity of the event to that of the Tranby Croft affair. - It also features in the 11th James Bond novel, On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1963).
- The scandal is mentioned in the novel Bedford Square by Anne PerryAnne PerryAnne Perry is an English author of historical detective fiction. Perry was convicted of the murder of her friend's mother in 1954.-Early life:Born Juliet Marion Hulme in Blackheath, London, the daughter of Dr...
. - The case is referred to during a game of planchettePlanchetteA planchette , from the French for "little plank", is a small, usually heart-shaped flat piece of wood that one moves around on a board to spell out messages or answer questions. Paranormal advocates believe that the planchette is moved by some extra-normal force. The motion is due to the...
in Anthony PowellAnthony PowellAnthony Dymoke Powell CH, CBE was an English novelist best known for his twelve-volume work A Dance to the Music of Time, published between 1951 and 1975....
's The Acceptance WorldThe Acceptance WorldThe Acceptance World is the third book of Anthony Powell's twelve novel sequence, A Dance to the Music of Time. Nick Jenkins continues the narration of his life and encounters with many friends and acquaintances in London between 1931 and 33....
, part of A Dance to the Music of TimeA Dance to the Music of TimeA Dance to the Music of Time is a twelve-volume cycle of novels by Anthony Powell, inspired by the painting of the same name by Nicolas Poussin. One of the longest works of fiction in literature, it was published between 1951 and 1975 to critical acclaim...
. - In Evelyn WaughEvelyn WaughArthur Evelyn St. John Waugh , known as Evelyn Waugh, was an English writer of novels, travel books and biographies. He was also a prolific journalist and reviewer...
's Decline and FallDecline and FallDecline and Fall is a novel by the English author Evelyn Waugh, first published in 1928. It was Waugh's first published novel; an earlier attempt, entitled The Temple at Thatch, was destroyed by Waugh while still in manuscript form. Decline and Fall is based in part on Waugh's undergraduate years...
, Margot says in a note to Paul: I was cut by Lady Circumference, my dear, at Newmarket, a real point-blank Tranby Croft cut.. - The novel and movie Action for SlanderAction for SlanderAction for Slander is a 1937 British drama film directed by Tim Whelan and starring Clive Brook, Ann Todd and Googie Withers. An army officer is falsely accused at cheating at cards by a man whose wife he had an affair with and struggles to clear his name...
use many elements of the Tranby Croft scandal.