AS SEEN ON TV: LADY WARWICK

Since the main blog post today is also about an illicit affair, I thought this ASOTV spotlight to be apt.....

LADY WARWICK

AS SEEN IN:
'Edward The King'

AS PLAYED BY:
Carolyn Seymour

From Wikipedia:
Frances Evelyn "Daisy" Greville, Countess of Warwick (10 December 1861–26 July 1938) was a society beauty, and mistress to King Edward VII.

[S]he married Francis Greville, Lord Brooke, the eldest son and heir of George Greville, 4th Earl of Warwick, in 1881. The couple had three children in the first four years of their marriage. Her fourth child, a son, was born in 1898, and a daughter was born in 1904. Lord Brooke succeeded to the Earldom in 1893, and the family moved into Warwick Castle.

Following her marriage and the birth of her children, she became a socialite, often attending lavish parties and gatherings. She and her husband were members of the Marlborough House Set, headed by Albert Edward, Prince of Wales. Beginning in 1886, she became involved in affairs with several powerful men, most notably Edward VII.

Lady Warwick's affair with Edward VII, which lasted until 1898, is thought to have been mainly a cover for her actual heart-felt relationship with Lord Charles Beresford (after 1916, 1st Baron Beresford), for whom she actually had genuine feelings. However, this was without the knowledge of Edward VII, and when he discovered that she also was involved with Lord Charles, Edward VII tried to recover an alleged compromising letter that Lady Brooke (Daisy Greville) had written to Beresford, and which was supposedly in the hands of Lady Charles. The quarrel lasted until Prime Minister Lord Salisbury interfered and both parties reached an agreement. Nevertheless, the relations between Edward VII and Lord Charles remained weak for the remainder of their lives.

Her main flaw when acting as a courtesan for powerful men was that she lacked the ability to keep her affairs private, and when involved with a man of wealth and power, she had a distinct habit of divulging it to others. Often, a courtesan could have a prolonged career simply based on that one characteristic. For her indiscretions and this habit, she earned the nickname "The Babbling Brooke", and she was the inspiration for the popular music hall song "Daisy, Daisy".

Following the death of Edward VII, and having large debts, she tried to blackmail his son, the new King George V. She threatened to make public a series of love letters written by Edward VII. It was the cunning expertise of Lord Stamfordham that managed to stop publication by arguing that copyright belonged to the King.

BCnU!