Mrs Keppel

The Duchess of Cornwall's great-grandmother Alice Keppel was perhaps the greatest courtesan in history. She was extraordinary for a number of reasons, not least that she was for many years the lover of Edward VII, though managed to avoid the stigma of being a royal mistress. In fact, Edward was so devoted to her that he insisted she be received wherever he went. For Mrs Keppel, it was not how things were that mattered, but how they appeared. Her precepts were those of the English upper classes: discretion, manners, charm. Nothing else mattered. Sexual fidelity was for those lower down the social scale, but the appearance, at least, of civilized marriage was vital; as essential as pearls and furs and a hat at Ascot. This remarkable book shows Mrs Keppel to have been one of the most compelling characters of the Edwardian era: charming, voracious, selfish, manipulative and strikingly modern.