THE PRINCE AND THE RENT BOYS
THE BRITISH ROYAL FAMILY ARE NO STRANGERS TO SCANDAL, BUT WILL WE EVER KNOW THE TRUTH ABOUT PRINCE ALBERT VICTOR? HISTORIAN AND NOVELIST JA WELLS SPECULATES ON ONE OF THE 18TH CENTURY’S MOST INTRIGUING COVER UPS.
The British royal family are no strangers to scandal, but will we ever know the truth about Prince Albert Victor and one of the 18th Century’s most intriguing cover ups?
During the summer of 1889, Prince Albert Victor’s name was conveniently omitted when a scandal broke in British newspapers.
A north London newspaper editor had authorised a report connecting Mr Henry James Fitzroy, Earl Of Euston to the goings on in a brothel in Cleveland Street, adjacent to Tottenham Court Road. When the Earl subsequently sued for libel, the story caught the interest of The Times.
The eldest son of the Duke Of Grafton, the Earl was strolling down Piccadilly one evening when a tout handed him a card printed with a name and address: Charles Hammond, 19 Cleveland Street, London. Invitingly declared under the name and the address was “Poses Plastiques”. The Earl put the card in his pocket. A week later, curiosity got the better of him and he paid Cleveland Street a visit.
It was Mr Charles Hammond himself who let the Earl Of Euston inside the house and, after showing him into the parlour, explained the nature of the “poses plastiques” (“flexible poses”) in no uncertain terms. The Earl later told the court he was disgusted by what he heard and threatened Hammond with violence unless he let him out the door immediately (as reported in The Times’).
“Poses plastiques” was a ploy. The house was a place where Hammond’s rich and titled clients could meet young lads. Clients were charged a sovereign; Hammond giving the lad involved four shillings – a considerable sum in 1889.
Earlier that year, Constable Hanks, a policeman at the Central London Post Office, was investigating a case of theft. A telegram delivery boy was discovered with 14 shillings, a huge amount of cash for a working-class lad of his age to possess. It was against Post Office rules for messenger boys to carry money. Constable Hanks’ suspicions were aroused. Under interrogation, the youth admitted that he was given the money by a Mr Hammond at 19 Cleveland Street as payment for allowing gentlemen to, “Go between my legs, and put their person in me”.
Under duress, the lad named other messenger boys who frequented the house and each one was arrested. When questioned, they told Constable Hanks that a man named George Vecks procured them, by means of a young male prostitute, Henry Newlove, who was also a telegraph boy. The youths also revealled the identity of some of their gentleman clients, which greatly interested the police as the clientele came from the upper strata of society.
Vecks and Newlove were arrested and tried at Bow Street Magistrates Court. They pleaded guilty to acts of gross indecency and were sentenced to six months and nine months, respectively. The sentences were not harsh considering the crime was potentially punishable by two years’ hard labour.
The solicitor defending Newlove and Vecks was Mr Arthur Newton, who also acted as solicitor to Lord Arthur Somerset. It was Lord Somerset who
paid for Vecks and Newlove’s defence. Somerset was head of the Prince Of Wales’ stables and a major in the Royal Horse Guards.
The lads associated with 19 Cleveland Street – Ernest Thickbroom, Charles Swinscow, John Saul, George Wright and Algernon Allies – were all messenger boys at the General Post Office in Saint Martin’s Le Grand. Algernon seemed to be of the most interest to police because, when George Veck was arrested, he was found to be carrying letters written by a “Mr Brown” and addressed to Algernon.
Despite Inspector Abberline, the man now in charge of the investigation, having enough evidence to produce a warrant for the arrest of the occupier of 19 Cleveland Street, Charles Hammond, he dragged his feet due to the delicate nature of the situation. This gave Hammond, who was tipped off by Newlove, the young prostitute, time to flee the country.
With the comings and goings at Cleveland Street under observation, the police waited for Mr Brown to visit and followed him when he returned to Knightsbridge Barracks. He was identified as none other than Lord Arthur Somerset, a major in the Horse Guards and equerry to the Prince Of Wales.
Although papers were sent to the Director Of Prosecutions with a view to charging Lord Arthur with buggery, no moves to arrest him were made. Newton, who had defended Vecks and Newlove, instructed Lord Arthur to write to the Director Of Prosecutions explaining that, should he be sent to trial, it might be necessary for him to reveal that Prince Albert Victor, the son of the Prince Of Wales and grandson of Queen Victoria, was also a frequent visitor to Cleveland Street.
This stalled the pending prosecution even longer, giving Lord Arthur time to flee abroad, where he remained for the rest of his life, save for several clandestine visits.
Meanwhile, with Algernon Allies in possession of damaging information, including letters from Lord Arthur (as Mr Brown), Inspector Abberline took it upon himself to keep the lad safe from corruption or coercion by hiding him in a coffee house in Houndsditch.
Rumours of a royal connection with the scandal were already rife. Edward Parkes, the previously mentioned editor of the north London newspaper, was intrigued about why the rent boys Newlove and Vecks were let off with such light sentences. Parkes published an article naming names – believing it was safe to do so because the two distinguished men known to be regular visitors to the brothel had fled abroad.
Parkes was correct in thinking Lord Arthur was in self-exile in France, but was mistaken to presume Henry James Fitzroy, Earl Of Euston, was out of the country.
When the Earl read the article he began libel proceedings against Parkes. At the trial, Parkes’ defence submitted several witnesses claiming to have seen the Earl arriving and departing number 19 on various occasions. However, the
Under interrogation, the youth admitted that he was given the money for allowing gentlemen to “go between my legs and put their person in me”.
descriptions failed to correspond and the Earl Of Euston won the case. Parkes was sentenced to a year in prison.
There was to be another trial, this time involving Mr Newton, Lord Arthur’s solicitor, as well as Frederick Taylorson, Mr Newton’s clerk, and Adolphus Du Galla, an interpreter. The three men were summonsed to appear at Bow Street Magistrates Court on a charge of endeavouring to pervert the course of justice.
They were accused of arranging the disappearance of the witnesses (the rent boys Thickbroom, Allies, Swinscow, Saul and Perkins) – generously paying for their passage from England to America and providing them with clothes plus a weekly amount of money until they found employment. If the lads were being sponsored by Lord Arthur Somerset it would be taken as tantamount to an admission of his guilt.
Yet Lord Arthur had fled to France and remained there. Might someone from an even higher position be protecting the Prince?
Mr Newton’s clerk, Frederick Taylorson, apparently met the lads in a public house behind Tottenham Court Road. Taylorson told them they were to have a fresh start in life. The youths were to leave for Liverpool that evening and from there board a ship for America.
Taylorson suggested each lad write a letter to his father and mother, explaining his intentions, and to say that he would write; and not to worry, as he was being well looked after. Taylorson pocketed the letters and duly posted them. Had it not been for Algernon spilling the beans to Inspector Abberline, who knows what might have become of the lads?
Mr Newton, his clerk, and the interpreter, were summonsed, tried and sentenced to short stays in prison. The scandal then quietly disappeared from the newspapers.
Nevertheless, Henry Labouchere, a Liberal Member of Parliament, and the man responsible for the dreadful sentences homosexuals faced back then, thought there was more to the convenient cover up of the Cleveland Street affair. In a seven-hour debate concerning the scandal, Labouchere named Lord Arthur Somerset, Henry James Fitzroy, Earl Of Euston, and Prince Albert Victor as regular visitors to the brothel, even speculating about the possibility of more eminent visitors.
A royal tour of India was speedily arranged to remove Prince Albert Victor from Britain and the breaking news. From the Prince’s letters to his cousin, Prince Louis of Battenburg, it appears he was completely oblivious to the gossip at home.
Prince Albert Victor was about to marry Princess Mary of Teck when he caught influenza, which developed into pneumonia and caused his death. The British people fell into deep mourning as he was extremely popular. There is no material evidence linking the prince to the Cleveland Street brothel but Albert Victor was never spoken of in royal circles again.