Editing Lillie Langtry (section)

===Royal mistress===
[[File:Lilly Langtry, 1885.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=A photograph of Lillie Langtry, dated to August 1885.|Portrait of Langtry by [[W. & D. Downey|William Downey]] of Ebury Street, London, 1885]]
[[File:Cupboard in Langtry Manor Hotel - 2012.jpg|thumb|Cupboard in Langtry Manor Hotel - 2010]]
On 24 May, 1877, while his wife was staying in [[Athens]] with her brother, [[George I of Greece|King George I of Greece]], [[Edward VII|Albert Edward, Prince of Wales]] took [[supper]] with the [[Arctic exploration|Arctic explorer]] Sir [[Allen Young]]. There, he met Edward and Lillie Langtry. The 23-year-old Lillie had been discovered only a month earlier but had already taken London society by storm. It was soon presumed that Langtry had become the [[Mistress (lover)|mistress]] of the Prince of Wales, but no immediate scandal arose. The Princes's wife, [[Alexandra of Denmark]], accepted the situation and received her at parties in [[Marlborough House]], the couple's London residence.<ref>Philip Magnus, King Edward the Seventh (London 1964) 153-154; Gordon Brook-Shepherd, Uncle of Europe. The Social and Diplomatic Life of Edward VII (London 1975) 55-56</ref>

However, there are some doubts. [[Jane Ridley]] has questioned the myth which Lillie Langtry created about herself, especially the role of the future Edward VII. She critiques Langtry's narrative of herself as an innocent country girl to whom success just happened. Ridley considers Langtry's entrance to London society to have been carefully planned, even if more successful than she could have hoped. In an 1882 interview, Langtry herself said that '[m]y pedigree was good and my person in Jersey society being assured, it was not surprising that I should be well-received'. At the same time, she denied that she had ever set herself up as a beauty. 'I never thought I was one, and I don't think I am now. I am never in the least surprised when I hear people say they are very much disappointed about my beauty'.<ref>Jane Ridley, ''Bertie. A Life of Edward VII'' (London 2012) 202-204.</ref>

Ridley also expressed doubts on the nature of Langtry's relationship with the Prince of Wales. No letters from this time have survived,<ref>Ridley, ''Bertie'', 207. Theo Aronson assumes that Lillie Langtry has probably destroyed compromising letters just like she refused many offers from publishers to write revealing memoirs. Her published memories in ''The Days I Knew'' were innocent. There is no mention in ''The Days I Knew''about her extramarital daughter; most of her lovers, including Prince Louis of Battenberg, are not even mentioned. Aronson, ''King in Love'', 260-268. Philip Magnus describes in his biography ''King Edward the Seventh'' (page 461) that the king had ordered by his will that all his private and personal correspondence, including those with Queen Alexandra and Queen Victoria, should be destroyed. All papers after his death were in 'dire confusion' and it was clear a vast number of papers were burned.</ref> and many of the stories seem to be exaggerated or wrong. For example, Langtry is alleged to have [[Consummation|consummated]] her relationship with Prince Edward when his wife, Alexandra, refused to accompany him to a royal house party at [[Crichel]] in January 1878. In fact, Alexandra played a central role at this event.<ref>Ridley, ''Bertie'', 207.</ref>

According to Ridley, Langtry published a false story about her presentation at court to [[Queen Victoria]]. Langtry alleges that despite being presented towards the end of the evening, by when the Queen had usually retired, Victoria waited to see her. At a ball later that night, she was supposedly told that the Queen had 'had a great desire to see [her], and had stayed on in order to satisfy herself as to [Langtry's] appearance. It was even added that she was annoyed because [she] was so late in passing'.<ref>Lillie Langty, ''The Days I Knew'' (Redberry Press, 1989) 65-66.</ref> Ridley concludes that this [[anecdote]] was made up by Langtry, as she alleged the presence of the Prince and Princess of Wales, who were in Paris at the time, probably on purpose to avoid embarrassing them by presenting the alleged mistress of Bertie.<ref>Ridley, ''Bertie,'' 207.</ref> In Ridley's view, Langtry invented stories implying that she was recognised as royal mistress.<ref>Ridley, ''Bertie'', 211; referring to Beatty, ''Lillie Langtry'', 1-9.</ref> Langtry manor in Bournemouth, supposedly built for clandestine meetings between the Prince and Lillie at his orders, was in fact built for [[Emily Langton Massingberd|Emily Langton Langton]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://anthonyjcamp.com/pages/anthony-j-camp-additions | title=Anthony J. Camp - ADDITIONS }}</ref>

Ridley couldn't find evidence about the exact nature of the relationship between Lillie Langtry and the Prince of Wales. However, there is correspondence between the Prince's private secretary, [[Francis Knollys, 1st Viscount Knollys|Francis Knollys]], and the Prince's [[solicitor]], [[Sir George Lewis, 1st Baronet|George Lewis]], which suggests that Edward Langtry used George Lewis as a broker, offering his silence and cash in exchange for the Prince's love letters. Lewis kept Knollys closely informed about the death of Edward Langtry in 1897. The Prince of Wales, meanwhile, maintained a lifelong friendship with Lillie.<ref>Ridley, ''Bertie'', 225-226, notes 69 & 72 on page 530</ref> 

Whatever it exactly was, Lillie's liaison with the Prince lasted from late 1877 to June 1880.<ref>{{cite book |last=Beatty |first=Laura |author-link=Laura Beatty |title=Lily Langtry: Manners, Masks and Morals |publisher=Chatto & Windus |year=1999 |isbn=1-8561-9513-9 |location=London |page=173 |chapter=XX: The Storm Breaks |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/lillielangtryman0000beat/page/172/mode/2up?view=theater |chapter-url-access=registration}}</ref><ref name="mistresses">Camp, Anthony. ''Royal Mistresses and Bastards: Fact and Fiction: 1714–1936'' (2007), pp. 364–67.<!-- ISSN/ISBN needed --></ref>