Editing Robert Falcon Scott (section)

== Between expeditions ==

=== Popular hero ===
[[File:Robert Falcon Scott by Daniel Albert Wehrschmidt 1905.jpg|thumbnail|Scott pictured by [[Daniel A. Wehrschmidt]], 1905]]
''Discovery'' returned to Britain in September 1904. The expedition had caught the public imagination, and Scott became a popular hero. He was awarded a cluster of honours and medals, including many from overseas, and was promoted to the rank of [[Captain (Royal Navy)|captain]].{{sfn|Crane|2005|p=309}} He was invited to [[Balmoral Castle]], and King [[Edward VII]] promoted him to Commander of the [[Royal Victorian Order]].{{sfn|Preston|1999|pp=83–84}}<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=27729 |date=1 November 1904 |page=7023}}</ref>

Scott's next few years were crowded. For more than a year he was occupied with public receptions, lectures and the writing of the expedition record, ''The Voyage of the Discovery''. In January 1906, he resumed his full-time naval career, first as an assistant director of [[Naval Intelligence]] at the [[British Admiralty|Admiralty]] and, in August, as [[flag-captain]] to Rear-Admiral Sir George Egerton on {{HMS|Victorious|1895|6}}.{{sfn|Preston|1999|p=86}} He was now moving in ever more exalted social circles—a telegram to Markham in February 1907 refers to meetings with Queen [[Amélie of Orléans]] and [[Luis Filipe, Prince Royal of Portugal]], and a later letter home reports lunching with the Commander-in-Chief of the Fleet and [[Prince Henry of Prussia (1862–1929)|Prince Heinrich of Prussia]]. The telegram related to a collision involving Scott's ship, {{HMS|Albemarle|1901|6}}. Scott was cleared of blame.{{sfn|Crane|2005|p=334}} {{HMS|Albemarle|1901|6}}, a battleship commanded by Scott, collided with the battleship {{HMS|Commonwealth|1903|6}} on 11 February 1907, suffering minor bow damage.<ref>Burt 1988, p. 211.</ref>

=== Dispute with Shackleton ===
By early 1906, Scott queried the RGS about the possible funding of a future Antarctic expedition.{{sfn|Preston|1999|p=87}} It was therefore unwelcome news to him that [[Ernest Shackleton]] had announced his own plans to travel to ''Discovery''{{'}}s old [[McMurdo Sound]] base and launch a bid for the South Pole from there.{{sfn|Crane|2005|p=335}} Scott claimed, in the first of a series of letters to Shackleton, that the area around McMurdo was his own "field of work" to which he had prior rights until he chose to give them up, and that Shackleton should therefore work from an entirely different area.{{sfn|Crane|2005|p=335}} In this, he was strongly supported by ''Discovery''{{'}}s former zoologist, [[Edward Adrian Wilson|Edward Wilson]], who asserted that Scott's rights extended to the entire [[Ross Sea]] sector.{{sfn|Riffenburgh|2005|pp=113–114}} Shackleton refused to concede.

According to a letter written to [[Stanfords]] bookshop owner [[Edward Stanford]], Scott seemed to take offence with a map that was published that had shown how far south Scott and Shackleton had travelled during the Discovery Expedition. Scott implied in this letter, dated in 1907 and discovered in the shop archives in 2018, that having the two men's names together on this map indicated that there was "dual leadership" between Scott and Shackleton which was "not in accordance with fact."<ref>{{cite web |author1=Ackerman, Naomi |author2=Dex, Robert |title=Antarctic explorer Scott's letter of complaint about rival Shackleton to go on display in exhibition |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/go/london/arts/stanfords-exhibition-lost-letter-robert-scott-ernest-shackleton-antarctic-a4261741.html |website=Evening Standard |access-date=18 October 2019 |date=15 October 2019}}</ref> After the owner replied with an apology over the issue, Scott expressed his regret at the nature of the previous letter and stated, "I tried to be impartial in giving credit to my companions who one and all laboured honestly and well as I have endeavoured to record....I understand now of course that you had no personal knowledge of the wording and I must express regret that I failed to realise your identity when I first wrote."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hoare |first1=Callum |title=Antarctica discovery: Century-old letter reveals shock find after first exploration |url=https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/1191394/antarctica-captain-scot-letter-ernest-shackleton-discovery-expedition-stanford-spt |website=Express |access-date=18 October 2019 |date=17 October 2019}}</ref>

Finally, to end the impasse, Shackleton agreed, in a letter to Scott dated 17 May 1907, to work to the east of the 170°W meridian and therefore to avoid all the familiar ''Discovery'' ground.{{sfn|Crane|2005|pp=335, 341}} In the end it was a promise that he was unable to keep after his search for alternative landing grounds proved fruitless. With his only other option being to return home, he set up his headquarters at [[Cape Royds]], close to the old ''Discovery'' base.{{sfn|Barczewski|2007|pp=52–53}} For this he was roundly condemned by the British polar establishment at the time.

Among modern polar writers, [[Ranulph Fiennes]] regards Shackleton's actions as a technical breach of honour, but adds: "My personal belief is that Shackleton was basically honest but circumstances forced his McMurdo landing, much to his distress."{{sfn|Fiennes|2003|pp=144–145}} The polar historian Beau Riffenburgh states that the promise to Scott "should never ethically have been demanded," and compares Scott's intransigence on this matter unfavourably with the generous attitudes of the Norwegian explorer [[Fridtjof Nansen]], who gave freely of his advice and expertise to all, whether they were potential rivals or not.{{sfn|Riffenburgh|2005|p=118}}

=== Marriage ===
[[File:Kathleen and Robert Falcon Scott.jpg|thumb|Kathleen and Robert Falcon Scott]]

Scott, who because of his ''Discovery'' fame had entered [[Edwardian period|Edwardian]] society, first met [[Kathleen Scott|Kathleen Bruce]] early in 1907 at a private luncheon party.{{sfn|Crane|2005|p=344}} She was a sculptor, socialite and cosmopolitan who had studied under [[Auguste Rodin]]{{sfn|Preston|1999|p=94}} and whose circle included [[Isadora Duncan]], [[Pablo Picasso]] and [[Aleister Crowley]].{{sfn|Crane|2005|p=350}} Her initial meeting with Scott was brief, but when they met again later that year, the mutual attraction was obvious. A stormy courtship followed; Scott was not her only suitor—his main rival was would-be novelist [[Gilbert Cannan]]—and his absences at sea did not assist his cause.{{sfn|Crane|2005|pp=362–366}} However, Scott's persistence was rewarded and, on 2 September 1908, at the Chapel Royal, [[Hampton Court Palace]], the wedding took place.{{sfn|Crane|2005|pp=373–374}} Their only child, [[Peter Scott|Peter Markham Scott]], born 14 September 1909,{{sfn|Crane|2005|p=387}} was to found the [[World Wide Fund for Nature|World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)]].