King Edward VII(1841-1910)
Prince Albert Edward Wettin Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was born on November 9,
1841 to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Great Britain. He was the
second child and first son which meant that he would become King after
his mother died. As he grew up he was compared unfavorably to his
father and then his very bright older sister, Vicky. His childhood was
unsubstantial. He went to school and periodically went on vacation to
Osborne House, or Balmoral. When he was about 20 years old he was sent
to Scotland to undergo a sort of boot camp for the army. While he was
there he had his first taste of sex when his friends put Nelly Clifton
in his bed. He was very discreet about the affair but his father's
friends found out about it and told him. Prince Albert, who was sick,
made the journey to Oxford where Bertie, as he was called, was at
University. Albert told his son that he should forget about it because
the consequences for that type of lifestyle would be too great. Albert
returned to London and shortly afterward died. Victoria blamed Bertie
for the rest of her life. It was also around this time that Bertie got
married. His choice of a wife was very important because she would
someday be the Queen. He met Alexandra, a Danish Princess, on what was
essentially a blind date. Queen Victoria knew that he would not accept
anybody that the family would pick out for him so she had Alexandra
meet him at a designated site in Germany. On March 10, 1863 they were
married and eventually had six children together. Even though he was
the Prince of Wales his mother did not involve him in matters of state.
Because of this he had no demands on his time and did what he liked.
What he liked was drinking, having sex, and having fun with his
friends. During the almost 40 years between the time he married and the
time he became King, Bertie allegedly fathered several children besides
the ones with his wife. In January 1901 his mother died, making him
King Edward VII. He only reigned for a short time before many years of
drinking and overeating led him to die at the age of 68 in
1910.
