Biography

In 1790, while still in Geneva, the Duke took up with "Madame de Saint-Laurent" (born Thérèse-Bernardine Montgenet), the wife of a French colonel. She went with him to Canada in 1791, where she was known as "Julie de Saint-Laurent". She accompanied the Duke for the next 28 years, until his marriage in 1818 The portrait of the Duke by Beechey was hers.

The prince was promoted to the rank of major-general in October 1793. He served successfully in the West Indies campaign the following year, and was commander of the British camp at La Coste during the Battle of Martinique, for which he was mentioned in dispatches by General Charles Grey for his "great Spirit and Activity." He subsequently received the thanks of Parliament.

As a son of the British monarch, he was styled His Royal Highness The Prince Edward from birth, and was fourth in the line of succession to the throne. He was named after his paternal uncle, the Duke of York and Albany, who had died several weeks earlier and was buried at Westminster Abbey the day before his birth.

His wife was the daughter of Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, and the sister of King Leopold I of Belgium, widower of the Duke's niece, Princess Charlotte. The Duchess was also a widow: her first husband had been Emich Carl, 2nd Prince of Leiningen, with whom she had had two children: a son Carl and a daughter Feodora.

Various sources report that the Duke had two mistresses in Geneva: Adelaide Dubus and Anne Moré. Dubus died during the birth of their daughter Adelaide (1789 - 1832); Moré was the mother of Edward Schenker Scheener (1789-1853). Scheener married but had no children and returned to Geneva in 1837, where he died.