There are countless biographies of King Edward VII available–some published during his lifetime–and I’ve read many of them, as well as biographies and memoirs written about and by, respectively, people in his social circle. When I discovered Jane Ridley’s newest biography, I was skeptical: what more could be said about Edward VII that I did …
Tag: marlborough house set
Gladys de Grey and Covent Garden
When the Countess de Grey was not indulging in the opulent parties and affairs of the Marlborough House Set, she turned her attentions to reversing the decline of the Royal Italian Opera House (colloquially known as “Covent Garden”). By the 1880s, opera in England was lackluster and unexciting, and the Gye family, who managed the …
A life of contrast: Daisy, Countess of Warwick
by Victoria Fishburn Imagine a beautiful woman from Edwardian England who married an Earl, became mistress to the Prince of Wales and astonished Society by standing as a Labour candidate for Parliament. Such a woman was Daisy, Countess of Warwick. Her words, written in two memoirs and countless other books, are still quoted by most …