May 27, 2025 • 31 mins
Queen Victoria's son, Albert Edward, was gambling with his friends at a country estate when the host's son noticed one of the guests cheating. Eventually, that evening playing baccarat spirled into a scandal that forced the Prince of Wales to take the stand in court.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grimm
and Mild from Aaron Manky Listener discretion advised. On September eighth,
eighteen ninety, the Prince of Wales, Albert Edward aka the
son of Queen Victoria and the future King Edward the sixth,
(00:22):
arrived in the town of Hull for a night of
debauchery with a retinue of fellow bachelors and ladies. He
was staying at an italianate mansion given the slightly pretentious
name tran be Croft, an estate owned by the wealthy
shipowner Arthur Wilson. After dinner, someone in the group proposed
(00:44):
that they all play baccarat. Though baccarat had been recently
made illegal if money was involved, it was still all
the rage amongst the upper crust. Albert would frequently spend
evenings at Marlborough House playing a backie, as he called it,
when he wasn't going to the opera or attending wild
(01:06):
parties with courts girls. Even though there was no baccerrat
table at tranby Croft, the guests made a makeshift one
by pulling three tables together and covering them with a
colored tapestry in case you're unfamiliar. In Baccert, there are
two participants, the player and the banker, who each draw
(01:27):
two cards face down on the table. The other participants
bet on either the player or the banker's hand, depending
on which they believe will add up closest to nine.
That evening, Albert played the banker. He passed out fancy
leather counters stamped on one side with the Prince of
(01:49):
Wales's feathers in gold, and on the other with either
two pounds or five pounds, essentially personalized poker chips. While
the game appeared to be proceeding as normal, Arthur Wilson's
son noticed something suspicious. Another player, Fourth Baronet Sir William
(02:10):
Gordon Cumming, was keeping track of whether the banker or
player won on a piece of scrap paper. Wilson's son,
a young man in his twenties, thought he saw Gordon
Cumming secretly add extra money to his bet when the
player's cards were good, and withdraw money when the player's
(02:31):
cards were bad. Wilson's son turned to another player at
the table and told him the man next to me
is cheating. Lo and behold. When that player started observing
Gordon Cummings, he caught him cheating as well. Neither that
player nor Wilson's son said anything at the time, perhaps
(02:52):
loath to call out a gentleman. But when the game
ended and the group went off to bed, the two
discs gust what they should do next. Wilson's son was
relatively low rank. He was considered a lay about who
had dropped out of Cambridge and stagnated. Similarly, his friend
was an officer in Gordon Cumming's regiment. He wouldn't feel
(03:17):
comfortable betraying his superior's loyalty, and so the pair mutually
agreed to hold their tongues. But the cheating wouldn't stay
secret for long. Wilson's son told his brother in law
and his mother, who had exclaimed, for goodness's sake, don't
let us have a scandal here. But despite her very
(03:41):
precient warning, a scandal this became, and unfortunately for her,
a scandal that became named after their house. This minor
cheating scandal among gentlemen friends would spiral out of control
until the Prince of Wales himself, the heir to the throne,
(04:01):
ended up being put on trial. One of the only
times in English history that a senior royal has appeared
in court. I'm Danish Schwartz and this is noble blood.
The evening after that first game of backer at Albert,
(04:21):
Gordon Cumming, the Wilsons and the rest of the crew
staying at Tranby Croft all sat down for another game.
The Wilsons saw Gordon Cumming cheat again, using the same
method he had attempted the night before. This time, the
Wilson family spoke out. The following day, after watching the
(04:42):
horse races at Doncaster, the Wilsons went to two courtiers
and revealed what they had seen. Despite having no physical
evidence to prove their case, the two courtiers took the
accusation seriously and decided to go to the Prince before
confronting Gordon c Coming about it. The courtiers decided to
(05:03):
approach Albert before dinner, and they told him about the
developing scandal. Albert was horrified. He believed the accusation immediately.
It's actually a bit strange how quickly he believed the accusation,
given that he and Gordon coming were old friends while
the Wilsons were near strangers. Reflecting later, the Prince would
(05:26):
say quote the charges appeared to be so unanimous that
it was the proper course. No other course was open
to me than to believe them. They decided that the
best way to quash this cheating scandal would be to
confront Gordon Coming about it before the next game of
baccarat began. The two courtiers initially went to Gordon Coming
(05:49):
privately and warned him that he had been charged with cheating,
but Gordon Comming brushed it off. Quote do you believe
the statements of a parcel of inex vurienced boys? He asked. Later,
the Wilsons sat down with Albert and Gordon Cumming and
made the accusation to his face. Gordon Cumming tried to
(06:11):
dispute the story once again, but Albert retorted, what can
you do? There are five accusers against you. The group
mandated that Gordon Cumming leave the room for half an hour.
When he returned, he was asked to sign a document
which stated that Albert, the Wilsons, and the courtiers agreed
(06:32):
to keep his cheating a secret if Gordon Cumming agreed
to quote never play cards again as long as he lived.
Gordon Cumming refused to sign the document since it would
function as an admission of guilt, but the Wilsons were
emphatic that if he didn't they would spread the story
at the race course the next day, and so finally
(06:54):
he signed the document along with the Prince and the
nine other men who had play laid backrat with him.
In case you were wondering how much he was being
accused of stealing, in his two games at tranby Croft,
Gordon Cumming had made two hundred and twenty five pounds
over twenty four thousand pounds in twenty twenty five. Adjusted
(07:18):
for inflation. This was a significant amount of money, but
it wouldn't have raised any red flags amongst the high
rolling Marlborough House set. Instead, the real issue with Gordon
Cumming's cheating was the breach of honor. It indicated that
he could not be trusted. That said, while Gordon Cumbing
(07:39):
was willing to sign the document under pressure, in the end,
it's still unclear whether or not he really cheated. After all,
the only evidence we have is hearsay from the Wilsons,
who had almost no baccarat experience. A lawyer in nineteen
seventy seven, looking at the case nearly a century later,
(08:00):
actually suggested that Gordon Cumming must have been innocent, arguing
that a man trying to cheat would not so brazenly
place his extra counters on the table where everyone could
have seen them, But historian Jane Ridley contends that Gordon
Cumming was probably guilty. It turned out that cheating at bacrat,
(08:22):
especially when playing with the prince, was relatively common practice.
Albert insisted on playing baccarat at most country house parties,
much to his courtier's chagrin, who were tired of losing money.
Instead of potentially angering the Prince by refusing to play,
they would cheat so they could resist the Prince in
(08:43):
secret and avoid losing too much. The two witnesses, who
were younger members of the court, may not have known
that cheating was so rampant, and naively made it a
bigger deal than it actually was. One courtier, reflecting on
this period, said, quote, we all cheated. It was such
(09:03):
a nuisance being made to play and lose money, and
the young men longed to be dancing instead. But coming
cheated too much, and he had a lot of enemies
end quote. Still, it was surprising that the Wilsons were
willing to go up against Gordon Comming. Gordon Cumming owned
thirty eight thousand acres of land in Scotland, and he
(09:27):
had a noble lineage going all the way back to Charlemagne.
More importantly, he was close with Albert, even letting the
Prince use his home in Belgravia for secret liaisons. Meanwhile,
the Wilsons were, as Jane Ridley put it, quote second
generation nouveau reche, and they had no specifically close ties
(09:49):
with the Prince. But Gordon Cumming did have a reputation,
particularly one as a lithario. He was known for being handsome,
with a five mustache, a keen wit, and such a
willingness to speak out of turn that he was called
quote the most arrogant man in London. He was also
(10:10):
quite the womanizer, who managed to I'm quoting him here
perforate as he called it, many women, and had a
controversial preference for married women. He once boasted all the
married women try me. That may have been his downfall.
(10:30):
Two days before Gordon Cumming was caught cheating at tranby Croft,
Albert arrived at Gordon Cumming's London home only to find
him seducing Daisy Brook, Albert's married mistress, much to Albert's humiliation.
He might have wanted to punish Gordon Cumming, and this
(10:50):
cheating scandal gave him the perfect opportunity to do so,
but still possibly clouded by a desire for revenge, Albert
made a major mistake in signing his name on the
document where Gordon Cumming admitted his guilt. His involvement with
the scandal made it much more high profile, and his
(11:13):
signature was evident that he had been gambling illegally. Queen
Victoria later wrote, the incredible and shameful thing is that
others dragged Albert into it and urged him to sign
the paper, which of course he should never have done.
At the time, Albert had no idea what a mistake
(11:34):
he had made. His confrontation with Gordon Cumming seemed to
settle the cheating dispute, and he had agreed in writing
never to speak of it again. Albert sealed Gordon Cumming's
signed paper and an account of the events by one
of his courtiers in a packet to keep it safe.
He left Tranbycroft the morning after and was literally off
(11:58):
to the races for another day of gambling and cavorting,
but soon the secrets of tranby Croft would be out,
and they would drag the Prince into a public scandal
beyond his wildest imagination. In January eighteen ninety one, Albert
(12:18):
saw a shocking headline in the American Press. One paper
published a portrait of his mistress, Daisy Brook with the
headline the Babbling Brook. The story detailed the backrat scandal,
including the Prince's involvement, and accused Daisy of leaking it.
Daisy wrote to the editors denying the charges, arguing that
(12:42):
she was not at tranby Croft at the time and
could not have known about Gordon Cummings cheating, but the
editors replied that the story had been submitted by their
London correspondent, a quote lady moving in the Best Society,
who swore that day had revealed the secret if she
(13:02):
did spill the beans. Daisy may have learned the story
from Albert himself. After Albert's stint at tranby Croft, he
met up with the Lord and Lady Brooke for Tea
and could possibly have told the couple what happened. Daisy,
known for her indiscretion, could have plausibly spread the story
(13:24):
even further In any case, the secret was out. A
few weeks earlier, Gordon Cumming begged Albert to let him
back into his social circle. The forfeiture of your esteem,
he wrote, is the quote cruelest blow of all. But
despite Gordon Cumming's groveling, Albert did not respond. But now
(13:46):
that the tranby Croft affair was public knowledge, Gordon Cumming
changed his mind. He wasn't going to make good. He
prepared to bring an action for slander against the Wilson
family and take them to court, claiming five thousand pounds
in damages. The Prince's courtiers tried to avoid the embarrassment
(14:09):
of having Albert appear in civil court by putting a
military court on the case instead, which would deal with
the matter privately. The Adjunct General initially agreed to adjudicate
the case, but then he changed his mind, believing that
doing so would be an unfair intrusion on justice. The
(14:30):
Prince appealed to his brother Arthur, who was the colonel
in chief of Gordon Cumming's regiment, and he too refused
to get involved. He said, quote, being the Prince's brother,
it was more than ever incumbent on me not to
allow myself to be used in a way that might
cause the world to think that Cumming was being sacrificed
(14:53):
to the prince. He thought, probably correctly, that it would
fuel conspiratorial thinking and mistrust if the military protected the
monarchy from the normal rule of law. Arthur was right.
Albert was ambassted in the press for attempting to hamper
the court case, while Gordon Cumming looked like a martyr
(15:17):
being unfairly punished by London's elite. Albert braced himself for
the rebuke of his mother, Queen Victoria, and he refused
to go see her at Windsor if she planned to
scold him about gambling. One of the queen's friends stepped
in and tried to convince her to be gentle with Albert.
(15:37):
Victoria seemed sympathetic to her son, who had been dreadfully
attacked and was in a dreadful state. In her words,
She told Albert about her dislike of gambling in general terms,
but let him off the hook for the most part. Still,
Albert seemed distressed about his upcoming court case. He canceled
(16:01):
his spring trip to the south of France. One side
of his beard apparently had turned gray from the stress.
He discussed the case constantly and sought his friend's advice
on what to do, but all of them told him
to sit back and let the court proceed. Even the
Queen acknowledged that although it was a quote sad thing
(16:22):
that Bertie was dragged into it, the case might be
a quote shock to society and to gambling that would
promote better behavior. She hoped. This silver lining was no
solace to Albert quote. The whole thing has caused me
the most serious annoyance and vexation, he wrote. Finally, the
(16:45):
trial began on June first, eighteen ninety one. While the
trial was set to start at eleven, ticket holders began
getting in line at nine thirty, and the court was
already packed to the brim by ten thirty. The case
had become a popular sensation, inspiring not only extensive press
(17:05):
coverage but also several music hall songs and jokes about
backing a rat get it. The spectators dressed up for
the proceedings, with women in their most fashionable dresses and bonnets,
armed with opera glasses to get a better look. The
Pall Mall Gazette reported that the court presented an appearance
(17:29):
which save for the dignity of its own fittings and
its rose of learned looking lawbooks might have been taken
for a theater at a fashionable matinee. A little before eleven,
Albert finally entered the courtroom wearing a black frock coat,
and he took a seat in a red Morocco chair
(17:50):
right in front. The Prince didn't look too stressed as
the proceedings began. He smiled and kept his arms crossed
throughout the opening stone. The Solicitor General made an opening
speech on behalf of Gordon coming, and after that he
questioned Gordon coming on the stand, emphasizing his innocence and
(18:11):
that he was unfairly accused. To save the rest of
the court. The Illustrated London News wrote that Gordon Cumming
made an admirable witness, leaning easily on the rail, his
gray gloved left hand resting easily on the bare right,
perfectly dressed, his tones, equitable, firm, neither overhurried nor over deliberate,
(18:37):
cool but not too cool end quote. His performance didn't
seem to threaten Albert. One of Albert's courtiers reported that
the Prince was rather tired after sitting in court for
six hours, but seemed confident that his side would prevail,
saying the case was going strongly against coming. It was
(18:58):
Albert's turn to testify the next day. He didn't seem
particularly nervous at first, but one journalist observed him stroking
his beard for seven minutes, and another thought he looked
quote anxious and worn on the stand. The Prince responded quickly,
in such a hoarse, low voice that he was hard
(19:20):
to hear. He seemed non committal, changing his position over
the course of the twenty minutes he was examined and
flushed when he was asked a tough question. After the
lawyers finished, a man from the jury asked a question
as banker during the backer at game, did the Prince
notice Gordon coming cheating? Albert said no. Then the juror
(19:45):
asked if he believed the charges against Gordon coming at
the time, and Albert said yes. Even though journalists and
spectators alike were not entirely impressed with Albert's performance, the
defendants had bigger prop Lycett Green, the member of the
Wilson family most incensed by Gordon. Cummings's conduct, was a
(20:08):
disaster on the stand. According to one report, Green was
quote deplorable in every way, voice, manner, and matter. As
he was cross examined, Green lost control of his emotions
and seemed to barely remember anything about that night. He
did not understand the rules of baccarat and could hardly
(20:31):
explain how Gordon Cumming cheated in the first place. To
be frank, I don't understand the rules of baccarat either,
and it seems a little vague to me. But even
worse on Monday, June eighth, the barrister tore the Wilson's
case apart. He pointed out that nobody except Stanley Wilson
(20:51):
Arthur Wilson's young son saw any foul play, except a
person who was already expecting to see it. He accused
Albert and his courtiers of only pretending to be friends
with Gordon, coming discarding him when he threatened the prince's reputation.
The barrister said, quote, there's a strong and subtle influence
(21:14):
of royalty, a personal influence which has perplexed the historian
with unknightly and dishonoring deeds done by men of character,
and done by them to save the interests of a
dynasty or to conceal the foibles of a prince. Even
though the jury and the tide of public opinion seemed
(21:37):
to have turned against the Prince, Albert would have to
wait until the next day to officially hear the verdict.
After seven days of testimony, June ninth, eighteen ninety one
was the final day of the tranby Croft trial. Lord Coleridge,
the Lord Chief Justice, who often incidentally kept a pet
(21:59):
ferret under his robes in the courtroom, spent four hours
summarizing the case. The press reported that in this speech
Lord Coleridge expressed a heavy bias against Gordon Coming, so
much so that the National Observer considered it a quote
melancholy and flagrant violation of the best traditions of the
(22:22):
English bench. After the summary, the jury deliberated. After thirteen minutes,
they emerged with their verdict. Gordon Coming was guilty of
cheating and the Wilsons were off the hook. As the
verdict was announced, spectators booed and hissed, mobbing the Wilson
family as they left the courtroom. Meanwhile, Gordon Coming emerged
(22:46):
as a hero, a martyr. Letters poured in from sympathetic
spectators emphasizing their support of Gordon Coming and his family.
The press and public alike were shocked and incensed at
the results of the case. On a month long trip
to Ascot, Prince Albert was booed at many public appearances.
(23:08):
Bishops wrote into newspapers to crying the prince's lack of
accountability for his illicit activities. One article in the Review
of Reviews interviewed various country gentlemen who asserted that the
Prince was a quote, wastrel and horrmonger. As The New
York Herald's L. J. Jennings wrote to a courdier, quote,
(23:32):
anyone would think that he had broken all the ten
commandments at once and murdered the Archbishop of Canterbury. And
it wasn't just the Prince who suffered reputation damage. The
backrat case reflected badly on the entire royal family. An
article in The New York Times wrote, quote the scandal
(23:52):
cannot fail to add to the growing conviction that quote
royalty is a burden to the British tax payer, for
which he fails to receive any equivalent. Queen Victoria worried
about the effects of the scandal on the rest of
the monarchy, telling her oldest daughter that the quote light
which has been thrown on Prince Albert's habits alarms and
(24:16):
shocks people so much for the example is so bad
the monarchy is almost in danger if he is lowered
and despised. Some royal officials suggested that the Queen issue
a public apology for Prince Albert's behavior, but the Prime
Minister objected to that course of action, arguing that the
(24:38):
morals of the prince's private life and reputation were not
the government concerns. The Prime Minister wrote, I confess, if
I had the advising of him, which I am not
likely to have, I should recommend him to sit still
and avoid backarat for six months, and at the end
(24:58):
of that time write a letter to some indiscreet person
who would publish it, saying that at the time of
the coming case there had been a great deal of
misunderstanding as to his views, but the circumstances of that
case had so convinced him of the evil that it
was liable to be caused by the game, that since
(25:18):
that time he had forbidden it to be played in
his presence. Such a declaration referring to what he had
done would suffice to deodorize him of the unpleasant aroma
which this case has left upon him and his surroundings,
But nothing else would be sufficient end quote. Prince Albert
(25:39):
did not follow the Prime Minister's advice. He did write
a private letter to the Archbishop a couple of months
later proclaiming his horror of gambling, but he undercut his
repentance by admitting that he thought a measly game of
cards or a day at the horse races barely counted
as gambling in the first place. He had plenty of
(26:01):
ire for the press in the letter, which had been
very severe and cruel, because they know I cannot defend myself.
Most of all, Albert was angry at Gordon Cumming himself.
He wrote that Gordon Cumming was a damned blaggard with
no sense of wrong or right, who had done his
utmost to mix his Albert's name up in the matter
(26:25):
in endeavoring to cloak his iniquities. According to Gordon Cumming's daughter,
the Prince completely ostracized him from his social circle, saying
that anyone who spoke to him would never be asked
to Marlborough House again. Also, no army or navy officer
was to accept invitations to shoot at Gordon Cumming's country estates.
(26:48):
Gordon Cumming was dismissed from the army, he resigned from
his social clubs, and none of his close friends ever
spoke to him again. But not letting the scandal stop
him in entirely, Gordon Cumming actually got married the day
after the verdict to a woman named Florence Josephine Garner
nicknamed Flip Flip, was an orphaned American heiress to a
(27:12):
textile fortune, and much to her family's chagrin, she had
refused to break off the engagement in the wake of
the scandal. Only about six people attended the wedding at
Holy Trinity Church. When Gordon Cumming returned to Scotland with
his wife, he was greeted with an address from the
Provost and quote great rejoicings. Even though he had lost
(27:37):
his social circle, he at least had his wife's annual
income of eighty thousand dollars a year to live off of.
Despite the public scrutiny, the trial didn't really seem to
affect Albert's behavior in the long run. He still gambled,
but more discreetly. This time. He did give up backer
at though choosing to play whist and instead. That's the
(28:05):
story of the tranby Croft affair, but stick around to
hear about how Albert's relationship with his mistress, Daisy Babbling
Brooke leaked to the press. Not long after the backrat
(28:26):
case died down, Prince Albert was beset with yet another
public scandal. Lord and Lady Beresford, to other aristocrats, had
been cast out of Prince Albert's social circle, much to
their dismay, while Daisy Brooke, Lady Beresford's sworn enemy, was
publicly welcomed at Marlborough House. Humiliated and seeking revenge and
(28:51):
hoping to capitalize on the Prince's bad reputation, Lord Beresford
wrote a letter to the Prince threatening to go public
with the Prince's affair with Daisy Brook if he didn't
accept Lady Beresford back into Marrowsborough House. Lord Beresford gave
the letter to another friend of Albert and instructed him
(29:12):
to pass it along to the Prime Minister, warning of
grave events in store. The friend refused and tried to
convince the Beresfords to back down if he could convince
the Prince to privately apologize, but it was too late.
Another society woman published a pamphlet that detailed the Prince's
(29:32):
affair with Lady Brook and their beef with Lord and
Lady Beresford. This pamphlet caused a stir. According to a
report from Truth magazine, hostesses who managed to get hold
of a copy held readings only to quote find their
drawing rooms more crowded than if a dozen prima donnas
(29:54):
were on the bill of fare. The Duchess of Manchester
hosted one of these readings, and the Prince was so
incensed that he refused to speak to her for over
a decade. The Prime Minister finally stepped in and convinced
Lady Brooke to withdraw from court to protect her reputation.
(30:15):
He then drafted letters to try to repair the relationship
between Albert and the Beresfords for them both to sign.
Lord Beresford admitted that circumstances had occurred, which led Lady
Charles Beresford and her friends to believe it was his
Royal Highness's intention publicly to wound her feelings, while the
(30:39):
Prince signed a document that denied he ever had such
an intention. It's incredible how adult men and some of
the most powerful people in the country can behave so
much like high schoolers. Noble Blood is a production of
(31:15):
iHeart Radio and Grim and Mild from Aaron Mankey. Noble
Blood is hosted by me Dana Schwartz, with additional writing
and research by Hannah Johnston, Hannahswick, Courtney Sender, Amy Hit
and Julia Milani. The show is edited and produced by
Jesse Funk, with supervising producer rima il KLi and executive
(31:38):
producers Aaron Mankey, Trevor Young, and Matt Frederick. For more
podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grimm
and Mild from Aaron Manky Listener discretion advised. On September eighth,
eighteen ninety, the Prince of Wales, Albert Edward aka the
son of Queen Victoria and the future King Edward the sixth,
(00:22):
arrived in the town of Hull for a night of
debauchery with a retinue of fellow bachelors and ladies. He
was staying at an italianate mansion given the slightly pretentious
name tran be Croft, an estate owned by the wealthy
shipowner Arthur Wilson. After dinner, someone in the group proposed
(00:44):
that they all play baccarat. Though baccarat had been recently
made illegal if money was involved, it was still all
the rage amongst the upper crust. Albert would frequently spend
evenings at Marlborough House playing a backie, as he called it,
when he wasn't going to the opera or attending wild
(01:06):
parties with courts girls. Even though there was no baccerrat
table at tranby Croft, the guests made a makeshift one
by pulling three tables together and covering them with a
colored tapestry in case you're unfamiliar. In Baccert, there are
two participants, the player and the banker, who each draw
(01:27):
two cards face down on the table. The other participants
bet on either the player or the banker's hand, depending
on which they believe will add up closest to nine.
That evening, Albert played the banker. He passed out fancy
leather counters stamped on one side with the Prince of
(01:49):
Wales's feathers in gold, and on the other with either
two pounds or five pounds, essentially personalized poker chips. While
the game appeared to be proceeding as normal, Arthur Wilson's
son noticed something suspicious. Another player, Fourth Baronet Sir William
(02:10):
Gordon Cumming, was keeping track of whether the banker or
player won on a piece of scrap paper. Wilson's son,
a young man in his twenties, thought he saw Gordon
Cumming secretly add extra money to his bet when the
player's cards were good, and withdraw money when the player's
(02:31):
cards were bad. Wilson's son turned to another player at
the table and told him the man next to me
is cheating. Lo and behold. When that player started observing
Gordon Cummings, he caught him cheating as well. Neither that
player nor Wilson's son said anything at the time, perhaps
(02:52):
loath to call out a gentleman. But when the game
ended and the group went off to bed, the two
discs gust what they should do next. Wilson's son was
relatively low rank. He was considered a lay about who
had dropped out of Cambridge and stagnated. Similarly, his friend
was an officer in Gordon Cumming's regiment. He wouldn't feel
(03:17):
comfortable betraying his superior's loyalty, and so the pair mutually
agreed to hold their tongues. But the cheating wouldn't stay
secret for long. Wilson's son told his brother in law
and his mother, who had exclaimed, for goodness's sake, don't
let us have a scandal here. But despite her very
(03:41):
precient warning, a scandal this became, and unfortunately for her,
a scandal that became named after their house. This minor
cheating scandal among gentlemen friends would spiral out of control
until the Prince of Wales himself, the heir to the throne,
(04:01):
ended up being put on trial. One of the only
times in English history that a senior royal has appeared
in court. I'm Danish Schwartz and this is noble blood.
The evening after that first game of backer at Albert,
(04:21):
Gordon Cumming, the Wilsons and the rest of the crew
staying at Tranby Croft all sat down for another game.
The Wilsons saw Gordon Cumming cheat again, using the same
method he had attempted the night before. This time, the
Wilson family spoke out. The following day, after watching the
(04:42):
horse races at Doncaster, the Wilsons went to two courtiers
and revealed what they had seen. Despite having no physical
evidence to prove their case, the two courtiers took the
accusation seriously and decided to go to the Prince before
confronting Gordon c Coming about it. The courtiers decided to
(05:03):
approach Albert before dinner, and they told him about the
developing scandal. Albert was horrified. He believed the accusation immediately.
It's actually a bit strange how quickly he believed the accusation,
given that he and Gordon coming were old friends while
the Wilsons were near strangers. Reflecting later, the Prince would
(05:26):
say quote the charges appeared to be so unanimous that
it was the proper course. No other course was open
to me than to believe them. They decided that the
best way to quash this cheating scandal would be to
confront Gordon Coming about it before the next game of
baccarat began. The two courtiers initially went to Gordon Coming
(05:49):
privately and warned him that he had been charged with cheating,
but Gordon Comming brushed it off. Quote do you believe
the statements of a parcel of inex vurienced boys? He asked. Later,
the Wilsons sat down with Albert and Gordon Cumming and
made the accusation to his face. Gordon Cumming tried to
(06:11):
dispute the story once again, but Albert retorted, what can
you do? There are five accusers against you. The group
mandated that Gordon Cumming leave the room for half an hour.
When he returned, he was asked to sign a document
which stated that Albert, the Wilsons, and the courtiers agreed
(06:32):
to keep his cheating a secret if Gordon Cumming agreed
to quote never play cards again as long as he lived.
Gordon Cumming refused to sign the document since it would
function as an admission of guilt, but the Wilsons were
emphatic that if he didn't they would spread the story
at the race course the next day, and so finally
(06:54):
he signed the document along with the Prince and the
nine other men who had play laid backrat with him.
In case you were wondering how much he was being
accused of stealing, in his two games at tranby Croft,
Gordon Cumming had made two hundred and twenty five pounds
over twenty four thousand pounds in twenty twenty five. Adjusted
(07:18):
for inflation. This was a significant amount of money, but
it wouldn't have raised any red flags amongst the high
rolling Marlborough House set. Instead, the real issue with Gordon
Cumming's cheating was the breach of honor. It indicated that
he could not be trusted. That said, while Gordon Cumbing
(07:39):
was willing to sign the document under pressure, in the end,
it's still unclear whether or not he really cheated. After all,
the only evidence we have is hearsay from the Wilsons,
who had almost no baccarat experience. A lawyer in nineteen
seventy seven, looking at the case nearly a century later,
(08:00):
actually suggested that Gordon Cumming must have been innocent, arguing
that a man trying to cheat would not so brazenly
place his extra counters on the table where everyone could
have seen them, But historian Jane Ridley contends that Gordon
Cumming was probably guilty. It turned out that cheating at bacrat,
(08:22):
especially when playing with the prince, was relatively common practice.
Albert insisted on playing baccarat at most country house parties,
much to his courtier's chagrin, who were tired of losing money.
Instead of potentially angering the Prince by refusing to play,
they would cheat so they could resist the Prince in
(08:43):
secret and avoid losing too much. The two witnesses, who
were younger members of the court, may not have known
that cheating was so rampant, and naively made it a
bigger deal than it actually was. One courtier, reflecting on
this period, said, quote, we all cheated. It was such
(09:03):
a nuisance being made to play and lose money, and
the young men longed to be dancing instead. But coming
cheated too much, and he had a lot of enemies
end quote. Still, it was surprising that the Wilsons were
willing to go up against Gordon Comming. Gordon Cumming owned
thirty eight thousand acres of land in Scotland, and he
(09:27):
had a noble lineage going all the way back to Charlemagne.
More importantly, he was close with Albert, even letting the
Prince use his home in Belgravia for secret liaisons. Meanwhile,
the Wilsons were, as Jane Ridley put it, quote second
generation nouveau reche, and they had no specifically close ties
(09:49):
with the Prince. But Gordon Cumming did have a reputation,
particularly one as a lithario. He was known for being handsome,
with a five mustache, a keen wit, and such a
willingness to speak out of turn that he was called
quote the most arrogant man in London. He was also
(10:10):
quite the womanizer, who managed to I'm quoting him here
perforate as he called it, many women, and had a
controversial preference for married women. He once boasted all the
married women try me. That may have been his downfall.
(10:30):
Two days before Gordon Cumming was caught cheating at tranby Croft,
Albert arrived at Gordon Cumming's London home only to find
him seducing Daisy Brook, Albert's married mistress, much to Albert's humiliation.
He might have wanted to punish Gordon Cumming, and this
(10:50):
cheating scandal gave him the perfect opportunity to do so,
but still possibly clouded by a desire for revenge, Albert
made a major mistake in signing his name on the
document where Gordon Cumming admitted his guilt. His involvement with
the scandal made it much more high profile, and his
(11:13):
signature was evident that he had been gambling illegally. Queen
Victoria later wrote, the incredible and shameful thing is that
others dragged Albert into it and urged him to sign
the paper, which of course he should never have done.
At the time, Albert had no idea what a mistake
(11:34):
he had made. His confrontation with Gordon Cumming seemed to
settle the cheating dispute, and he had agreed in writing
never to speak of it again. Albert sealed Gordon Cumming's
signed paper and an account of the events by one
of his courtiers in a packet to keep it safe.
He left Tranbycroft the morning after and was literally off
(11:58):
to the races for another day of gambling and cavorting,
but soon the secrets of tranby Croft would be out,
and they would drag the Prince into a public scandal
beyond his wildest imagination. In January eighteen ninety one, Albert
(12:18):
saw a shocking headline in the American Press. One paper
published a portrait of his mistress, Daisy Brook with the
headline the Babbling Brook. The story detailed the backrat scandal,
including the Prince's involvement, and accused Daisy of leaking it.
Daisy wrote to the editors denying the charges, arguing that
(12:42):
she was not at tranby Croft at the time and
could not have known about Gordon Cummings cheating, but the
editors replied that the story had been submitted by their
London correspondent, a quote lady moving in the Best Society,
who swore that day had revealed the secret if she
(13:02):
did spill the beans. Daisy may have learned the story
from Albert himself. After Albert's stint at tranby Croft, he
met up with the Lord and Lady Brooke for Tea
and could possibly have told the couple what happened. Daisy,
known for her indiscretion, could have plausibly spread the story
(13:24):
even further In any case, the secret was out. A
few weeks earlier, Gordon Cumming begged Albert to let him
back into his social circle. The forfeiture of your esteem,
he wrote, is the quote cruelest blow of all. But
despite Gordon Cumming's groveling, Albert did not respond. But now
(13:46):
that the tranby Croft affair was public knowledge, Gordon Cumming
changed his mind. He wasn't going to make good. He
prepared to bring an action for slander against the Wilson
family and take them to court, claiming five thousand pounds
in damages. The Prince's courtiers tried to avoid the embarrassment
(14:09):
of having Albert appear in civil court by putting a
military court on the case instead, which would deal with
the matter privately. The Adjunct General initially agreed to adjudicate
the case, but then he changed his mind, believing that
doing so would be an unfair intrusion on justice. The
(14:30):
Prince appealed to his brother Arthur, who was the colonel
in chief of Gordon Cumming's regiment, and he too refused
to get involved. He said, quote, being the Prince's brother,
it was more than ever incumbent on me not to
allow myself to be used in a way that might
cause the world to think that Cumming was being sacrificed
(14:53):
to the prince. He thought, probably correctly, that it would
fuel conspiratorial thinking and mistrust if the military protected the
monarchy from the normal rule of law. Arthur was right.
Albert was ambassted in the press for attempting to hamper
the court case, while Gordon Cumming looked like a martyr
(15:17):
being unfairly punished by London's elite. Albert braced himself for
the rebuke of his mother, Queen Victoria, and he refused
to go see her at Windsor if she planned to
scold him about gambling. One of the queen's friends stepped
in and tried to convince her to be gentle with Albert.
(15:37):
Victoria seemed sympathetic to her son, who had been dreadfully
attacked and was in a dreadful state. In her words,
She told Albert about her dislike of gambling in general terms,
but let him off the hook for the most part. Still,
Albert seemed distressed about his upcoming court case. He canceled
(16:01):
his spring trip to the south of France. One side
of his beard apparently had turned gray from the stress.
He discussed the case constantly and sought his friend's advice
on what to do, but all of them told him
to sit back and let the court proceed. Even the
Queen acknowledged that although it was a quote sad thing
(16:22):
that Bertie was dragged into it, the case might be
a quote shock to society and to gambling that would
promote better behavior. She hoped. This silver lining was no
solace to Albert quote. The whole thing has caused me
the most serious annoyance and vexation, he wrote. Finally, the
(16:45):
trial began on June first, eighteen ninety one. While the
trial was set to start at eleven, ticket holders began
getting in line at nine thirty, and the court was
already packed to the brim by ten thirty. The case
had become a popular sensation, inspiring not only extensive press
(17:05):
coverage but also several music hall songs and jokes about
backing a rat get it. The spectators dressed up for
the proceedings, with women in their most fashionable dresses and bonnets,
armed with opera glasses to get a better look. The
Pall Mall Gazette reported that the court presented an appearance
(17:29):
which save for the dignity of its own fittings and
its rose of learned looking lawbooks might have been taken
for a theater at a fashionable matinee. A little before eleven,
Albert finally entered the courtroom wearing a black frock coat,
and he took a seat in a red Morocco chair
(17:50):
right in front. The Prince didn't look too stressed as
the proceedings began. He smiled and kept his arms crossed
throughout the opening stone. The Solicitor General made an opening
speech on behalf of Gordon coming, and after that he
questioned Gordon coming on the stand, emphasizing his innocence and
(18:11):
that he was unfairly accused. To save the rest of
the court. The Illustrated London News wrote that Gordon Cumming
made an admirable witness, leaning easily on the rail, his
gray gloved left hand resting easily on the bare right,
perfectly dressed, his tones, equitable, firm, neither overhurried nor over deliberate,
(18:37):
cool but not too cool end quote. His performance didn't
seem to threaten Albert. One of Albert's courtiers reported that
the Prince was rather tired after sitting in court for
six hours, but seemed confident that his side would prevail,
saying the case was going strongly against coming. It was
(18:58):
Albert's turn to testify the next day. He didn't seem
particularly nervous at first, but one journalist observed him stroking
his beard for seven minutes, and another thought he looked
quote anxious and worn on the stand. The Prince responded quickly,
in such a hoarse, low voice that he was hard
(19:20):
to hear. He seemed non committal, changing his position over
the course of the twenty minutes he was examined and
flushed when he was asked a tough question. After the
lawyers finished, a man from the jury asked a question
as banker during the backer at game, did the Prince
notice Gordon coming cheating? Albert said no. Then the juror
(19:45):
asked if he believed the charges against Gordon coming at
the time, and Albert said yes. Even though journalists and
spectators alike were not entirely impressed with Albert's performance, the
defendants had bigger prop Lycett Green, the member of the
Wilson family most incensed by Gordon. Cummings's conduct, was a
(20:08):
disaster on the stand. According to one report, Green was
quote deplorable in every way, voice, manner, and matter. As
he was cross examined, Green lost control of his emotions
and seemed to barely remember anything about that night. He
did not understand the rules of baccarat and could hardly
(20:31):
explain how Gordon Cumming cheated in the first place. To
be frank, I don't understand the rules of baccarat either,
and it seems a little vague to me. But even
worse on Monday, June eighth, the barrister tore the Wilson's
case apart. He pointed out that nobody except Stanley Wilson
(20:51):
Arthur Wilson's young son saw any foul play, except a
person who was already expecting to see it. He accused
Albert and his courtiers of only pretending to be friends
with Gordon, coming discarding him when he threatened the prince's reputation.
The barrister said, quote, there's a strong and subtle influence
(21:14):
of royalty, a personal influence which has perplexed the historian
with unknightly and dishonoring deeds done by men of character,
and done by them to save the interests of a
dynasty or to conceal the foibles of a prince. Even
though the jury and the tide of public opinion seemed
(21:37):
to have turned against the Prince, Albert would have to
wait until the next day to officially hear the verdict.
After seven days of testimony, June ninth, eighteen ninety one
was the final day of the tranby Croft trial. Lord Coleridge,
the Lord Chief Justice, who often incidentally kept a pet
(21:59):
ferret under his robes in the courtroom, spent four hours
summarizing the case. The press reported that in this speech
Lord Coleridge expressed a heavy bias against Gordon Coming, so
much so that the National Observer considered it a quote
melancholy and flagrant violation of the best traditions of the
(22:22):
English bench. After the summary, the jury deliberated. After thirteen minutes,
they emerged with their verdict. Gordon Coming was guilty of
cheating and the Wilsons were off the hook. As the
verdict was announced, spectators booed and hissed, mobbing the Wilson
family as they left the courtroom. Meanwhile, Gordon Coming emerged
(22:46):
as a hero, a martyr. Letters poured in from sympathetic
spectators emphasizing their support of Gordon Coming and his family.
The press and public alike were shocked and incensed at
the results of the case. On a month long trip
to Ascot, Prince Albert was booed at many public appearances.
(23:08):
Bishops wrote into newspapers to crying the prince's lack of
accountability for his illicit activities. One article in the Review
of Reviews interviewed various country gentlemen who asserted that the
Prince was a quote, wastrel and horrmonger. As The New
York Herald's L. J. Jennings wrote to a courdier, quote,
(23:32):
anyone would think that he had broken all the ten
commandments at once and murdered the Archbishop of Canterbury. And
it wasn't just the Prince who suffered reputation damage. The
backrat case reflected badly on the entire royal family. An
article in The New York Times wrote, quote the scandal
(23:52):
cannot fail to add to the growing conviction that quote
royalty is a burden to the British tax payer, for
which he fails to receive any equivalent. Queen Victoria worried
about the effects of the scandal on the rest of
the monarchy, telling her oldest daughter that the quote light
which has been thrown on Prince Albert's habits alarms and
(24:16):
shocks people so much for the example is so bad
the monarchy is almost in danger if he is lowered
and despised. Some royal officials suggested that the Queen issue
a public apology for Prince Albert's behavior, but the Prime
Minister objected to that course of action, arguing that the
(24:38):
morals of the prince's private life and reputation were not
the government concerns. The Prime Minister wrote, I confess, if
I had the advising of him, which I am not
likely to have, I should recommend him to sit still
and avoid backarat for six months, and at the end
(24:58):
of that time write a letter to some indiscreet person
who would publish it, saying that at the time of
the coming case there had been a great deal of
misunderstanding as to his views, but the circumstances of that
case had so convinced him of the evil that it
was liable to be caused by the game, that since
(25:18):
that time he had forbidden it to be played in
his presence. Such a declaration referring to what he had
done would suffice to deodorize him of the unpleasant aroma
which this case has left upon him and his surroundings,
But nothing else would be sufficient end quote. Prince Albert
(25:39):
did not follow the Prime Minister's advice. He did write
a private letter to the Archbishop a couple of months
later proclaiming his horror of gambling, but he undercut his
repentance by admitting that he thought a measly game of
cards or a day at the horse races barely counted
as gambling in the first place. He had plenty of
(26:01):
ire for the press in the letter, which had been
very severe and cruel, because they know I cannot defend myself.
Most of all, Albert was angry at Gordon Cumming himself.
He wrote that Gordon Cumming was a damned blaggard with
no sense of wrong or right, who had done his
utmost to mix his Albert's name up in the matter
(26:25):
in endeavoring to cloak his iniquities. According to Gordon Cumming's daughter,
the Prince completely ostracized him from his social circle, saying
that anyone who spoke to him would never be asked
to Marlborough House again. Also, no army or navy officer
was to accept invitations to shoot at Gordon Cumming's country estates.
(26:48):
Gordon Cumming was dismissed from the army, he resigned from
his social clubs, and none of his close friends ever
spoke to him again. But not letting the scandal stop
him in entirely, Gordon Cumming actually got married the day
after the verdict to a woman named Florence Josephine Garner
nicknamed Flip Flip, was an orphaned American heiress to a
(27:12):
textile fortune, and much to her family's chagrin, she had
refused to break off the engagement in the wake of
the scandal. Only about six people attended the wedding at
Holy Trinity Church. When Gordon Cumming returned to Scotland with
his wife, he was greeted with an address from the
Provost and quote great rejoicings. Even though he had lost
(27:37):
his social circle, he at least had his wife's annual
income of eighty thousand dollars a year to live off of.
Despite the public scrutiny, the trial didn't really seem to
affect Albert's behavior in the long run. He still gambled,
but more discreetly. This time. He did give up backer
at though choosing to play whist and instead. That's the
(28:05):
story of the tranby Croft affair, but stick around to
hear about how Albert's relationship with his mistress, Daisy Babbling
Brooke leaked to the press. Not long after the backrat
(28:26):
case died down, Prince Albert was beset with yet another
public scandal. Lord and Lady Beresford, to other aristocrats, had
been cast out of Prince Albert's social circle, much to
their dismay, while Daisy Brooke, Lady Beresford's sworn enemy, was
publicly welcomed at Marlborough House. Humiliated and seeking revenge and
(28:51):
hoping to capitalize on the Prince's bad reputation, Lord Beresford
wrote a letter to the Prince threatening to go public
with the Prince's affair with Daisy Brook if he didn't
accept Lady Beresford back into Marrowsborough House. Lord Beresford gave
the letter to another friend of Albert and instructed him
(29:12):
to pass it along to the Prime Minister, warning of
grave events in store. The friend refused and tried to
convince the Beresfords to back down if he could convince
the Prince to privately apologize, but it was too late.
Another society woman published a pamphlet that detailed the Prince's
(29:32):
affair with Lady Brook and their beef with Lord and
Lady Beresford. This pamphlet caused a stir. According to a
report from Truth magazine, hostesses who managed to get hold
of a copy held readings only to quote find their
drawing rooms more crowded than if a dozen prima donnas
(29:54):
were on the bill of fare. The Duchess of Manchester
hosted one of these readings, and the Prince was so
incensed that he refused to speak to her for over
a decade. The Prime Minister finally stepped in and convinced
Lady Brooke to withdraw from court to protect her reputation.
(30:15):
He then drafted letters to try to repair the relationship
between Albert and the Beresfords for them both to sign.
Lord Beresford admitted that circumstances had occurred, which led Lady
Charles Beresford and her friends to believe it was his
Royal Highness's intention publicly to wound her feelings, while the
(30:39):
Prince signed a document that denied he ever had such
an intention. It's incredible how adult men and some of
the most powerful people in the country can behave so
much like high schoolers. Noble Blood is a production of
(31:15):
iHeart Radio and Grim and Mild from Aaron Mankey. Noble
Blood is hosted by me Dana Schwartz, with additional writing
and research by Hannah Johnston, Hannahswick, Courtney Sender, Amy Hit
and Julia Milani. The show is edited and produced by
Jesse Funk, with supervising producer rima il KLi and executive
(31:38):
producers Aaron Mankey, Trevor Young, and Matt Frederick. For more
podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Host
Dana Schwartz
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