my dear wife daisy
At 48, Bertie, the eldest son of Queen Victoria and thus the Prince of Wales, fell in love, and possibly for the first time, with socialite Daisy Greville, the original ‘It Girl’. She was beautiful, charming, sophisticated, and very rich. Her interesting family tree puts her mother, Blanche FitzRoy, as a descendant of Charles II through her most famous mistress, Nell Gwyn. Daisy’s extravagance led her to install a railway branch to take her guest directly to her house. As Countess of Warwick (and 20 years younger than the Prince), she was famous for the lavish parties she threw at Warwick Castle. She spent money frivolously and her daring parties were known as “organized adultery.”
In 1886, Bertie met Daisy at one of his lavish house parties. Her affair was common knowledge, but curiously there was very little documented evidence of their relationship, which has left historians baffled. A researcher, while reading Bertie’s journals, noticed that the D’s were spelled backwards and seemed to become more frequent after Bertie and Daisy’s first meeting. It is now believed that this symbol was the code used by Bertie to cover his tracks from his frequent liaisons with Daisy and the development of an intense relationship.
He referred to Daisy in his journals as ‘My dear wife Daisy’ and she slowly became the love of the prince’s life. She wrote her letters twice a day and saw her frequently for morning tea, long dinners, and regular social or private occasions. Historians have referred to this relationship as Bertie’s second marriage. He became more and more devoted to this remarkable woman.
Princess Alexandra had turned a blind eye to all of Bertie’s previous relationships, but this one was different. She felt threatened by Daisy and so she became more distant. She traveled abroad frequently and for long periods, visiting her family in Denmark. This was Alexandra’s way of punishing the prince, as she caused him severe public humiliation. Bertie’s unhealthy lifestyle was catching up with him. He was obese and smoked very strong cigarettes. At this point it is documented that he sought electrical treatment. This may have been due to impotence, as Daisy is believed to have loved sex and she was known to say, “I naturally mate with beauty or strength.” Bertie could not meet his criteria for beauty, and now his strength was fading.
Daisy’s insatiable appetite for sex led to a pregnancy by another man (millionaire Joe Laycock, who had served in the Boer War) and she wrote Bertie a letter to break off the 10-year romance. Her letter does not exist today, but Bertie’s reply does. In his reply to Daisy, he said that he had shown the letter to Princess Alexandra, who was ‘moved to tears’ and commented that ‘Out of evil would come good’.
Some believe that Daisy was one of the inspirations for the popular music hall song, “Daisy, Daisy. (Give me your answer. I’m half mad, all for your love)” which was composed in 1892.
After Edward VII’s death, Daisy unsuccessfully attempted to blackmail his son, King George V, by threatening to publish private letters from his father. After years of extravagant living, she had exhausted his vast inheritance and was struggling with poverty.
Although Bertie loved his Danish princess and adored his children, there was always a void in his life. This void he filled with lovers, who played a very important role in his life as a prince and as king of England.