Prince Harry’s anticipated testimony on Tuesday in a phone-hacking case would be the first time in over 130 years {that a} distinguished member of Britain’s royal household is cross-examined in courtroom.
The final time it occurred was in 1891, and it didn’t go properly for the royal household.
Prince Albert Edward — Queen Victoria’s eldest son, who went on to grow to be King Edward VII in 1901 — testified as a witness in a slander case that centered on a sport of baccarat gone unsuitable at which the prince had been current.
One of many gamers, Sir William Gordon-Cumming, had been accused of dishonest. The prince sided with the accusers, and Mr. Gordon-Cumming misplaced the case.
A neighborhood report from the time, as quoted in The Guardian, stated that Edward’s testimony lasted about 20 minutes and that it “wearied him exceedingly, and made him extraordinarily nervous.” The report additionally acknowledged that he couldn’t sit nonetheless. It was uncommon then, too, for such a distinguished member of the royal household — the long run king, no much less — to seem in courtroom.
“When a query extra urgent, extra to the purpose than normal, was put to him, the prince’s face was noticed to flush significantly, after which pale once more,” the report learn.
Richard Fitzwilliams, a royal commentator, stated: “You may see from studying this why it was subsequently determined that this isn’t one thing the royal household need. It confirmed you couldn’t solely defend even the son of the queen from cross-examination.”
A e book that was printed in 1899 revealed a letter by Edward during which he denounced the scandal and expressed the “deep ache and annoyance” he suffered due to it.
“A current trial, which nobody deplores greater than I do, and which I used to be powerless to forestall, gave event for the press to make most bitter and unjust assaults upon me, realizing I used to be defenseless,” Edward wrote.
He continued, “The entire matter has now died out, and I feel, subsequently, that it could be inopportune for me in any public method to allude once more to the painful topic which has introduced such a torrent of abuse upon me.”
Edward’s testimony in 1891 was not the primary time that the long run king appeared in courtroom. Twenty years earlier, he testified within the divorce case of Harriet Mordaunt, the spouse of an English member of Parliament, who had named Edward as considered one of her lovers. (Edward denied it in courtroom.) Throughout that trial, Edward appeared to have been within the witness field for only some minutes, Mr. Fitzwilliams stated, and that look appeared to have had much less of an influence on his repute.
Edward — referred to as “Bertie” to the individuals near him — had loved a repute of being a womanizer with a love for enjoying playing cards.
There are key variations between Harry’s deliberate courtroom look on Tuesday and Edward’s appearances. Edward was referred to as as a witness each occasions he appeared in courtroom, whereas Harry is likely one of the plaintiffs, that means he in all probability knew that cross-examination was in his future.
Moreover, whereas Harry is a high-profile member of the royal household, he’s not a working royal. And he has by no means been first in line to the throne, in contrast to Edward, who was the crown prince. Nonetheless, if the questions journey Harry up, it may very well be embarrassing, consultants stated.
“There received’t be the security web that he’s had with numerous interviews,” Mr. Fitzwilliams, the royal commentator, stated.
Not all press was unfriendly to Edward in 1891. In an article in regards to the final day of testimony within the baccarat slander case, The New York Occasions wrote that he was “affable as ever” and “faultlessly dressed.”
Edward was king for under 9 years. In 1910, he died of pneumonia, leaving the throne to his son George V.
