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Then father Albert died. The withdrawal of the brokenhearted Queen into seclusion proved a godsend to Bertie. Married off at 22 to Denmark's Alexandra, "the most beautiful Princess in Europe," he set to work making hay of every item in the old memorandum. Lounging in armchairs was his delight, bantering expressions his favorite form of speech, practical jokes his favorite game. He himself rarely looked again at his drawings and engravings, but legion were the ladies whom he invited upstairs to do so.
Beer & Skittles. In those days before popular photography, Author Cowles points out, even a Prince of Wales could safely indulge in "orgies"-in the improvement of royal morals, one Leica is worth a dozen archbishops. Soon "there was scarcely an important demimondaine who did not claim an acquaintance with the Prince of Wales." It was a sportive era, and the Prince took delight in "spirited battles with soda syphons, apple-pie beds, leaking hot-water bottles," and "an inkpot over a door which emptied its contents on [the Duke of Marlborough's] head." He liked clapping on a fireman's helmet and rushing to a good blaze with that celebrated fire buff, the Duke of Sutherland. When Bertie's pal "Harty-Tarty" (Lord Hartington) was keeping "Skittles," London's foremost courtesan, Bertie arranged for a bowling alley to be erected for Harty-Tarty at a civic reception. Explained the mayor: "We were informed by the Prince's equerry that your lordship was very fond of skittles."
Amid the indignities he instigated, Bertie remained royal to the core. No syphon ever played upon his head, no rubber bottle leaked upon his feet. At the least sign of disrespect "his blue eyes grew cold, and his lower lip protruded in the famous Guelph pout."
Bertie's trouble (like that of many playboys) was that he had no intelligent way of using his talents. Until he was 42 years old his mother allowed him to sit on only two House of Lords committees-one discussing "Plague of Cows," the other "Scarcity of Horses"-they were not subjects that "riveted his attention."
Behind Mother's Back. Author Cowles is at her best in describing how dogged Bertie eventually succeeded in working behind his mother's back. He was helped by friendly Cabinet ministers who recognized the value of a Prince of Wales who spoke French and German almost as well as English, had met all the rulers (most of them his relations) and all the leading political figures in Europe. "No royalty I have ever met," said the great Gladstone, "has such charm and tact as the Prince of Wales." Gradually Bertie's "unofficial" visits to European capitals became political feelers, all the better for being disguised as mere jaunts of pleasure. Thanks to his drawing-room and boudoir experience, he matured into a unique ambassador who "could assess men's motives unerringly" and knew "exactly how ... to pacify . . . reassure . . . captivate hostile critics [and] give real pleasure."