BACCARAT SCANDAL

Evening Star, Issue 19762, 12 January 1928, Page 9

BACCARAT SCANDAL

LATE KING EDWARD’S EVIDENCE IN SLANDER SUIT DEATH OF FAMOUS HOSTESS RECALLS CASE The death, in November, of Mis Arthur Wilson, widow of a wealthy ship owner of Hull, the head of the Wilson Steamship Line, recalls the famous “Baccarat Scandal” of 1891, which saw the late King Edward, then Prince of Wales, go into the witness box in the Queen’s Bench Division in the sensational slander action brought by a baronet colonel of the Scots Guards. Mrs Wilson ; who was eighty-four years of age, died in London after a five months’ illness. Her husband died in 1909. ■ In the days of Queen Victoria and King Edward Mr and Mrs Wilson were widely known in the social world, and entertained lavishly at Tranby Croft and in London. Their guests frequently included royalty. King Edward (then Prince of Wales) was one of the guests at a week-end party during Doncaster week in 1890, which had a sequel in the famous lawsuit. The party, besides the Priuce, included Lord Coventry, General Owen Williams, and Sir William Gordon-Cumming, Bart., Lieut.Colonel of the Scots Guards The colonel had been included in the house party on the Prince’s suggestion. SOON THE TALK OF SOCIETY. Baccarat was freely played, the Prince joining in. One night while play was proceeding one of the players' was accused of cheating, and a private inquiry was held. On the night of the accusation Sir WiUjain, who strongly denied the allegation, was persuaded under great pressure to sign an undertaking not to play cards again, but stating that ho did so not as an admission of guilt. His desire was that a scandal should not arise in which the Prince might be concerned. All the members of the party save one wore bound to secrecy, but it was all known the next. day, and the following February Sir William issued a writ. The case came into court in the early summer of 1891 in the form of an action for slander brought by Sir William Gordon-Cumming, Bart., against Mr Berkely Levett, Mr and Mrs Lycett Green, and Mr and Mrs Arthur Wilson, During the long hearing the. Prince of Wales was called into the witness box (for the plaintiff), while other witnesses were the Earl of Coventry and Mrs Arthur Wilson. The case was one which Sir Edward Clarke (who led for Sir William GordonCumming) described in his autobiography, published in 1918, as threatening “to nave consequences in England' as grave as those which in Ireland followed upon the Parnell divorce.” In his evidence, Sir William GordonCumming stated that he denied the charge of cheating w’hen he saw the Prince of Wales later in the evening, and said: “Your Royal Highness will see what a terrible thing this is to a man like myself, who has” endeavored for twenty-five years to live the life of an officer and a gentleman.” The Prjnce, Sir William added, replied: “What can I do? There are five accusers against you.” It is recorded that on the seventh da,y, when the jury, after an absence of only thirteen minutes, found for the five defendants,, there was silence “ and thereafter loud hissing in court,” which the ushers failed to suppress.”

JUROR AND THE PRINCE. When the Prince gave his evidence ho said that he had known Sir William for twenty years, and had entertained him on several occasions. Having described the incidents at Tranby Croft after the accusation, the Prince was leaving the box when a, juror detained him, and this dialogue took place:— The Juror: “Are we to understand, your Royal Highness, that you saw nothing of the alleged malpractice?” The Prince: “When you are dealing it is very easy not to see, and when you are playing at a country house you don’t suspect anything of the sort.” Tim Juror: “What is your opinion of the charges?” The Prince (with a shrug of the shoulders): “There were five of themI had no other course.” THE PRINCE’S ERROR. After the trial the Prince of Wales acknowledged in the House of Commons, through the then Secretary for War, that he had made an error of judgment in not demanding that the officer concerned should report the whole matter to his commanding officer. . . Sir William Gordon-Cumming, m his eightieth year, js living on his Scottish estates. It was at tho London house of the Wilsons, in Grosvonor place, that poker, puff hall, and billiard bluff were first played. During latter years illhealth prevented Mrs Wilson from taking an active part in social life, and tho house in Grosvenor place was sold. Since her husband’s death she had lived mostly in Yorkshire and at her villa in the south of France. THE LADY’S DISTRESS. Mrs Arthur Wilson, gayest and most hospitable woman in the ’seventies and ’eighties, never completely recovered from the effects of the distressing case that in the summer of 1891 made Tranby Croft the most talked of country house in Europe.. She and her husband felt their position in the matter deeply, and it took much of the joy of life from them. Of late years Mrs Wilson lived mostly on the Riviera, where she had a beautiful home and usually the companionship of her youngest daughter, Mrs Richard Warde. She is not the last survivor of those whose names were Connected with the case. Lord Coventry is living, so is Sir Edward Clarke, who acted in the lawsuit for Sir William GordonCumming. He had against him Lord Russell, of Killowen, long since at rest, and with Lord Russell was a young man, Mr Asquith, whose first wife left him a widower that very year.