In public, the Victorians were some of the stuffiest, snobbiest, most repressed people in history. Behind closed doors, it was a different story. In private, Victorian England was rife with drink, debauchery, and scandal—and no one did it better than Queen Victoria's infamous son, King Edward VII.
What kind of king has a private room in a Parisian brothel, complete with a custom-made “love chair”? Edward VII, that’s who. “Dirty Bertie” did everything in his power to keep his constant affairs out of the public eye—but he was so prolific, it was nearly impossible to keep it all under wraps.
His bedroom escapades may have fueled the gossip mill for centuries and his mother may have been utterly ashamed of him, but more than anything, Edward VII knew how to be a royal with style.
