Illicit Facts About Alice Keppel, The Last Royal Mistress
People like to see the Victorian age as prim, proper, and buttoned-up, but Alice Keppel proves them all wrong. The uncrowned queen of the “naughty nineties,”
Keppel was one of the most scandalous women of her day—and most of her exploits went on behind tightly closed bedroom doors. Take a peek under her sheets for these facts about Alice Keppel.
1. She Was Super Privileged
On April 29, 1868, Alice Keppel was born with quite the dainty silver spoon in her mouth.
The daughter of Sir William Edmonstone and his wife Mary Elizabeth Parsons, little Alice’s family were prominent members of the English nobility and direct descendants of the royal House of Stuart.
Only, behind all this prestige and glamor was a very naughty girl.
2. She Preferred Boys
Alice’s full birth name was Alice Frederica Edmonstone, and growing up her parents nicknamed her “Freddie.”
She quickly earned this tomboyish name: Although she had just one brother and seven older sisters, Alice was always closest to her lone male sibling Archibald than any of the girls. In fact, she very much liked men in general…
3. She Had An Infamous Figure
When Keppel eventually became a full-blown woman, she was a full. blown. woman. The very picture of the Victorian ideal of beauty, Keppel had wide blue eyes, a tiny wasp waist, and—most infamously—a large, buxom chest. She also wasn’t afraid to show off her assets, and the tomboyish “Freddie” soon turned into “Flirtatious Freddie” because of her reputation around men. Then again, she did have one other crucial quality…
4. She Was More Than A Pretty Face
When it came to Alice, the society girl had a major secret weapon. She was extremely clever, and in a very particular way. While swanning about Victorian drawing rooms, Keppel had an incredible gift for keeping conversation going, directing it where she wanted to go, and avoiding where she didn’t want to go. In other words, she could be eminently discreet, and that skill set was about to serve her very well.
