Nellie Clifden

Nellie Clifden was a nineteenth-century actress, believed to be of Irish extraction.

Image purported to be of Nellie Clifden a nineteenth-century actress

She is known for her brief sexual relationship with the 19-year old Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (Bertie), prior to his marriage to Princess Alexandra of Denmark. She met him at a party in England and again when the Prince was spending 10 weeks at Curragh Camp in Ireland with the Grenadier Guards in the late summer of 1861.

The Prince had previously been a sexual novice. While they were at Cambridge, Charles Carrington arranged for a liaison with Clifden. Guards officers later brought her to Ireland from England for the same purpose, and coded notes in the Prince's appointment book refer to trysts with "NC" on 6, 9, and 11 September 1861.[1] The relationship may have lasted longer.[2][3][4]

Information about the events reached the Prince's parents. His father Prince Albert duly visited his son at Cambridge, where they took a long walk in the rain, presumably to discuss the Prince's behaviour. Prince Albert's biographer Jules Stewart, says that Albert had lost faith in his son.[5]

Prince Albert died soon after, and Queen Victoria attributed her husband's death to his worry over his son's conduct, particularly Bertie's "fall" at Curragh Camp; Albert had died of a broken heart, she incorrectly believed. She was also quoted as saying that Albert had been "killed by that dreadful business."[6] At the time he was thought to have died of typhoid fever,[7][8][9][10] but more recent research suggests that Albert actually died from complications of Crohn's disease.[11]

The Prince of Wales's affair with Clifden resumed after his return to London, which gave rise to gossip and scandal, but did not last long.[12]

He wrote to Carrington from Constantinople, while on an official tour in spring 1862: "I am sorry to see by your letter that you still keep up an acquaintance with NC [Nelly Clifden], as I had hoped that by this time that that was over".[12] During his foreign tour, the Royal Family planned his marriage to Alexandra of Denmark, which took place in 1863.

Nothing is known of Clifden's later life.

References

1. Quinn, Tom (20 September 2016). Mrs Keppel: Mistress to the King. Biteback Publishing. ISBN 9781785901539 – via Google Books.
2. Arnold, Catharine (25 July 2017). Edward VII: The Prince of Wales and the Women He Loved. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 9781466877948 – via Google Books.
3. Weintraub, Stanley (1 April 2000). Uncrowned King: The Life of Prince Albert. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9780743206099 – via Google Books.
4. Matson, John (29 February 2012). Sandringham Days: The Domestic Life of the Royal Family in Norfolk, 1862-1952. The History Press. ISBN 9780752483115 – via Google Books.
5. Stewart, Jules (30 October 2011). Albert: A Life. I.B.Tauris. ISBN 9780857730107 – via Google Books.
6. Hibbert, Christopher (2000) Queen Victoria: A Personal History, London: HarperCollins, ISBN 0-00-638843-4, p. 299
   * St Aubyn, Giles (1991) Queen Victoria: A Portrait, London: Sinclair-Stevenson, ISBN 1-85619-086-2, p. 346
7. Hubbard, Kate (1 June 2017). Queen Victoria: The woman who ruled the world. Short Books. ISBN 9781780723242 – via Google Books.
8. Kiste, John Van der (1 January 1980). Edward VII's Children. The History Press. ISBN 9780752495170 – via Google Books.
9. Longford, Elizabeth (26 August 2011). Queen Victoria. The History Press. ISBN 9780752469133 – via Google Books.
10. Matson, John (29 February 2012). Sandringham Days: The Domestic Life of the Royal Family in Norfolk, 1862-1952. The History Press. ISBN 9780752483115 – via Google Books.
11. "What killed Prince Albert?". HistoryExtra. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
12. Ridley, Jane. (2012). Bertie : a life of Edward VII. London: Chatto & Windus. pp. 55, 57, 68. ISBN 9780701176143. OCLC 651073855.