Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-06-06
QUESTIONS JJNASKED,
Which, If Put to the Prince of Wales
on the Stand Might Have
RAISED A. BIG SOCIAL CYCLONE.
Embarrassing Queries Affecting His Rela-
tions With Lady.
BUT CLARKE WAS DIsCREETLY SILENT

NEW YORK, June "a London cable
asks: s'To what extent is one or more of
the fairer sex back of the royal scandal that
has resulted in the Gordon-C Cumming libel
suit now on trial?" This is question
which is being pretty largely discussed by
the frequenters of the aristocratic clubs,
although they talk of the matter under
their breath. 1t is said there is a story that
has not developed, nor is it likely to. There
may be secret history, the bare allusion to
which on the part of Solicitor General
Clarke, when the heir apparent to the
English throne was on the witness stand,
might have sounded the social, political and
professional death-knell of that eminent
counsel
History Hidden by Discreet Silence.
There may be scrap of history that, were
it uncovered to the light of day, would al
most rival the celebrated, and not yet fort
gotten, Mordaunt case, when, secure in the
knowledge that the unfortunate woman it
was claimed had been the victim was to be
incarcerated for the rest of her days within
the forbidding walls of an asylum for the
insane, the future King of England went
into the witness box, and, to use phrase
which has become historical, 'perjured
himself like an English gentleman" to
shield himself in some degree from an out
burst of righteous indignation in the face
of an outraged public opinion.
Solicitor General Clarke, had he been in
clined to emulate the example of late DR..
Kenealy, who bearded the Lord Chief JUS
tice in his den and was disbarred therefor,
might have asked the Prince of Wales some
interesting questions which would have
thrown additions light on the case, and at
the same time have added salacious aspect
to the scandal.
A Woman in the Case.
He might have been asked the names of
the two ladies whose names he scratched
from the list of invited guests when he ac-
cepted Mr.. Wilson's invitation to take up
his abode at Tranby Croft during that now
famous Doncaster week.
He might have been asked whether he
inserted in the list a name not previously
thought of by Mr.. Wilson, viz:
that of Lady Brooke. Pursuing
the subject further, the Solicitor
General might have. asked whether it was
not notorious fact that the titled lady in
question had been an avowed "favorite" for
many years, and whether that 'favoritism"
had not been carried to such lengths as to
create more or less talk and scandal, even
among the royal intimates who are sup
posed to be Loyalty blind to everything that
goes on in which their iege lord is con-
cerned.-
The Princess of Wales Jealousy.
Giving another turn to the lance, Mr..
Clarke might have inquired whether it was
true that the Princess of Wales was so out
ragged by the attentions of her husband
toward Lady Brooke that she had time and
time again refused to participate in public
and private assemblages where she was
likely to meet the woman in question; not
only this, but that she had made it a rule to
socially ostracise all her friends who allowed
the Brooke woman to cross their thresholds.
Presuming that this question had been
admitted and answered, Mr.. Clarke might
finally have inquired how it. happened,
notwithstanding the pledges of secrecy that
were made regarding the alleged swindling
and cheating, the Prince had violated his
own confidence in placing Lady Brooke in
possession of the facts and likewise what
the Wilson's had done to him from the mo-
ment he and Lady Brooke became guests
under their roof; that he had chosen to
take the part of the former as against gal
liant officer and man who, as he admitted
himself on the witness stand, had been on
terms of the closest intimacy with him and
a frequent visitor at his palace for more
than a decade.
If these questions could have been put
and answered in court just as they are being
put and answered in the clubs among people
who ought to know whereof they speak,
they might have afforded material for an in
teresting additional chapter to the late
Charles Bradlaugh's pamphlet upon
''George, Prince of Wales; Past Events and
Recent Condolences"