The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-01-10
LampOoning the Prince of Wales
An Ingenious Sk Which Was Stopped at the Last Mo-
ment From Appearing on a London Stage.

It is perhaps characteristic OF the
English people and their answering
loyalty, which amounts almost TO a re-
ligion, that there das been little lam
DOOning of the popular prince, whose
DecadiiIoeS certainly AFFORDED ample
opportunity But it is less than fifteen
wears ago that one of the 6oldest
schemes to spring the dramatic SenSa
ton of the century and openly hoId
England's future king up TO r1dicuie
upon the public stage, was nipped IN
the bud by the WatchdOgs of st.
lanes naIace. The promoter of this
daring enterprise was none other than
George EsdwaFdes. then and now lessee
of the Gaietv theatre. who has since
made d worldwide reputation by pro
Viding such entertainments as Inc
Gaietv Girl 50 The Runaway Girl
san Toy" etc. and I, who now tell
the story for the first time. was the
instrument chosen to put the daring
project into effect.
AT that time Mrs. LangtTy was play
ing in Merry Wives of Windsor.
while Mrs James Brown Potter was
appearing at the Haymarket theatre
in an adaptation of Wilkie Collins
novel. Man and Wife" a play dealing
with the Scotch marriage laws. IN col
liberation with Augustus NJ. Moore,
then editor Of a paper called So
ciety. and brother to George Moore,
George Edwardes to write a satirical
extrava ganza. to be entitled The
Merry Man and Wives of Windsor
The scheme was TO have the FalStaH
of the trsvesty (called in the Sklt
False Taffy') made up to resemble
exactly the Prince of Wales MISTRESS
Ford and Mistress Page were to repre-
sent Mrs. Langtry and Mrs James
Brown Potter. It was even thought
possible that they might have been en-
gagged to play the parts If money could
have been made an inducement- JUS
tice Shallow" was to be d counterfeit
presentrnent Of Sir George Lewis, lega
adviser 10 the prince and famous as
divorce lawyer and a skiilful handler
of difficult cases. The first act was
laid in his office where chorus oi
well known society women appeared
clamoring for speedy divorces In the
second act on the banks of the Thames
at Windsor, the episode of hiding Fal-
staff in the clothes basket was humor-
ously treated, and the scene OF tn
final act was the castle or Baily
Moral in Scotland. where, by ar ao-
surd application Of the scotch mar
rage law, all the divorced couples were
Inadvertently united. Throughout the
plot Ford and Page, standing for and
resembling Mr.. Langtry and Mr.
Brown Potter, were to be represented
by inanimate dummies, dragged IN anC
OUT At 0UDCIIune moments.
The piece was written ana ready Tor
production, I supplying the book and
Moore being responsible for the lyrics.
Edwardes. was enthusiastic. lie eX-
pected 30 create d colossal sensation.
It was, of course, his opinion that after
the first or second representation the
making up of the characters to repre-
sent the prince. the women with whom
his name had been associated, and
many prominent persons in the highest
society. would be DeTemptOrily forbid
den; but he argued that the royal veto
as to costume and makeup would
cause such rush 10 see the piece thai
il would prove extremely profitable,
even when, afterwards, as he proposed.
the actors and actresses appearing in
II should wear only their ordinary
walking dresses and no makeup"
whatever.
a copy of the manuscript was care
fully compiled. so that no hint of the
actual intention as TO makeup etc.
should appear in the text and IL was
sent 10 the examiner of plays, J :.
Pigott. representing the lord cham
beIlain, who is the official censor A
few days later George Edwardes re-
ceived an intimation from St. James
palace that it would be wise for him
TO Withdraw his application for 2
license for the extravaganza, a polite
way for absolutely prohibiting the pro-
duction. The typewriter manuscript
was returned, and within a year an
equerry of the prince called on Mr.,
Edwardes with a request-a royal re-
quest. which is tantamount to a com
mand-that the manuscript Of the pro-
hibted play be delivered to him. 1t
probably rests at the present time IL
some corner of the Prince of Wales
private library.
That same Night his royal highness
occupied a box at the Gaiety theatre. a