Edward Langtry

Edward Langtry (1847–1897) married Emilie Charlotte Le Breton on the island of Jersey in 1874. She later took to the stage as actress Lillie Langtry, and became involved in a relationship with Edward, Prince of Wales. Langtry and his wife eventually separated and she obtained a divorce in 1897. Langtry died from a brain haemorrhage in the same year after a fall during a steamer crossing from Belfast to Liverpool.[1][2]

There have been numerous biographies about Lillie Langtry, (she also wrote her own autobiography) but little has been written about her first husband Edward (Ned) Langtry. What has been written often paints him in a negative light. He has been referred to as "a colourless sportsman";[3] "a pudgy chap, his weak mouth overhung with a walrus moustache, and his conversation powers were limited";[4] "petulantly determined on his own importance......he was weak and indolent and also, surprisingly shy";[5] "a meek, weak husband and no money";[6] "uneasily complaisant husband".[7]

If these descriptions are accurate, it is difficult to understand why a woman as gifted as Lillie would marry a man with such shortcomings. In her memoirs The Days I Knew she explains that Edward Langtry was an extremely shy person, and had spent his life since leaving Oxford in outdoor country sports. In London he felt "quite like a fish out of water" and this may explain his difficulty in conversation and his lack of social grace, and possibly why so many people had such a poor opinion of him. In 1877 Edward and Lillie spent a month in the Perth area of Scotland as the guests of Effie and John Everett Millais. It was here that Edward was at his most relaxed, salmon fishing with Millais, and appeased with the absence of crowds. A vacation later described by Lillie as a "delightful month".[8][Note 1]

Some conflicting information about Edward Langtry life originated in Lillie Langtry's memoirs. In this she claims that Edward's father started the steam ship crossings between Belfast and Scotland, whereas these were started by his grandfather, George Langtry.[9] She also wrote that when they married he was about thirty years of age although he was actually twenty-six.[10]

  1. ^ "Death of Mr Langtry - inquest report". Cheshire Observer. 23 October 1897. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
  2. ^ Dudley, Ernest (1958). The Gilded Lily. London: Odhams. pp. Chapter 1.
  3. ^ Magnus, Philip (1964). King Edward the Seventh. John Murrey. p. 153.
  4. ^ Dudley, Ernest (1958). The Gilded Lily. London: Oldhams Press Limited. p. 34.
  5. ^ Beatty, Laura (2012). Lillie Langtry: Manners, Masks and Morals (Kindle ed.). Amazon Media EU S.à r.l. pp. Chapter II Family and Childhood.
  6. ^ Leslie, Anita (1973). The Marlborough House Set. New York: Doubleday & Company. p. 68.
  7. ^ Juxon, John (1983). Lewis and Lewis. London: Collins. p. 178.
  8. ^ Beatty, Laura (2012). Lillie Langtry: Manners, Masks and Morals (Kindle ed.). Amazon Media EU S.à r.l. pp. Chapter VI.
  9. ^ Jackson, Alvin (2012). The Two Unions: Ireland, Scotland, and the Survival of the United Kingdom, 1707-2007. OUP Oxford. p. 194.
  10. ^ Langtry, Lillie; de Bathe, Lady (2012). The Days I Knew. Amazon Media EU S.à r.l. pp. Chapter 1.


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