Suzannah Lipscomb reveals the murky history of British royals

Here’s a round-up of the most gasp-inducing royal scandals I’ll explore across the new episodes:

Prince George and Kiki Preston

Prince George was Queen Elizabeth II's uncle and the younger brother of Prince Edward, later Edward VIII. In the 1920s, like many of the young people exorcising their wartime grief through an excess of pleasure, both princes were frequently seen drinking and dancing at London's cabaret clubs. Soon George took things a step further. He appeared in public wearing women's clothes and was rumoured to have had a relationship with Noel Coward at a time when gay sex was still an offence risking a prison sentence.

But his downfall came through his association with American socialite Kiki Preston, who was one of the infamous "Happy Valley" set – a group of wealthy colonists in Kenya who became known for their debauched parties. Author June Woolerton told me that Kiki was nicknamed “the girl with the silver syringe” and it was she who introduced Prince George to drugs. And Edward – so famous for the later scandal of his abdication – was the one who intervened to try to prevent this scandal and to save his brother's life.

Edward VII and the sex chair

As heir to the throne, the future Edward VII, known as Bertie, began an affair with an Irish actress called Nellie Clifden and, worse still, fell in love with her. It was a scandal of such proportions that his father, Prince Albert, staged an intervention, taking a long walk in the rain with Bertie and attempting to reason with him.

On his return to Windsor, Albert became seriously ill and died three weeks later. Queen Victoria was convinced that Bertie was responsible for his father falling ill and his death. In the aftermath, the chastened Bertie married Princess Alexandra of Denmark, but it was not long before he once again found new lovers and visited Parisian sex workers.

As the decades wore on, and he found himself less able to perform, he commissioned a special piece of furniture to help – the siège d'amour ­­– a custom-made sex chair. With two padded sections, foot stirrups, and handles rather like a CrossFit trainer, it was designed to help cope with his increasing girth.

But author Cat Arnold thinks that it may have been designed to deal with another problem as well. There is space for a third participant to help jolly the prince along when his enthusiasm flagged…

The Princes in the Tower

The story of the disappearance of the two young sons of Edward IV in 1483 is well known. But the question of who killed the 12-year-old Edward V and his nine-year-old brother, Richard Duke of York, who were last seen in the Tower of London, remains unsolved.

Their uncle, King Richard III, has long been top of the list of suspects. Others have accused Richard III's henchman, the Duke of Buckingham, or the man who won the crown from Richard at the Battle of Bosworth Field, Henry VII. But there is compelling evidence indicating a very different set of circumstances: has their murder proved so unsolvable because the boys survived?

The theft of the Crown Jewels

A decade after Charles II's restoration to the throne and his coronation with crown jewels newly made for the occasion (the previous set had been sold off and melted down), an audacious man called “Colonel” Thomas Blood tried to nick the jewels from the Tower of London. The jewels were kept under the watchful eye of the elderly Talbot Edwards, whom Blood befriended and then arranged for his eligible nephew to marry Edwards's spinster daughter.

On the day the putative couple were to meet, Blood turned up with a party of men. Escorted by Edwards to view the jewels, they set on the poor man and seized the crown, orb and sceptre, squashing the crown to make it easier to transport and thrusting the orb down one man's breeches, before trying to make a run for their getaway horses.

The theft was only foiled at the last minute by chance, but the really strange thing about this story is that, having been caught red-handed stealing the crown jewels, Thomas Blood wasn’t punished. Academic Professor Nadine Akkerman has a fascinating theory to suggest why Charles II let him off the hook and it involves a plea deal and espionage.

James VI and Esmé Stewart

In 1579, James VI was 13 years old and King of Scotland. His father, Lord Darnley, was dead, having been murdered a dozen years earlier. His mother, Mary Queen of Scots, had been imprisoned in England by Elizabeth I after Scottish nobles forced her to abdicate in favour of James – so the young king had largely been brought up by his stern tutor, George Buchanan, who offered beatings in place of love.

So when James's first cousin once removed, the handsome French 37-year-old diplomat, Esmé Stewart, arrived in Scotland, and lavished affection on the young King, James soaked it up. Expensive gifts and grand titles followed, but rumour had it that this was more than a familial relationship.

The recent Sky Atlantic drama series Mary & George has reminded us that, in later life, James was bisexual – both marrying and having children with Anne of Denmark, and maintaining intimate relations with his male favourites, including the handsome George Villiers. But curator of the National Museum of Scotland, Dr Anna Groundwater, suggested to me that as a teenager, well before the adult king formed his own consensual relationships, he was subject to grooming by Esmé Stewart.

The Royals: A History of Scandals airs Tuesdays at 9pm on More4 and is available to stream on Channel 4.

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