Name	Wikipedia Review
Logo	The Wikipedia Review logo, which uses a white hat
Url	www.wikipediareview.com
Commercial	No
Type	Internet forum
Language	English, German
Registration	Optional (required to post)
Owner	Anonymous
Launch date	Original site: November 2005.Current site: February 19, 2006.
Current status	Active
Revenue	Accepts donations

The 'Wikipedia Review' is an Internet forum for the discussion of Wikimedia projects, in particular the content and conflicts of the English Wikipedia. In the InformationWeek Grok on Google blog, Alice LaPlante described Wikipedia Review as a "watchdog" website, "dedicated to scrutinizing Wikipedia and reporting on its flaws". It provides an independent forum to discuss Wikipedia editors and their influence on Wikipedia content. Participants range from users banned from Wikipedia to current Wikipedia editors, and a few who have never edited. , the forum contained more than 230,000 posts.

Background

The site was founded in November 2005 by "Igor Alexander", and hosted by ProBoards. Since February 2006, the forum has been located at its own domain name and uses Invision Power Board software.

Wikipedia Review has been cited for its discussion and evaluation of concepts surrounding wiki-editing, such as the Palo Alto Research Company's WikiDashboard, as well as used as an evaluation subject for the tool.

Commentary

}} Seth Finkelstein wrote in The Guardian that Wikipedia Review has provided a focal point for investigation into Wikipedia-related matters such as the "Essjay controversy". Cade Metz, writing for The Register, credited Wikipedia Review with the discovery of a private mailing list that led to the resignation of a Wikipedia administrator; he also suggested that mentioning Wikipedia Review was banned on Wikipedia. The Independent noted that "allegations against certain administrators came to a head on a site called Wikipedia Review, where people debate the administrators' actions." Irish technology website Silicon Republic suggested visiting Wikipedia Review in order to "follow disputes, discussions, editors and general bureaucracy on Wikipedia". Philip Coppens used posts made on Wikipedia Review to help construct a report, published in Nexus Magazine, on WikiScanner and allegations that intelligence agencies had been using Wikipedia to spread disinformation. Science fiction writer Kathryn Cramer used the site to gain a better insight into Wikipedia editors, and described topics on Wikipedia Review as "fascinating reading".

Content and structure

Wikipedia Review's publicly-accessible forums are broken up into four general topic areas: # Forum information; # Wikimedia-oriented discussion, which contains subforums focusing on editors, the Wikipedia bureaucracy, meta discussion, articles and general Wikimedia-focused topics not fitting elsewhere; # Media forums containing a news feed and discussion about news and blogs featuring Wikipedia/Wikimedia; and # Off topic, non-Wikimedia related discussions.

See also

Criticism of Wikipedia

References

External links

Current Wikipedia Review site

Category:Internet properties established in 2005 Category:Internet forums Category:Critics of Wikipedia Category:History of Wikipedia

Name	Spencer Tracy
Caption	Spencer Tracy in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941)
Birth date	April 05, 1900
Birth place	Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.
Death date	June 10, 1967
Death place	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1922–1967
Birth name	Spencer Bonaventure Tracy
Spouse	Louise Treadwell (1923-1967)
Partner	Katharine Hepburn(1941-1967)

Spencer Bonaventure Tracy (April 5, 1900 – June 10, 1967) was an American theatrical and film actor, who appeared in 75 films from 1930 to 1967. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Tracy ninth among the Greatest Male Stars of All Time. He was nominated for nine Academy Awards for Best Actor in all, winning two.

While in college, Tracy decided on acting as a career. He studied acting in New York and appeared in a number of Broadway plays, finally achieving success in the 1930 hit The Last Mile. Director John Ford was impressed by his performance and cast him in Up the River with Humphrey Bogart. Fox Film Corporation signed him to a long term contract, but after five years of mostly undistinguished films, he joined the most prestigious movie studio of the time, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, where his career flourished. He won back-to-back Academy Awards for Captains Courageous (1937) and Boys Town (1938).

In 1942, he co-starred with Katharine Hepburn in Woman of the Year. The teaming lasted for decades, both on-screen and off. They fell in love and maintained an affair that lasted for decades. (Tracy was already married and, as a Catholic, would not consider divorce despite affairs with actresses like Loretta Young, Joan Crawford, Myrna Loy, Ingrid Bergman and Gene Tierney.) One of the greatest of cinematic couples, they made eight more films together, ending in 1967's Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, which was completed shortly before his death.

Early life

Tracy was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the second son of John Edward Tracy, an Irish American Catholic truck salesman, and Caroline Brown, a Protestant turned Christian Scientist. He was raised a Roman Catholic. Tracy's paternal grandparents, John Tracy and Mary Guhin, were born in Ireland.

Tracy attended Ripon College from February 1921 to April 1922. At Ripon he made his first stage appearance, in a 1921 Commencement play entitled The Truth, and decided on acting as a career. While touring the Northeast with the Ripon debate team, he auditioned for and was accepted to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York. His first Broadway role was as a robot in Karel Čapek's R.U.R. (1922), followed by five other Broadway plays in the 1920s. In 1923 he married actress Louise Treadwell. They had two children, John and Louise (Susie). John Tracy died at age 82 at his son's ranch in Acton, California, in 2007.

Career

, right) in Inherit the Wind]]Tracy performed in stock in Michigan, Canada, and Ohio for several years. Finally in 1930 he appeared in a hit play on Broadway, The Last Mile. Director John Ford saw Tracy in The Last Mile and signed Tracy for Up the River (1930) with Humphrey Bogart for Fox Film Corporation. Shortly after that Tracy and his family moved to Hollywood, and he made 25 films in the next five years.

In 1935, Tracy signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor two years in a row, for Captains Courageous (1937) and Boys Town (1938). in the trailer for the film Adam's Rib (1949)]] He was also nominated for San Francisco (1936), Father of the Bride (1950), Bad Day at Black Rock (1955), The Old Man and the Sea (1958), Inherit the Wind (1960), Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), and posthumously for Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967). Tracy and Laurence Olivier share the record for the most nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actor.

Tracy's reputation for versatility and naturalness are based on the twenty years (1935–1955) he acted at Metro Goldwyn Mayer and for the subsequent dozen years when he was an independent actor. Yet the twenty-five films he made prior to his move to MGM are notable in that they demonstrate the range and diversity of characters he would continue to deliver through his post-Fox career (and which would earn him two Academy Awards and nine nominations).

Tracy and Hepburn

In 1941, during the filming of Woman of the Year, Tracy began a relationship with Katharine Hepburn. Their relationship, which neither would discuss publicly, lasted until Tracy's death in 1967. Their relationship was complex and there were periods during which they were estranged. During one estrangement, Tracy had a brief romance with actress Gene Tierney while filming the Plymouth Adventure in 1952.

Death and legacy

During his later years, Tracy's health worsened after he was diagnosed with diabetes, exacerbated by his alcoholism. On 21 July 1963, less than eight months after finishing the filming of It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, Tracy suffered a congested lung condition, forcing him to pull out of Cheyenne Autumn and The Cincinnati Kid. Edward G. Robinson replaced him for both films. He spent most of the next four years inactive as his health further declined. On 10 June 1967, seventeen days after completing his last film, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, with Hepburn, Spencer Tracy died of a heart attack at age 67, having long suffered from emphysema since the early 1950s from his daily smoking habit. The film was released in December, six months after his death.

In 1988, the University of California, Los Angeles' Campus Events Commission and Susie Tracy created the UCLA Spencer Tracy Award. The award has been given to actors in recognition for their achievement in film acting. Past recipients include William Hurt, James Stewart, Michael Douglas, Denzel Washington, Tom Hanks, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Jodie Foster, Harrison Ford, Anjelica Huston, Nicolas Cage, Kirk Douglas, Jack Lemmon and Morgan Freeman.

The main character Carl from Pixar's film Up was primarily based on a combination of Spencer Tracy and Walter Matthau, because, according to director Pete Docter, there was "something sweet about these grumpy old guys".

Filmography and awards

Tracy appeared in 75 feature films, and several short films. With Katharine Hepburn he starred in nine feature films, one of the most successful screen pairings in film history.

Nine of the films he starred in were nominated for Best Picture: San Francisco (Oscar Nomination), Libeled Lady, Captains Courageous (Oscar), Test Pilot, Boys Town (Oscar), Father of the Bride (Oscar Nomination), Judgment at Nuremberg (Oscar Nomination), How the West Was Won and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (Oscar Nomination).

He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor on nine occasions, and won the award in 1937, for Captains Courageous, and in 1938, for Boys Town. He won a Golden Globe Award for The Actress (1953) from a total of four nominations. He was awarded a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his posthumously released performance opposite Hepburn in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967).

{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%;" border="2" cellpadding="4" background: #f9f9f9; |- align="center" ! colspan=4 style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film |- align="center" ! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Year ! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Film ! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Role ! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Notes |- |rowspan=4|1930 |The Strong Arm | |short subject |- |Taxi Talks |Taxi Driver |short subject |- |The Hard Guy |Guy |short subject |- |Up the River |Saint Louis | |- |rowspan=3|1931 |Quick Millions |Daniel J. 'Bugs' Raymond | |- |Six Cylinder Love (1931 film) |William Donroy | |- |Goldie |Bill | |- |rowspan=8|1932 |She Wanted a Millionaire |William Kelley | |- |Sky Devils |Wilkie | |- |Disorderly Conduct |Dick Fay | |- |Young America |Jack Doray | |- |Society Girl |Briscoe | |- |The Painted Woman |Tom Brian | |- |Me and My Gal |Danny Dolan | |- |20,000 Years in Sing Sing |Tommy Connors | |- |rowspan=5|1933 |Face in the Sky |Joe Buck | |- |Shanghai Madness |Pat Jackson | |- |The Power and the Glory |Tom Garner | |- |Man's Castle |Bill | |- |The Mad Game |Edward Carson | |- |rowspan=5|1934 |''The Show-Off |J. Aubrey Piper | |- |Looking for Trouble |Joe Graham | |- |Bottoms Up |'Smoothie' King | |- |Now I'll Tell |Murray Golden | |- |Marie Galante |Dr. Crawbett | |- |rowspan=4|1935 |It's a Small World |Bill Shevlin | |- |The Murder Man |Steven 'Steve' Grey |first credited screen role of James Stewart |- |Dante's Inferno |Jim Carter | |- |Whipsaw |Ross 'Mac' McBride |with Myrna Loy |- |rowspan=4|1936 |Riffraff |Dutch |with Mickey Rooney |- |Fury |Joe Wilson | |- |San Francisco |Father Mullin |with Clark GableNominated — Academy Award for Best ActorNominated — New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor |- |Libeled Lady |Warren Haggerty |The film was nominated for Best Picture, but lost out to The Great Ziegfeld |- |rowspan=4|1937 |They Gave Him a Gun |Fred P. Willis | |- |Captains Courageous |Manuel Fidello |with Lionel Barrymore, John Carradine, Melvyn Douglas, Mickey Rooney and Freddie Bartholomew Academy Award for Best ActorNominated — New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor |- |Big City |Joe Benton | |- |Mannequin |John L. Hennessey | |- |rowspan=5|1938 |Test Pilot |Gunner Morris |with Clark Gable |- |Boys Town |Father Flanagan |with Mickey RooneyAcademy Award for Best ActorNominated — New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor |- |Another Romance of Celluloid |himself |behind-the-scenes short film, includes filming of Test Pilot, and shows Tracy accepting his Academy Award for Boys Town |- |Screen Snapshots Series 17, No. 9 |himself |short subject showing Tracy accepting his Academy Award for Boys Town |- |Hollywood Goes to Town |himself |short subject, showing notable Hollywood performers preparing for the world premiere of Marie Antoinette |- |rowspan=3|1939 |Stanley and Livingstone |Henry M. Stanley | |- |For Auld Lang Syne |himself |fundraising short film in which several actors, including Tracy, appeal for funds for the Will Rogers Memorial Hospital |- |Hollywood Hobbies |himself |behind-the-scenes short film |- |rowspan=6|1940 |I Take This Woman |Dr. Karl Decker | |- |Young Tom Edison |uncredited role |with Mickey RooneyTracy appears as a man admiring a portrait of Edison; he plays the older Edison in Edison, the Man in the same year |- |Northwest Passage |Major Rogers | |- |Edison, the Man |Thomas Edison | |- |Boom Town |Jonathan Sand |with Clark Gable |- |Northward, Ho! |himself |behind-the-scenes short film about the filming of Northwest Passage |- |rowspan=2|1941 | |Father Flanagan |with Mickey Rooney |- |Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde |Dr. Henry Jekyll/Mr. Hyde | |- |rowspan=4|1942 |Woman of the Year |Sam Craig |first film with Katharine Hepburn |- |Tortilla Flat |Pilon | |- |Keeper of the Flame |Steven 'Stevie' O'Malley |with Katharine Hepburn |- |Ring of Steel |Narrator |Military documentary |- |rowspan=3|1943 |His New World |Narrator |documentary |- |A Guy Named Joe |Pete Sandidge | |- |His New World |Narrator |War documentary |- |rowspan=2|1944 |The Seventh Cross |George Heisler | |- |Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo | Lieutenant Colonel James H. Doolittle | |- |1945 |Without Love |Pat Jamieson |with Katharine Hepburn |- |rowspan=2|1947 |The Sea of Grass |Col. James B. 'Jim' Brewton |with Katharine Hepburn |- |Cass Timberlane |Cass Timberlane | |- |1948 |State of the Union |Grant Matthews |with Katharine Hepburn |- |rowspan=4|1949 |Edward, My Son |Arnold Boult | |- |Adam's Rib |Adam Bonner |with Katharine Hepburn |- |Malaya |Canaghan | |- |Some of the Best |himself |retrospective of MGM's history |- |1950 |Father of the Bride |Stanley Banks |Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actor |- |rowspan=3|1951 |Father's Little Dividend |Stanley Banks | |- |The People Against O'Hara |James P. Curtayne | |- |For Defense for Freedom for Humanity |himself |short film in which Tracy urges support for Red Cross fundraising |- |rowspan=2|1952 |Pat and Mike |Mike Conovan |with Katharine Hepburn |- |Plymouth Adventure |Captain Christopher Jones |with Gene Tierney |- |1953 |The Actress |Clinton Jones |Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture DramaNominated — BAFTA Award for Best Foreign ActorNominated — New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor |- |1954 |Broken Lance |Matt Devereaux | |- |1955 |Bad Day at Black Rock |John J. Macreedy |Best Actor Award (Cannes Film Festival) Prix d'interprétation masculine Nominated — Academy Award for Best ActorNominated — New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor |- |1956 |The Mountain |Zachary Teller |Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actor |- |1957 |Desk Set |Richard Sumner |with Katharine Hepburn |- |rowspan=2|1958 |The Old Man and the Sea |The Old Man/Narrator |NBR Award for Best Actor (award was also for The Last Hurrah)Nominated — Academy Award for Best ActorNominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture DramaNominated — New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor |- |The Last Hurrah |Mayor Frank Skeffington |NBR Award for Best Actor (award was also for The Old Man and the Sea)Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Foreign ActorNominated — New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor |- |1960 |Inherit the Wind |Henry Drummond |Nominated — Academy Award for Best ActorNominated — BAFTA Award for Best Foreign ActorNominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama |- |rowspan=2|1961 |The Devil at 4 O'Clock |Father Matthew Doonan | |- |Judgment at Nuremberg |Chief Judge Dan Haywood |Fotogramas de Plata Award for Best Foreign PerformerNominated — Academy Award for Best Actor |- |1962 |How the West Was Won |Narrator | |- |1963 |It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World |Captain C. G. Culpepper |with Mickey Rooney |- |1967 |Guess Who's Coming to Dinner |Matt Drayton |with Katharine HepburnBAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role (posthumous) Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actor (posthumous)Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama (posthumous)Nominated — New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor (posthumous) |- |}

See also

1930 in film

1967 in film

References

Bibliography

Tracy is a character in this murder-mystery set against the 1940 World Premiere of Edison, the Man.

External links

Profile @ Turner Classic Movies

Chang, David A. "Spencer Tracy's Boyhood: Truth, Fiction, and Hollywood Dreams," Wisconsin Magazine of History, vol. 84, no. 1 (Autumn 2000)

Category:1900 births Category:1967 deaths Category:American Academy of Dramatic Arts alumni Category:American film actors Category:California Democrats Category:BAFTA winners (people) Category:20th-century actors Category:Best Actor BAFTA Award winners Category:Best Actor Academy Award winners Category:Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) Category:Deaths from myocardial infarction Category:American people of Irish descent Category:American people of English descent Category:Actors from Milwaukee, Wisconsin Category:Ripon College alumni Category:United States Navy sailors

Type	monarch
Name	Edward VII
Imgw	210
Caption	Coronation portrait
Reign	22 January 1901 – 6 May 1910 ()
Coronation	9 August 1902
Cor-type	britain
Coronation1	1 January 1903
Cor-type1	Imperial Durbar
Succession	King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, Emperor of India
Moretext	(more...)
Predecessor	Victoria
Successor	George V
Reg-type	Prime Ministers
Regent	See list
Spouse	Alexandra of Denmark
Issue	Prince Albert Victor, Duke of ClarenceGeorge VLouise, Princess Royal and Duchess of FifePrincess VictoriaMaud, Queen of NorwayPrince Alexander John of Wales
Full name	Albert Edward
House	House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Father	Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Mother	Queen Victoria
Birth date	November 09, 1841
Birth place	Buckingham Palace, London
Death date	May 06, 1910
Death place	Buckingham Palace, London
Date of burial	20 May 1910
Place of burial	St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle
Signature	EdwardVII Signature.svg

Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. He was the first British monarch of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, which was renamed the House of Windsor by his son, George V.

Before his accession to the throne, Edward held the title of Prince of Wales and was heir apparent to the throne for longer than any of his predecessors. During the long widowhood of his mother, Queen Victoria, he was largely excluded from political power and came to personify the fashionable, leisured elite.

The Edwardian era, which covered Edward's reign and was named after him, coincided with the start of a new century and heralded significant changes in technology and society, including powered flight and the rise of socialism and the Labour movement. Edward played a role in the modernisation of the British Home Fleet, the reform of the Army Medical Services, and the reorganisation of the British army after the Second Boer War. He fostered good relations between the UK and other European countries, especially France, for which he was popularly called "Peacemaker", but his relationship with his nephew, Wilhelm II of Germany, was poor. Edward presciently suspected that Wilhelm would precipitate a war, and four years after Edward's death, World War I brought an end to the Edwardian way of life.

Early life

, 1846.Royal Collection, St James's Palace.]] Edward was born at 10:48 am on 9 November 1841 in Buckingham Palace. His mother was Queen Victoria, the only daughter of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. His father was Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, first cousin and consort of Victoria. He was christened Albert Edward (after his father and maternal grandfather) at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, on 25 January 1842. His godparents were the King of Prussia, his paternal grandfather's wife the Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (for whom the Duchess of Kent, his maternal grandmother, stood proxy), his great-uncle the Duke of Cambridge, his great-grandfather's wife the Dowager Duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Altenburg (for whom the Duchess of Cambridge, his great-aunt, stood proxy), his great-aunt the Princess Sophia (for whom Princess Augusta of Cambridge, his first cousin once-removed, stood proxy) and his great-uncle Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. He was known as Bertie to the family throughout his life.

As the eldest son of a British sovereign, he was automatically Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay at birth. As a son of Prince Albert, he also held the titles of Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Duke of Saxony. Queen Victoria created her son Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester on 8 December 1841. He was created Earl of Dublin on 17 January 1850, a Knight of the Garter on 9 November 1858, and a Knight of the Thistle on 24 May 1867. In 1863, he renounced his succession rights to the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in favour of his younger brother, Prince Alfred.

Education

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were determined that their eldest son should have an education that would prepare him to be a model constitutional monarch. At age seven, Edward embarked on a rigorous educational programme devised by Prince Albert, and under the supervision of several tutors. However, unlike his elder sister, Edward did not excel in his studies. He tried to meet the expectations of his parents, but to no avail. Although Edward was not a diligent student—his true talents were those of charm, sociability and tact—Benjamin Disraeli described him as informed, intelligent and of sweet manner.

After an educational trip to Rome, undertaken in the first few months of 1859, he spent the summer of that year studying at the University of Edinburgh under, amongst others, Lyon Playfair. In October he matriculated as an undergraduate at Christ Church, Oxford. Now released from the educational strictures imposed by his parents, he enjoyed studying for the first time and performed satisfactorily in examinations. In 1861, Edward transferred to Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was tutored in history by Charles Kingsley, Regius Professor of Modern History. Kingsley's efforts brought forth the best academic performances of Edward's life, and Edward actually looked forward to his lectures.

Early adulthood

, 1860]]

In 1860, Edward undertook the first tour of North America by an heir to the British throne. His genial good humour and confident bonhomie made the tour a great success. He inaugurated the Victoria Bridge, Montreal, across the St Lawrence River, and laid the cornerstone of Parliament Hill, Ottawa. He watched Charles Blondin traverse Niagara Falls by highwire, and stayed for three days with President James Buchanan at the White House. Buchanan accompanied the Prince to Mount Vernon, to pay his respects at the tomb of George Washington. Vast crowds greeted him everywhere. He met Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Oliver Wendell Holmes. Prayers for the royal family were said in Trinity Church, New York, for the first time since 1776.

Upon his return, Edward hoped to pursue a career in the British Army, but this was denied him because he was heir to the throne. His military ranks were honorary. In September 1861, Edward was sent to Germany, supposedly to watch military manoeuvres, but actually in order to engineer a meeting between him and Princess Alexandra of Denmark, the eldest daughter of Prince Christian of Denmark and his wife Louise. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert had already decided that Edward and Alexandra should marry. They met at Speyer on 24 September under the auspices of his elder sister, the Crown Princess of Prussia. Edward's elder sister, acting upon instructions from their mother, had met Princess Alexandra at Strelitz in June; the young Danish princess made a very favourable impression. Edward and Alexandra were friendly from the start; the meeting went well for both sides, and marriage plans advanced.

From this time, Edward gained a reputation as a playboy. Determined to get some army experience, Edward attended manoeuvres in Ireland, during which an actress, Nellie Clifden, was hidden in his tent by his fellow officers. Prince Albert, though ill, was appalled and visited Edward at Cambridge to issue a reprimand. Albert died in December 1861 just two weeks after the visit. Queen Victoria was inconsolable, wore mourning clothes for the rest of her life and blamed Edward for his father's death. At first, she regarded her son with distaste as frivolous, indiscreet and irresponsible. She wrote to her eldest daughter, "I never can, or shall, look at him without a shudder."

Marriage

Once widowed, Queen Victoria effectively withdrew from public life. Shortly after Prince Albert's death, she arranged for Edward to embark on an extensive tour of the Middle East, visiting Egypt, Jerusalem, Damascus, Beirut and Constantinople. As soon as he returned to Britain, preparations were made for his engagement, which was sealed at Laeken in Belgium on 9 September 1862. Edward and Alexandra married at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, on 10 March 1863. Edward was 21; Alexandra was 18.

at their wedding. St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, 1863]]

Edward and his wife established Marlborough House as their London residence and Sandringham House in Norfolk as their country retreat. They entertained on a lavish scale. Their marriage met with disapproval in certain circles because most of Queen Victoria's relations were German, and Denmark was at loggerheads with Germany over the territories of Schleswig and Holstein. When Alexandra's father inherited the throne of Denmark in November 1863, the German Confederation took the opportunity to invade and annex Schleswig-Holstein. Queen Victoria was of two minds whether it was a suitable match given the political climate. After the couple's marriage, she expressed anxiety about their socialite lifestyle and attempted to dictate to them on various matters, including the names of their children.

Edward had mistresses throughout his married life. He socialised with actress Lillie Langtry; Lady Randolph Churchill (mother of Winston Churchill); Daisy Greville, Countess of Warwick; actress Sarah Bernhardt; noblewoman Susan Pelham-Clinton; singer Hortense Schneider; prostitute Giulia Barucci; wealthy humanitarian Agnes Keyser; and Alice Keppel. At least fifty-five liaisons are conjectured. How far these relationships went is not always clear. Edward always strove to be discreet, but this did not prevent society gossip or press speculation. One of Alice Keppel's great-granddaughters, Camilla Parker Bowles, became the mistress and subsequently wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, one of Edward's great-great grandsons. It was rumoured that Camilla's grandmother, Sonia Keppel (born in May 1900), was the illegitimate daughter of Edward, but she was "almost certainly" the daughter of George Keppel, whom she resembled. Edward never acknowledged any illegitimate children. Alexandra is believed to have been aware of many of his affairs and to have accepted them.

In 1869, Sir Charles Mordaunt, a British Member of Parliament, threatened to name Edward as co-respondent in his divorce suit. Ultimately, he did not do so but Edward was called as a witness in the case in early 1870. It was shown that Edward had visited the Mordaunts' house while Sir Charles was away sitting in the House of Commons. Although nothing further was proven and Edward denied he had committed adultery, the suggestion of impropriety was damaging.

Heir apparent

During Queen Victoria's widowhood, Edward pioneered the idea of royal public appearances as we understand them today—for example, opening Thames Embankment in 1871, Mersey Tunnel in 1886, and Tower Bridge in 1894. However, his mother did not allow Edward an active role in the running of the country until 1898. He was sent summaries of important government documents, but she refused to give him access to the originals. Liberal Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone sent him papers secretly. However, in the winter of 1871, a brush with death led to an improvement both in Edward's popularity with the public as well as in his relationship with his mother. While staying at Londesborough Lodge, near Scarborough, North Yorkshire, Edward contracted typhoid, the disease that was believed to have killed his father. There was great national concern, and one of his fellow guests (Lord Chesterfield) died. Edward's recovery was greeted with almost universal relief. From 1886, Foreign Secretary Lord Rosebery sent him Foreign Office despatches, and from 1892 some Cabinet papers were opened to him. At the end of the tour, his mother was given the title Empress of India by Parliament, in part as a result of the tour's success.

Edward was a patron of the arts and sciences and helped found the Royal College of Music. He opened the college in 1883 with the words, "Class can no longer stand apart from class ... I claim for music that it produces that union of feeling which I much desire to promote." He also laid out a golf course at Windsor. By the 1870s the future king had taken a keen interest in horseracing and steeplechasing. In 1896, his horse Persimmon won both the Derby Stakes and the St. Leger Stakes. In 1900, Persimmon's brother, Diamond Jubilee, won five races (Derby, St. Leger, 2,000 Guineas Stakes, Newmarket Stakes and Eclipse Stakes) and another of Edward's horses, Ambush II, won the Grand National.

He was regarded worldwide as an arbiter of men's fashions. He made wearing tweed, Homburg hats and Norfolk jackets fashionable, and popularised the wearing of black ties with dinner jackets, instead of white tie and tails. He pioneered the pressing of trouser legs from side to side in preference to the now normal front and back creases, and was thought to have introduced the stand-up turn-down shirt collar. A stickler for proper dress, he is said to have admonished the Prime Minister, Lord Salisbury, for wearing the trousers of an Elder Brother of Trinity House with a Privy Councillor's coat. Deep in an international crisis, the Prime Minister informed the Prince of Wales that it had been a dark morning, and that "my mind must have been occupied by some subject of less importance." The tradition of men not buttoning the bottom button of suit-coats is said to be linked to Edward, who supposedly left his undone due to his large girth. He introduced the practice of eating roast beef, roast potatoes, horseradish sauce and yorkshire pudding on Sundays, which remains a staple British favourite for Sunday lunch.

, Princess Maud, Alexandra, Edward, Princess Louise, Prince George and Princess Victoria.]] In 1891, Edward was embroiled in the Royal Baccarat Scandal, when it was revealed he had played an illegal card game for money the previous year. The Prince was forced to appear as a witness in court for a second time when one of the players unsuccessfully sued his fellow players for slander after being accused of cheating. In the same year Edward was involved in a personal conflict, when Lord Charles Beresford threatened to reveal details of Edward's private life to the press, as a protest against Edward interfering with Beresford's affair with Daisy Greville, Countess of Warwick. The friendship between the two men was irreversibly damaged and their bitterness would last for the remainder of their lives. Usually, Edward's outbursts of temper were short-lived, and "after he had let himself go ... [he would] smooth matters by being especially nice".

In 1892, Edward's eldest son, Albert Victor, was engaged to Princess Victoria Mary of Teck. Just a few weeks after the engagement, Albert Victor died of pneumonia. Edward was grief-stricken. "To lose our eldest son", he wrote, "is one of those calamities one can never really get over". Edward told Queen Victoria, "[I would] have given my life for him, as I put no value on mine". Albert Victor was the second of Edward's children to die. In 1871, his youngest son, John, had died just 24 hours after being born. Edward had insisted on placing John in his coffin personally with "the tears rolling down his cheeks".

On his way to Denmark through Belgium on 4 April 1900 Edward was the victim of an attempted assassination, when Jean-Baptiste Sipido shot at him in protest over the Boer War. Sipido escaped to France; the perceived delay of the Belgian authorities in applying for extradition, combined with British disgust at Belgian atrocities in the Congo, worsened the already poor relationship between the United Kingdom and the Continent. However, in the next ten years, Edward's affability and popularity, as well as his use of family connections, assisted Britain in building European alliances.

Accession

.]] When Queen Victoria died on 22 January 1901, Edward became King of the United Kingdom, Emperor of India and, in an innovation, King of the British Dominions. He chose to reign under the name Edward VII, instead of Albert Edward—the name his mother had intended for him to use, declaring that he did not wish to "undervalue the name of Albert" and diminish the status of his father with whom among royalty the name Albert should stand alone. The number VII was occasionally omitted in Scotland, even by the national church, in deference to protests that the previous Edwards were English kings who had "been excluded from Scotland by battle".

He donated his parents' house, Osborne on the Isle of Wight, to the state and continued to live at Sandringham. He could afford to be magnanimous; it was claimed that he was the first heir to succeed to the throne in credit. Edward's finances had been ably managed by Sir Dighton Probyn, Comptroller of the Household, and had benefited from advice from Edward's Jewish financier friends, such as Ernest Cassel, Maurice de Hirsch and the Rothschild family. At a time of widespread anti-Semitism, Edward attracted criticism for openly socialising with Jews.

, and grandsons, the future King Edward VIII and King George VI.]]

Edward VII and Alexandra were crowned at Westminster Abbey on 9 August 1902 by the 80-year-old Archbishop of Canterbury, Frederick Temple, who died only four months later. Edward's coronation had originally been scheduled for 26 June, but two days before on 24 June, Edward was diagnosed with appendicitis. Thanks to developments in anaesthesia and antisepsis in the preceding 50 years, he underwent a life-saving operation, performed by Sir Frederick Treves. This was at a time when appendicitis was generally not treated operatively and carried a high mortality rate. Treves, with the support of Lord Lister, performed a then-radical operation of draining the infected appendix through a small incision. The next day, Edward was sitting up in bed, smoking a cigar. Two weeks later, it was announced that the King was out of danger. Treves was honoured with a baronetcy (which Edward had arranged before the operation) and appendix surgery entered the medical mainstream.

Edward refurbished the royal palaces, reintroduced the traditional ceremonies, such as the State Opening of Parliament, that his mother had forgone, and founded new orders of honours, such as the Order of Merit, to recognise contributions to the arts and sciences. In 1902, the Shah of Persia, Mozzafar-al-Din, visited England expecting to receive the Order of the Garter. Edward refused to give this high honour to the Shah because the order was meant to be his personal gift and the Foreign Secretary, Lord Lansdowne, had promised the order without his consent. Edward also objected to inducting a Muslim into a Christian order of chivalry. His refusal threatened to damage British attempts to gain influence in Persia, but Edward resented his ministers' attempts to reduce the King's traditional powers. Eventually, he relented and Britain sent a special embassy to the Shah with a full Order of the Garter the following year.

"Uncle of Europe"

As king, Edward's main interests lay in the fields of foreign affairs and naval and military matters. Fluent in French and German, he made a number of visits abroad, and took annual holidays in Biarritz and Marienbad.

Edward was related to nearly every other European monarch and came to be known as the "uncle of Europe". However, there was one relation whom Edward did not like and his difficult relationship with his nephew, Wilhelm II, exacerbated the tensions between Germany and Britain.

In 1908, Edward became the first British monarch to visit the Russian Empire, despite refusing to visit in 1906, when Anglo-Russian relations were strained in the aftermath of the Dogger Bank incident, the Russo-Japanese war and the Tsar's dissolution of the Duma.

Political opinions

, 1902]] Edward involved himself heavily in discussions over army reform, the need for which had become apparent with the failings of the Boer War. He supported the re-design of army command, the creation of the Territorial Army, and the decision to provide an Expeditionary Force supporting France in the event of war with Germany. Reform of the Royal Navy was also suggested, partly due to the ever-increasing Naval Estimates, and because of the emergence of the Imperial German Navy as a new strategic threat. Ultimately a dispute arose between Admiral Lord Charles Beresford, who favoured increased spending and a broad deployment, and the First Sea Lord Admiral Sir John Fisher, who favoured efficiency savings, scrapping obsolete vessels, and a strategic realignment of the Royal Navy relying on torpedo craft for home defence backed by the new dreadnoughts. Edward lent support to Fisher, in part because he disliked Beresford, and eventually Beresford was dismissed. Beresford continued his campaign outside of the navy and Fisher ultimately announced his resignation in late 1909, although the bulk of his policies were retained. The King was intimately involved in the appointment of Fisher's successor as the Fisher-Beresford feud had split the service, and the only truly qualified figure known to be outside of both camps was Sir Arthur Knyvet Wilson, who had retired in 1907. Wilson was reluctant to return to active duty, but Edward persuaded him to do so, and Wilson became First Sea Lord on 25 January 1910.

In the last year of his life, Edward became embroiled in a constitutional crisis when the Conservative majority in the House of Lords refused to pass the "People's Budget" proposed by the Liberal government of Prime Minister H. H. Asquith. The King let Asquith know that he would only be willing to appoint additional peers, if necessary, to enable the budget's passage in the House of Lords, if Asquith won two successive general elections.

Edward was rarely interested in politics, although his views on some issues were notably liberal for the time. During his reign he said use of the word "nigger" was "disgraceful" despite it then being in common parlance. While Prince of Wales, he had to be dissuaded from breaking with constitutional precedent by openly voting for Gladstone's Representation of the People Bill (1884) in the House of Lords. On other matters he was less progressive: he did not, for example, favour giving votes to women, although he did suggest that the social reformer Octavia Hill serve on the Commission for Working Class Housing. He was also opposed to Irish Home Rule, instead preferring a form of dual monarchy. Between moments of faintness, the Prince of Wales (shortly to be King George V) told him that his horse, Witch of the Air, had won at Kempton Park that afternoon. The King replied, "I am very glad": his final words. is possibly a myth that Alice herself propagated. Mrs Keppel was asked at the King's request and, in a fit of hysterics, she was reportedly ejected shrieking, "I never did any harm, there was nothing wrong between us. What is to become of me?"

Legacy

The lead ship of a new class of battleships, launched in 1903, was named in his honour. Many schools in England are named after Edward; two of the largest are in Melton Mowbray and Sheffield. King Edward VII School in Johannesburg, South Africa, is one of the oldest schools in that country, and was named in honour of Edward after his death. King Edward Memorial (KEM) Hospital in Mumbai, India, the King Edward Medical University in Pakistan, King Edward Memorial Hospital for Women in Subiaco, Western Australia, and King Edward VII Hall at the National University of Singapore carry King Edward's name. The Parque Eduardo VII in Lisbon, King Edward Avenue in Vancouver, Rue Edouard VII in Paris and King Edward Cigars are also named after him.

Statues of Edward can be found throughout the former empire, such as those in Waterloo Place, London, Union Street, Aberdeen, Queen's Park, Toronto, North Terrace, Adelaide, Franklin Square, Hobart, Queen Victoria Gardens, Melbourne, and outside the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney.

As king, Edward VII proved a greater success than anyone had expected, but he was already an old man and had little time left to fulfil the role. In his short reign, he ensured that his second son and heir, George V, was better prepared to take the throne. Contemporaries described their relationship as more like affectionate brothers than father and son, and on Edward's death George wrote in his diary that he had lost his "best friend and the best of fathers ... I never had a [cross] word with him in my life. I am heart-broken and overwhelmed with grief". Edward received criticism for his apparent pursuit of self-indulgent pleasure but he received great praise for his affable and kind good manners, and his diplomatic skill. As his grandson wrote, "his lighter side ... obscured the fact that he had both insight and influence." "He had a tremendous zest for pleasure but he also had a real sense of duty", wrote J. B. Priestley. Lord Esher wrote that Edward was "kind and debonair and not undignified – but too human". Edward VII is buried at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. As Barbara Tuchman noted in The Guns of August, his funeral marked "the greatest assemblage of royalty and rank ever gathered in one place and, of its kind, the last".

Edward had been afraid that his nephew, the German Emperor Wilhelm II, would tip Europe into war. Four years after Edward's death, World War I broke out. The naval reforms and the Anglo-French alliance he had supported, as well as the relationships between his extended royal family, were put to the test. The war marked the end of the Edwardian way of life.

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Name	Edward VII of the United Kingdom
Dipstyle	His Majesty
Offstyle	Your Majesty
Altstyle	Sir

Titles and styles

9 November – 8 December 1841: His Royal Highness The Duke of Cornwall

8 December 1841 – 22 January 1901: His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales

*in Scotland: His Royal Highness The Prince Albert Edward, Duke of Rothesay

*17 January 1850 – 22 January 1901: The Earl of Dublin (merged with the Crown in 1901)

22 January 1901 – 6 May 1910: His Majesty The King

*with regard to India: His Imperial Majesty The King-Emperor

Honours

9 November 1858: Knight of the Garter

24 May 1867: Knight of the Thistle

Arms

When he was created Prince of Wales, Edward was granted a coat of arms. These were those of the kingdom (and his mother), differenced by a label argent, of three blank points, and an inescutcheon of the shield of Saxony, representing his father. When he acceded as King, he gained the arms of the kingdom, undifferenced.

Ancestry and descent

Ancestors

Children

See also

Cultural depictions of Edward VII of the United Kingdom

Edward VII 2d Tyrian plum, a rare stamp

1908 Summer Olympics, which he opened

Notes and sources

References

Matthew, H. C. G. (September 2004; online edition May 2006) "Edward VII (1841–1910)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, , retrieved 24 June 2009 (Subscription required)

Further reading

External links

Macaulay, James (editor) (1889). Speeches and addresses of H. R. H. the Prince of Wales: 1863–1888 London: Murray.

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