The Birth of Edward VIII

Lady Eva Sarah Louisa Greville¹ (1860-1940) was the fourth child and only daughter of George Guy and Anne, 4th Earl and Countess of Warwick. Lady Eva was a life-long friend and Lady-in-Waiting to Mary of Teck from 1892 until she suffered from a stroke in 1918. As a Lady-in-Waiting, Eva was constantly around members of the royal family, and often wrote home to her mother about her experiences and the things she saw. This letter written by Lady Eva to her mother on 24th June 1894² is a highlight from the collection as it describes the birth of Mary’s first child (at this point Mary was titled HRH The Duchess of York), the future Edward VIII. Writing from White Lodge, Richmond Park, she recalled the events of the previous day, writing that:

We adjourned in the drawing room & as the clock struck 10, in rushed poor Teck rather pale & agitated & said “It’s a boy, come at once Mr Asquith.” Then Teck fell about my neck and embraced me, so did Dolly [Prince Adolphus of Teck] in fact I think everybody embraced everybody else, champagne was at once sent for & we all at once drunk its health & we all got very vague indeed. I am sure I drank about 10 glasses, for as every fresh person came in we had to drink health over again all, then Dolly took me off to see the infant, rather a sweet it was & a very big child.

After ten glasses of champagne, it’s not difficult to imagine just how ‘vague’ those at the gathering became. It was a time of celebration after all; the country had a new heir to the throne, so why not get a bit tipsy with a few glasses of tipple provided for the occasion?

A future Prime Minister

The Mr Asquith referred to in the letter was Herbert Henry Asquith, who would later go on to be the Prime Minister. At the time of the birth, he was the Home Secretary, and it was in this capacity that he was called upon to attend the royal birth as part of a traditional practice to verify that the new baby was not an imposter. The witnessing of royal births was a common practice dating back to 1688, when it was decided that official verification was needed to prevent suspicions about the legitimacy of the child.

Luckily for The Duchess of York, Queen Victoria had decided that the presence of the Home Secretary was enough; previously the room would have been filled with numerous high-ranking officials, including Privy Councillors and ministers. The practice of witnessing Royal births was discontinued in 1948 with the birth of Charles III.

References

¹ Lady Eva married Frank Dugdale in 1895, so was later known as Lady Eva Dugdale. Like his wife, Dugdale was also a member of the Royal household, becoming equerry to Princess Mary from 1901.
² Warwickshire County Record Office reference CR1886/467/1/178