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 Alice KEPPEL

 

  Alice Frederica  Keppel nata Edmonstone nel 1868 nel villaggio di Strathbane poco a nord di Glasgow, fu una rinomata dama della nobiltà inglese famosa per essere stata l'adorata amante di Edoardo VII d'Inghilterra, il figlio maggiore della Regina Vittoria.

 Alice sembra essere stata un'ottima giocatrice di Whist e di Bridge e dal suo matrimonio con  George Keppel nacque Violet Trefuis anche lei notissima sulle scene mondane per essere stata l'amante della celebre poetessa Vita Sackville-West.

 Da Alice, che ebbe anche una seconda figlia Sonia Cubit baronessa di Ashcombe,  discende in linea diretta l'attuale Duchessa di Cornovaglia Camilla, moglie del Principe di Galles Carlo.

 Alice Keppel scomparve nel 1947 e nel francobollo ritratto qui accanto, che venne emesso in suo ricordo dalle poste inglese nel 1995, è raffigurata con la figlia Violet.

Alice Frederica Keppel, née Edmonstone (29 April 1868 – 11 September 1947) was a British socialite and the most famous mistress of Edward VII of the United Kingdom, the eldest son of Queen Victoria.

 Keppel was born Alice Frederica Edmonstone, to William and Mary Elizabeth Edmonstone, née Parsons, at Duntreath Castle in the Blane Valley, near the village of Strathblane, north of Glasgow, the scion of a distinguished family. Her father was the 4th Baronet Edmonstone and a retired Admiral in the Royal Navy; her grandfather had been Governor of the Ionian Islands.

The Prince was fifty-six and Alice twenty-nine. She was an accomplished bridge-player, which appealed to him. "She not only had a gift of happiness but she excelled in making others happy," said a contemporary. Queen Alexandra is said to have preferred the discreet Mrs. Keppel to the Prince's previous mistress. In 1910, when Edward VII was dying and asked for Alice's presence, Queen Alexandra allowed her to be present. 

Her full title after marriage was The Hon. Mrs George Keppel. Her daughter, Violet Trefusis, was the lover of poet Vita Sackville-West.

She is the matrilineal great-grandmother of Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, second wife of Charles, Prince of Wales.

It is worth noting that in a series of ten greetings stamps Great Britain issued in 1995 a remarkable -- yet unnoticed -- stamp, showing Mrs. Keppel with her daughter, Violet Trefusis.  

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