[The Morton Report] The existence of royal love children is an interesting subject. Although history is littered with examples, only two children fathered by living royals have been officially acknowledged in recent times: Prince Albert of Monaco has admitted that he is the father of Jazmin Grace Grimaldi and Alexandre Coste.
King Albert II of Belgium is reputed to be the father of artist Delphine Boel, although this has not been confirmed. The late Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands (father of Queen Beatrix) had two illegitimate daughters, Alicia von Bielefeld and Alexia Grinda-Lejeune, recognised after his death, although rumours persist of more children outside marriage. Some also believe the Duchess of Cornwall, formerly Camilla Parker-Bowles, isdescended from Edward VII through his mistress, Alice Keppel.
Then there are some disputed claimants. Robert Brown, an accountant from Jersey, came forward to say he was Princess Margaret’s secret son with Group Captain Peter Townsend, but failed to convince a judge. Attempts to prove that Prince Philip fathered two children, Max and Louise Boisot, with his childhood pal, Helene Cordet, have come to nothing.
At one stage, there were several putative offspring of the late Duke of Windsor popping up in the UK press. Fanny Cradock, a wild-eyed television cook, even wrote a novel called The Windsor Secret in which Wallis Simpson gave birth to the Duke’s son. To this day, nobody has produced reliable evidence that he ever had any children.
However, the Duke of Windsor apparently did believe that Michael Canfield, the first husband of Jackie Onassis’s sister, Lee Radziwill, was the secret son of his younger brother, the Duke of Kent, who was killed in 1942. What a film the mysterious Mr. Canfield’s life story would make! The bisexual Duke may also have been the father of Raine Spencer, Princess Diana’s stepmother — at least that’s what Raine’s mother, novelist Barbara Cartland, once told respected writer Michael Thornton.
So what about modern royals? Whispers that Diana’s father might have been the late Sir James Goldsmith have been discounted, but there are two recurring rumours concerning secret paternity that I still wonder about and neither concerns Prince Harry, who is definitely the son of Prince Charles and looks more like him and the Queen every day. Diana believed one of the tales about current royal love children to be true — and she knew the secrets of all the world’s royal families. Diana told a friend, who told someone else, who told someone else …who told me.
hate to break it to the “history grad”…Henry VIII did NOT have 8 wives. he had 6. He divorced two. He beheaded two. (They were cousins!) One died in childbirth (who gave him a Legitimate Son, by the way, Edward VI, who DID end up as King), and one survived him. the name FitzRoy was given to the kings bastards, and yes, Henry’s son was (not so seriously) considered for the line of succession. He died long before it would have been possible, and by then Henry had a legitimate son already. Henry’s two daughters, Mary and Elizabeth, born many years ahead of him, took the throne, in that order, after his death at age 15 from tuberculosis. And due to the Edward III connection that caused the bloody Cousins war (too many sons, not enough stuff to inherit), Henry was related to all of his wives, a few (most notably Katherine of Aragaon, Jane Seymour and Anne of Cleves) within “the prohibited degree”.
I hate to digress from the gossip, as the history of royal bastards is a fascinating subject to me (hence my own serious foray into a masters in the European History), but if you’re going to “quote” history, please try to get it right. (I do not mean to sound b*, but it’s a subject I am very, very passionate about and have spent over 15 years of research on the late medieval/early renaissance era.)
Ace, seriously, long time lurker, first time poster- don’t hate me for my brief tirade! This is a tricky one, as back in the 30′s, there were only rumours and almost no actual confirmation. I completely discount the Duke of Windsor as the culprit, as he had several mistresses before Wallis and he never got any of them pregnant. Also there were rumours this his testicles never fully descended, (accounting for his perpetually boyish looks), and this would make fathering children someowhat difficult. Additionally, the only rumours I have read have been of alcoholism, chronic depression, and homosexuality about the Duke of Kent, but that was “fixed” when he married Princess Marina of Greece, but I suppose it’s a remote possibility. I would have to say the most likely, if we’re looking solely at the British, (and still I’m kind of iffy on it) would be Prince Phillip, who famously coached his own son Charles on how to cheat on his wife. Years of first hand experience, perhaps?