Stately Passions: The Scandals of Britain's Great Houses

This historical exploration details some of the most notorious scandals to have engulfed the British royal family and aristocracy, capturing not only the events and their era but also the essence of some of the world's greatest and most beautiful private dwellings. From the Hampton Court of Henry VIII to the modern scandals that saw the present Lord Brocket jailed, center stage is given to the British stately homes that have played witness to centuries of aristocratic indiscretion. Whether examining the "Profumo Affair," the call-girl scandal at Cliveden, the affairs of the lesbian Vita Sackville-West and her bisexual husband at Sissinghurst Castle, or the goings-on at Fort Belvedere, the Surrey hideaway where the Prince of Wales conducted his affair with the American divorcee Wallis Simpson, this account provides a fascinating insight into the lives, loves—and morals, dubious though they may be—of some notorious denizens of the aristocratic world.