years afterwards. The affair has been of subsequent interest to writers; two books have examined the matter, and there have been two fictionalised accounts of the events. Background Sir William Gordon-Cumming At the time of the events at the country home Tranby Croft, Yorkshire, Sir William Gordon-Cumming was a 42-year-old lieutenant colonel in the Scots Guards, having seen service in South Africa (1879), Egypt (1882) and Sudan (1884–85). Gordon-Cumming's biographer, Jason Tomes, thought that his subject possessed "audacity and wit [and] gloried in the sobriquet of the most arrogant man in London", while Sporting Life described him as "possibly the most handsome man in London, and certainly the rudest". In addition to considerable land holdings in Scotland, Gordon-Cumming owned a house in Belgravia, London; he was a friend of Edward, Prince of Wales and would lend it to the prince for assignations with royal mistresses. Gordon-Cumming was a womaniser, and stated that his aim was to "perforate" members of "the sex"; his liaisons included Lillie Langtry, Sarah Bernhardt and Lady Randolph Churchill. He was unmarried at the time of the events and subsequent court case. Edward, Prince of Wales; the Marlborough House set Edward, Prince of Wales was a 49-year-old married father of five at the time he visited Tranby Croft, and had a history of association with scandals. In 1866 he had incurred the censure of his mother, Queen Victoria, when he became involved with "the fast racing set", and his betting had "harm[ed] his reputation and contribute[d] to the widespread unpopularity of the monarchy in this period", according to his biographer, Sidney Lee. In April 1869 Sir Charles Mordaunt (1836–1897) learnt that his wife Harriet had had three separate affairs, and that her lovers included the heir to the throne. Although Mordaunt did not carry out his threat of citing the prince as co-respondent in the subsequent divorce case, Edward was subpoenaed to appear in court as a witness. Although Edward did not want to appear—and the queen wrote to the Lord Chancellor to see if this could be avoided—the law was such that the prince could be forced to appear if necessary. He appeared voluntarily and was in the witness box for seven minutes, during which time he denied having had a sexual relationship with Mordaunt's wife; he was not cross-examined. Edward's biographer, Colin Matthew, wrote that "the hearing coincided with general criticism of the very different