undisputed leader of the set, which was the backdrop for many scandals. Edward expected the members to act with honour (though not necessarily with high morals). Adultery was common between the members, though divorce, as it would lead to public exposure, was seen as unacceptable. Edward enforced a strict formal dress code for the members of the set. Key events in the social calendar of the set were Royal Ascot, and the Epsom Derby and St Leger Stakes horse races. The set also enjoyed shooting, hunting, playing cards and attending extravagant dinners. Edward and the set developed the concept of the country house weekend, ostensibly for the purposes of hunting and shooting. When the men returned to the host's house at tea time in the afternoon the women would dress in tea gowns, without corsets or petticoats and assignations would often take place. Country home owners spent vast sums to improve their buildings and furnishings ahead of these weekends. Witley Park in Surrey was a favourite location. Towards the end of the weekends the attendees were often formally photographed with Edward seated in the centre, the current hostess to his right and his current mistress to his left. The Marlborough House set sometimes met with The Souls, another of the late Victorian social sets, though The Souls tended to be more political and intellectual. A favourite joke of Edward's whilst meeting with the Marlborough House set was to pour brandy over the head of Conservative politician Christopher Sykes. Among the members Edward was nicknamed "Tum-Tum", on account of his being overweight. The Marlborough House set had generally anti-Prussian (later German) and pro-Danish sympathies (the two countries were rivals and fought a war in 1864, and the Princess of Wales was Danish), which contrasted with the pro-German stance of Victoria's court, leading to tension between the two. Victoria disapproved of what she considered the low morals of the Marlborough House set, comparing it to the Carlton House set around the dissolute king George IV. At one point a group of aristocratic ladies, including the Duchess of Leeds and the Duchess of Bedford, complained about the Marlborough House set to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Edward White Benson. They asked Benson to conduct a moral mission to aristocratic women to address what they perceived as a decline in morals, which they attributed to the presence of American women in the set. In contrast