Alice Keppel
| Alice Keppel | |
|---|---|
Portrait of Alice Keppel, c. 1890s
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| Born |
Alice Frederica Edmonstone 29 April 1868 Strathblane, Scotland |
| Died | 11 September 1947 (aged 79) Bellosguardo, Italy |
| Resting place | Cimitero degli Allori, Florence |
| Spouse(s) | The Hon. George Keppel (m. 1891) |
| Children |
Violet Trefusis Sonia Rosemary Keppel |
| Parent(s) |
Sir William Edmonstone, 4th Baronet Mary Elizabeth Parsons |
Alice Frederica Keppel (née Edmonstone; 29 April 1868 – 11 September 1947) was a British society hostess and a long-time mistress of King Edward VII.
Keppel grew up at Duntreath Castle, the family seat of the Edmonstone baronets in Scotland. She was the youngest child of Sir William Edmonstone, 4th Baronet. In 1891 she married The Honourable George Keppel and they had two daughters. She became one of the best society hostesses of the Edwardian era. Her beauty, charm and discretion impressed London society and brought her to the attention of the future King Edward VII in 1898, whose mistress she remained till his death, lightening the dark moods of his later years, and allegedly held considerable influence.
Through her younger daughter, Sonia Cubitt, Keppel is the great-grandmother of Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, the second wife of Edward's great-great-grandson, Charles, Prince of Wales.
Alice Frederica Edmonstone, (also called "Freddie" by her family), was born on 29 April 1868 in Strathblane, Scotland to Sir William Edmonstone, 4th Baronet (1810–1888) and Mary Elizabeth Edmonstone, née Parsons, of Woolwich Dockyard (1823–1902). Her father was the 4th Baronet Edmonstone and a retired admiral in the Royal Navy and her maternal grandfather had been a Governor of the Ionian Islands. She was the youngest of one brother and seven sisters, and while growing up, she was much closer to her brother Archie than to her sisters.
Alice grew up at Duntreath Castle. Duntreath Castle had been the Edmonstones' home since the 14th century. It was a wedding gift from King Robert III of Scotland to his daughter Mary Stewart, Princess of Scotland when she married her fourth husband, Sir William Edmonstone of Culloden in 1425. They had a son whom they named Sir William Edmonstone of Duntreath.
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