Why the real heir to the British throne was hidden from people from childhood: the Lost Prince John

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Recently, an old photograph of the British prince John, who is called "the lost", was put up for auction. This portrait, taken in 1909, reminds the world of a tragic episode in the history of the royal family. An unhappy boy who has had so few years and so much grief. Why did the young prince leave this world so early and why was he hidden from people?

John Great Britain (Prince John of the United Kingdom) was born on July 12, 1905 and received the name John Charles Francis (John Charles Francis). He was the youngest son of King George V and Queen Mary. Until the age of four, the boy's parents did not notice anything unusual, but when he was four years old, like a bolt from the blue, the prince suffered his first epileptic seizure.

I must say that now epilepsy is not such a shocking and unexplored disease. People with such a diagnosis can lead a completely fulfilling life and do not stand out in anything special among the rest. But at the beginning of the 20th century, there was a radically different attitude to this. A letter from John's brother, Edward, the future monarch, discovered in 2015, is especially indicative in this respect. About the death of Prince John, Edward says: “His death is the greatest relief we could ever dream of, or what we have always prayed for. This poor boy became more an animal than a man, and was only a brother to us in the flesh and nothing else."

The impossibility of treatment at that time made John an outcast not only in society, but also in his own family. The royal couple hid the boy and his relatives rarely visited him. Parents had long hoped that the boy would be able to recover, like one of their relatives, the Duke of Albany, who suffered from the same ailment. But that did not happen.

The prince spent his childhood in Sandringham. There he lived with his brothers and sister Maria. The children were looked after by a nanny named Charlotte Bill. The children called her Lalla. Parents often visited them. John was known as a smiling and funny child. Everything changed dramatically after his first seizure. He became often ill and could not master the sciences available to brothers and sisters. Perhaps the boy's autism is to blame.

The prince was absent from his parents' coronation on June 22, 1911. They considered it dangerous for his poor health. The press of that time wrote that the royal family just wanted to isolate themselves from possible scandals. Despite the fact that now John's involvement in the life of the family was minimal, his parents loved him. Did the child feel it? Nobody knew then, all information about the boy was carefully hidden. Until his death, there were no official statements about him in the newspapers.

In 1916, John's seizures became more and more severe. His parents sent him to Wood Farms, a small college. He was accompanied by the constant nanny Lalla. The boy showed interest in his surroundings, but there was still no progress in learning. Over time, the boy's mentor was fired and there was no more study. The prince's grandmother, Queen Alexandra, set up a beautiful garden in Sandringham especially for her sick grandson. The boy loved to walk there - it was a great consolation for him. The prince missed his family very much.

Of course, the attitude of the British royal couple to the boy was not the same as to their other children. Was it related to cruelty? Unlikely. Perhaps this stemmed from the fact that the relationship between the spouses was very cold. Perhaps this emotional detachment is a mutual trait of their character or genes.

Unfortunately, Prince John passed away at the age of 13 after a particularly bad seizure. How did the family react? King George completely detached himself from what was happening. Subsequently, the name of the prince was even removed from the genealogy, such was the tangible impact on the image of the royal family.

In 2003, Stephen Poliakoff directed The Lost Prince for the BBC. The film tells about the rude King George V, his cold wife Mary and their fifth son. The picture describes in some detail the classic tragedy of John's happy childhood, his oblivion in his youth and death.

Polyakoff said that the study of the boy's biography was extremely difficult. "There was not a single book about Prince John." It was possible to find information that the boy liked to make fun of the household - he could put a pin on a chair or smear the door handle with glue. He could also show compassion and care for those who needed help.

Prince John has not been abandoned since birth, for many years he has been a full member of the royal family. The boy appeared in public with his brothers and sister. Common family photographs have been preserved. His last years were spent in complete isolation due to deteriorating health.

On January 18, 1919, little John was gone. Queen Mary wrote in her diary about it this way: “This is a great shock for me. But for the restless soul of the little boy, death was a great relief. Georg and I arrived at Wood Farm. Lalla's heart is broken. Little Johnny lay so peacefully. " She later wrote to her close friend, Emily Alcock, that “For John, death was a great relief, his illness became more and more difficult, he endured it more and more difficult over the years. Now he is relieved of this suffering. I cannot express how grateful we are to God that he took him in such a peaceful way, while he was sleeping peacefully, he took him to his heavenly home, without pain and struggle, in a fairer world for the poor little child, for whom we everybody was so worried from the age of 4”. Her Majesty added: “The early days with our family were difficult for us, but people were so kind to us and it helped us cope with our grief.” The king described the death of his son as "the greatest mercy possible." The press of that time wrote that the boy died with an angelic smile on his lips.

For more interesting details about British monarchs and their lives, read our article. 7 most scandalous romances in the British royal family