THE MORRID SCANDAL AT TRANBY CROFT
JAMES BANNERMAN
ln the Nineties in England, there was one breach of conduct for which an officer and gentleman could never be excused cheating at cards. The shame of Sir William Gordon-Cumming began at a royal house party. The Prince of Wales himself was there and the awful echoes shook the Empire
ON THE AFTERNOON of September 8, 1890, two frock-coated gentlemen strolled along a platform under the great glass roof of King’s Cross railway station in London. Behind them a safari-like procession of porters carried their elegant luggage pigskin hatboxes, morocco-leather dressing cases, and a staggering number of trunks. In front of them went the chief stationmaster, leading them to a first-class compartment with a label on the window which read: Reserved for H.R.H. the Prince of Wales.