Royal Liaison · Sunningdale, Surrey
Fort Belvedere (Edward VIII & Wallis Simpson)
The country retreat where the King's affair with the twice-divorced Wallis Simpson deepened, and where he signed the Instrument of Abdication in December 1936 — love versus the crown.
Sources
Nearby on the map
On the night of 8 July 1961, 19-year-old Christine Keeler was swimming naked in Cliveden's walled-garden pool when War Secretary John Profumo, 46, wandered over — the encounter that detonated the Profumo affair and helped bring down a government. The estate carries further scandal from the Astor set, making it a genuine hot spot.
Documented historyHot spotBohemian & LibertineMedmenham Abbey (the Monks of Medmenham)Medmenham, Buckinghamshire · EnglandThe riverside sham-gothic abbey where Dashwood's order first met, its door inscribed with Rabelais's 'Fais ce que tu voudras'. Contemporaries whispered of mock rites and masked ladies arriving by barge; the truth was scandalous enough that every account since has struggled to separate orgy from embellishment — this entry says so plainly.
Documented historyRoyal LiaisonHampton Court PalaceEast Molesey, Surrey · EnglandHenry VIII's pleasure palace, where he honeymooned with Anne Boleyn, married Jane Seymour's successor rites and learned — at Mass, by letter — of Catherine Howard's alleged adultery. Her ghost is said to run shrieking down the Haunted Gallery towards the chapel where her husband prayed.
Documented historyHot spotSpotted an error, or hold a better source? Write to marquis@marquisdemayfair.com — corrections are made, never defended. Our methodology.