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Wikipedia:Today's featured article/requests/Royal baccarat scandal

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Royal baccarat scandal

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The following discussion is an archived discussion of the TFAR nomination of the article below. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as Wikipedia talk:Today's featured article/requests). Please do not modify this page unless you are renominating the article at TFAR. For renominations, please add {{collapse top|Previous nomination}} to the top of the discussion and {{collapse bottom}} at the bottom, then complete a new {{TFAR nom}} underneath.

The result was: scheduled for Wikipedia:Today's featured article/July 31, 2014 by BencherliteTalk 23:59, 30 June 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Sir William Gordon-Cumming in the dock

The royal baccarat scandal was a British gambling scandal of the late 19th century involving the Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII. In September 1890 Edward was invited to a house party at Tranby Croft, Yorkshire, the home of Arthur Wilson and his family. During the Prince's stay, lieutenant colonel Sir William Gordon-Cumming was accused of cheating at baccarat and was subsequently pressured into signing a document that stated he would never play cards again, in exchange for the silence of the guests. The secret was not kept for long, and Gordon-Cumming demanded a retraction from the Wilson family, who he considered to blame for divulging the news. They refused and he filed a writ for slander in February 1891. Despite the efforts of the prince's courtiers to have the matter dealt with by a military court, the case was heard in June 1891. The atmosphere at trial was described as being like a theatre, and Edward was called as a witness, the first time the heir to the throne had been compelled to appear in court since 1411. Gordon-Cumming was found guilty, dismissed from the army, and ostracised from society for the rest of his life. (Full article...)