Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

Lord Henry Arthur George Somerset, DL (17 November 1851 – 26 May 1926) was the third son of the 8th Duke of Beaufort and his wife, the former Lady Georgiana Curzon.

Biography

Somerset joined the

Royal Horse Guards The Royal Regiment of Horse Guards, also known as the Blues, or abbreviated as RHG, was one of the cavalry regiments of the British Army and part of the Household Cavalry. In 1969, it was amalgamated with the 1st The Royal Dragoons to form the ...

with the purchase of a commission as

cornet The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B. There is also a soprano cor ...

in 1869. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1871, captain in 1877 and major in 1883. In 1885 he was appointed to succeed

Nigel Kingscote Colonel (United Kingdom), Colonel Sir Robert Nigel Fitzhardinge Kingscote (28 February 1830 – 22 September 1908) was a British soldier, Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician, courtier and agriculturalist. He was generally known as Sir Nigel ...

as superintendent of the stables and an extra

equerry An equerry (; from French language, French 'stable', and related to 'squire') is an officer of honour. Historically, it was a senior attendant with responsibilities for the horses of a person of rank. In contemporary use, it is a personal attend ...

-in-waiting to the Prince of Wales (later

King Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria and ...

). Lord Arthur Somerset was linked with the

Cleveland Street scandal The Cleveland Street scandal occurred in 1889, when a homosexual male brothel and Love hotel, house of assignation on Cleveland Street, London, was discovered by police. The government was accused of covering up the scandal to protect the names ...

, in which he was identified and named by several

male prostitutes Male prostitution is a form of sex work consisting of the act or practice of men providing sexual services in return for payment. Although clients can be of any gender, the vast majority are older males looking to fulfill their sexual needs. Ma ...

as a customer of their services. He was interviewed by the police on 7 August 1889, and although the record of the interview has not survived, it resulted in a report being made by the Attorney-General,

Solicitor-General A solicitor general is a government official who serves as the chief representative of the government in courtroom proceedings. In systems based on the English common law that have an attorney general or equivalent position, the solicitor general ...

and Director of Prosecutions urging that proceedings should be taken against him under section 11 of the

Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885 The Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885 ( 48 & 49 Vict. c. 69), or "An Act to make further provision for the Protection of Women and Girls, the suppression of brothels, and other purposes," was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the la ...

. A piece of paper was pasted over Somerset's name in the report, as it was deemed so sensitive. It is believed that he gave the police the initials of a member of the royal family "P. A. V.", which stood for

Prince Albert Victor Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale (Albert Victor Christian Edward; 8 January 1864 – 14 January 1892) was the eldest child of the Prince and Princess of Wales (later King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra). From the time of his ...

, the second in line to the throne, who – he alleged – also frequented the brothel. After that, the Director was told that the Home Secretary wished him to take no action for the moment. The police obtained a further statement implicating Somerset, while Somerset arranged for his solicitor to act in the defence of the boys arrested over the scandal. After the police saw him for a second time on 22 August, Somerset obtained leave from his regiment and permission to go abroad. Lord Arthur went to

Bad Homburg Bad Homburg vor der Höhe (, ) is the district town of the Hochtaunuskreis, Hesse, Germany, on the southern slope of the Taunus mountains. Bad Homburg is part of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area. The town's official name is ''Bad Homburg ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, although he returned to England. When tipped off in September that charges were imminent, he fled to France to avoid them. In November he resigned his Army commission and his appointments in the Prince of Wales's household. From there he travelled through

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, and back to France, where he settled, living with an Englishman, James Neale, until his death in 1926, aged 74.

References

1851 births 1926 deaths 19th-century British LGBTQ people Deputy lieutenants of Wiltshire LGBTQ nobility Gay military personnel British LGBTQ military personnel British gay men Royal Horse Guards officers Arthur Somerset (1851-1926) Younger sons of dukes 20th-century British LGBTQ people {{UK-noble-stub