Raoul Reginald "Reggie" de Veulle (c. 1881–1956), was a British actor and fashion costumier. He was the son of a former British vice-consul at
Le Mans
Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...
and was born there, but raised in
Jersey
Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...
. He attended the Kensington School of Art and though he acted in a few West End shows, moved into fashion design.
He is associated with the death of the actress
Billie Carleton
Billie Carleton (4 September 1896 – 28 November 1918) was an English musical comedy actress during the First World War. She began her professional stage career at age 15 and was playing roles in the West End by age 18. She appeared in the hi ...
in 1918, and was convicted of supplying drugs to her, but was acquitted of her
manslaughter
Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th cen ...
.
Early life
While an actor in London, de Veulle became involved in a 1911
blackmail
Blackmail is an act of coercion using the threat of revealing or publicizing either substantially true or false information about a person or people unless certain demands are met. It is often damaging information, and it may be revealed to fa ...
trial involving William Cronshaw and John and Rose Powers. The Powers were prosecuted for trying to blackmail Cronshaw by threatening to tell his relatives and directors of his Manchester firm about his relationship with their son, Frederick Powers. It transpired during the court case that Cronshaw had met Frederick Powers through de Veulle, and that he had also given de Veulle large sums of cash. Rose Powers was later acquitted of the blackmail charge.
Via the case notes it appears de Veulle had been travelling and working in America, and while in New York it is said he first developed his cocaine habit. He then arrived in Paris and became a ladies dress designer.
With the outbreak of war in 1914, de Veulle travelled back to London and worked for a Mayfair theatrical costumier. In 1915 he met the actress
Billie Carleton
Billie Carleton (4 September 1896 – 28 November 1918) was an English musical comedy actress during the First World War. She began her professional stage career at age 15 and was playing roles in the West End by age 18. She appeared in the hi ...
when she modelled his creations at Miss Phelps of Albemarle Street. He also supplied her with drugs, mainly sourced from a Scottish woman, Ada Lau Ping, and her husband Yu Lau Ping, who lived in
Limehouse
Limehouse is a district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London. It is east of Charing Cross, on the northern bank of the River Thames. Its proximity to the river has given it a strong maritime character, which it retains throug ...
causeway, east London.
In 1916, de Veulle married a Parisian woman, Pauline Gay, (1876–1941) who was a seamstress and dress designer.
Billie Carleton
Carleton was becoming something of a star of the stage during the war. De Veulle bought drugs from the Lau Ping's and the actor Lionel Belcher, and supplied his friends and associates. de Veulle also hosted orgies at his
Mayfair
Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world. ...
flat where cocaine and opium (cooked up by Ada Lau Ping) were freely available. These parties were attended by Billie Carleton, Belcher and others.
Though called up for active service in September 1918, de Veulle's drug addictions led him to be declared unfit for duty. In late November 1918, shortly after the
Armistice
An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the La ...
, a Victory Ball was held at the
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...
. Carleton wore a dress designed by de Veulle for the occasion, he himself attended in a tight-fitting
harlequin
Harlequin (; it, Arlecchino ; lmo, Arlechin, Bergamasque dialect, Bergamasque pronunciation ) is the best-known of the ''zanni'' or comic servant characters from the Italian language, Italian ''commedia dell'arte'', associated with the city o ...
's outfit. Carleton retired with friends to her apartment at the Savoy Court Mansions (an annexe of the
Savoy Hotel
The Savoy Hotel is a luxury hotel located in the Strand in the City of Westminster in central London, England. Built by the impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte with profits from his Gilbert and Sullivan opera productions, it opened on 6 August 188 ...
). She was found dead by her maid the following afternoon.
Court cases
At the inquest into Billie Carleton's death the coroner gave clear directions to the jury regarding de Veulle's guilt in supplying the cocaine that caused her death.
Malvina Longfellow
Malvina Virginia Longfellow (March 30, 1889 – November 2, 1962) was an American stage and silent movie actress of the early 20th century.''Sunday Magazine, Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette, January 23, 1916, Page 34.
Early life
Born in the city of ...
was a witness at the inquest and testified about Carleton's addiction. However, it took the jury barely 15 minutes to find de Veulle guilty of manslaughter, and he was taken into custody.
When de Veulle's case came to trial, even though the judge gave the jury clear directions to find De Veulle guilty of manslaughter, after 50 minutes of deliberations the jury acquitted him on 4 April. On 7 April, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy (along with Ada Lau Ping) to procure cocaine and was sentenced to eight months without hard labour.
Ada Lau Ping was charged with supplying cocaine and was sentenced to five months with hard labour. She died shortly after release in 1920, aged 29, from tuberculosis. Her Chinese husband, Lau Ping You, was charged with possession and received a lenient £10 fine.
Post trial life
De Veulle is recorded as the costume designer for the May 1926 stage musical ''Yvonne''. De Veulle's designs for the dresses are in the Emile Littler Archive in the
V & A Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...
, London.Reginald de Veuille 1926 dress designs /ref> In 1933 the Obelisk Press in Paris promised it would soon be releasing '... a book of formidable revelations' by de Veulle, though it was not published.
Raoul R. de Veulle died in
Islington
Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...