Background
In some shadow somewhere, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was in fact Benedict, and the reason for his extremely early death in 1843 (earlier than real life) was that he realised that he had to leave this shadow where he had found romance and love with a queen, and get back to Amber, due to Oberon having disappeared. He therefore faked his short illness and death, and departed.
The main things he left behind was a grieving widow who would spend the next 59 years ruling an increasingly fractured Britain as her own continued grief left its pall over every aspect of public life, and a lot less children than in the real world.
Prince Albert Edward was born 1841, and by the time he reached his mid twenties in about 1865 local time, was bored out of his skull with the prospects of being heir to the throne for what looked like the rest of his life, with a mother perpetually in black, who couldn’t stand to be around him because he reminded her of her lost love, and a British Empire dwindling in power and glory by the day (as without the rest of Victoria’s children, their domination of the European Royal families never happened).
Taking every opportunity to be anywhere other than near the queen, he had attended Sandhurst as a trainee officer, only to be told upon graduation that he was far too precious to be risked actually serving in the forces. Nevertheless, he formed a cadre of friends aound him in the junior officers he trained with, and had enlisted their assistance on a number of occasions when he desired to be ‘out of view’ of his mother.
One fine day in his 25th summer, as Edward was observing the runners and riders at Ascott, he was met by Marcus, who proceeded to tell him a fantastic tale about who his father reallty was, and of the great realm of Amber. It rapidly became clear to Edward that there was a real chance for him to actually do something useful if he were to go there, and he began to cook up a scheme that would let him depart for Amber without his home world being any wiser as to his absence. Shortly after that, Prince Edward began his great tour of Africa, departing by cruise ship from Southampton docks, with only occasional letters giving news of his travels, sent by the hands of his friends from Sandhurst. He fully expects the tour to take some years.
On Arriving in Amber
Once presented at court, after swearing the required oths, Edward was invested as Duke of Hunterdon, and awarded the Barony of Edringham, which is on the Oise river. He quickly attained the order of Commander of the Order of St. Maud and Albert, as he helped clear up a bit of trouble down in the city, and was also appointed Lord Chief Justice of Amber. Of more importance in his own eyes was his appointment as Admiral of the White Fleet – an opportunity to play a key role in the defence of the realm. He also picked up a couple of other appointments of a less well publicised nature, but this is not the forum for such matters.
Since that time he has taken part in numerous military actions for Amber, particularly against forces loyal to Random.
He has not spent a great deal of time or effort on personal lands and holdings, but does seem to have a fondness for his own personal flagship the HMS Unicorn, which he picked up in an auction of the former King Oberon’s personal effects.
In one of the delicious ironies of history – a subject with which he feels strangely at odds, concerning how many people tell him about things that were in his future supposedly – he has selected as his own personal theme song the choral anthem ‘I Was Glad – Charles Hubert Hastings Parry’. This was supposedly written for the coronation of Edward VII in 1902 – which many of his shadows will be familiar with, but which would have been 35 years in his future had he stayed on his home shadow.
Titles, Honours, Jobs and Lands in Amber
Lord High Marshall of Amber Minister of War of Amber Duke of Hunterdon Duke of Mereworth Viscount of Shadoxhurst in Southern Amber Barony of Edringham (on the Oise river) Commander of the Order of St. Maud and Albert Grand Commander of the Order of the Unicorn Commander of the Order of the Jewel of Judgement Lord Chief Justice of Amber Auditor General of Amber Admiral of the White Fleet – Flagship is ‘Seagull’ (formerly Caine’s) Chief Judge of Star Chamber Committee of the Black Unicorn.
Titles, Honours, Jobs and Lands in Thelbane
Prince of Chaos, Archduke of Chaos, Prince of House Swayvilleways, Prince of Albertaways, Prince of House Cymneaways, Prince of Barrimanways, Prince of Benedictways, Duke of Albertways, Crown Prince of Avalon, Crown Prince of Lorraine, Prince of Et in Arcadia Ego, Prince of Wales, King of Victoria, Prince of Saxe Coburg Gotha, Prince of Hanover/Guelph, Prince of Mecklenberg
Lives and Loves
Edward is the the embodiment of the phrase ‘conspicuous carouser’. In his early days in Amber he spent more nights in the bars and inns of the city than he did in his rooms at the castle. Already coming from a background on his own shadow of one who ‘enjoyed the ladies’, Edward also was a regular visitor of the upscale gentlemen’s clubs, and occasionally the lower scale whorehouses of the city too.
That now seems to have changed. While he still drinks, gambles, and is found in the public rooms of the clubs, the more observant have noticed he isn’t staying all night much any more. Somewhere in the wee small hours, he takes his leave, and thus far – it is not clear where he retires to.
Rumours eventually abounded that he was actually courting – the name Gilva Handrake was heard in association with this rumour. Edward escorted her to the a Parys ball and introduced her as his fiance, though at this point a wedding date had not been set. Meanwhile, Gilva’s full titles are: Princess of House Hendrake, Master of Arms of House Hendrake, Duchess of Gilvaways, Princess of House Celestine (on her mother’s side), Princess of House Rexford (on her maternal grandmother’s side), Princess of House Gilesways (on her great grandmother’s side, Princess of House Helgramways (on her other great grandmother’s side).
Eventually there was a new year wedding. All the parental permissions were gained, and everyone seems overjoyed that Edward has now settled down to married life. Gilva is a very understanding woman.
Children of Edward
No man with such a gregarious lifestyle as Edward can hope to voyage through life’s oceans, without leaving a little bit of himself behind in some of the various ports where he has ridden out a storm. Thus far, Edward has become aware of 11 such occasions when his shore leave has left more than just fond memories behind. Then of course, there are also the children born within wedlock, since Edward’s marriage to Gilva.
Prince Albert Victor Duke of Clarence and Avondale, is as far as Edward knows, his firstborn and eldest son. However, this claim is difficult to substantiate, taking into account the different time flow rates in different Shadows. Edward has determined that his mother is most likely to be Queen Alexandra of Germany from Edward’s home shadow of Saxe-Coburg. If he had remained on Saxe-Coburg, this was the woman he would have been destined to marry, and they had certainly met and appraised each other, before Edward left. Young Albert Victor is now 25 years old himself, and has recently been brought into his inheritance as a descendant of Oberon. He is currently assisting his father as local commander in a territory that is under Edward’s protection.
A second older child recently came to light in the form of Prince Cecil Edward Albert Benedict Ernst Saxe-Coburg. This not so young man of 48 summers is Edward’s son by way of the late Princess Lucille, who herself is a daughter of Tubble Chanicut and Cymnea, Which basically means she was Edward’s aunt. He didn’t know that at the time, and that is all he has to say on the matter.
Prince Henry, Prince George, Princess Catherine and Princess Victoria are all children born with his wife, in the time since Edward’s marriage. They are not being brought up in Amber, and Edward has recently helped them all celebrate their 9th birthdays.
Warrant Officer Albert Saxon is another son who has appeared recently, and the exact origins of whom are not yet clear. Currently 26 years of age, he arrived in Amber on a second world war US navy vessel that appeared out of thin air, but then got stuck, as very little of its systems would work there.
Prince Alexander John Wettin and Princess Maud Charlotte Wettin recently came to light. Parenthood is a wonderful thing (if taken in moderation). By now it may is becoming known that these two children were gifts to Edward from the Princess Ariana La Fey, a delightful and well traveled lady.
Young Warwick, a bright lad with a great future once he has been untrained of some slightly dubious political habits, is at least one son that Edward does know the mother of. And to Gilva’s great relief, the lady in question is not likely to become a social embarrassment doing the clingy step mom thing, because she is no longer among the living. Spasna, the late daughter of Eric and Bryndal was Warwick’s mother. Edward has yet to admit whether he actually slept with the girl, or whether he was harvested using less honest technological means.
Then we have Captain Joel Winter and Captain Cassidy du Sul, a pair of young men who quite possibly do not share a mother, who have recently come to light as graduates of the excellent youth training programs in UT. In the case of Cassidy, he was returned to Edward in a stasis box, having been caught by someone else, in the act of some unauthorised archaeology, in a shadow which was not part of the UT empire. Joel seems to have had a slightly less arduous reunion with Edward, having been repatriated without even a handcuff in sight. Nevertheless, in both these young men’s cases, Edward does not know who their mothers were (or was – it could be either singular or plural). Joel is apparently 24 years old, and Cassidy is 30.
More recently discovered, we have Prince Rheinhold Lucien, a young man who was rescued from Haven in the Equinox continuum. Whether he actually needed rescuing from Haven is a different question entirely, but on the occasion that Edward and a few friends visited Haven, Edward was heard to say “There is no way any son of mine is being brought up in a place like this.” Rheinhold is currently 4 years old.
And the final entrant on Edwards roll of descendants is a young man named Prince Cymner, who was gifted to Edward by Macha of the Morrigan, the shield maidens of Princess Morgana. Cymner is currently 6 years old,
The Amber Judiciary
Recent reforms to the Amber judiciary have seen new appointments of judges, and Deputy Minister in the form of Magnus, and the addition of a number of recently graduated mages working as ‘veracity officers’ in the Amber courts.
Recently, Edward has come into possession of a set of plate armour with a characteristic appearance, that has led to him acquiring the nickname Judge Edd.
Contact
Edward has his own email address – edward@eqnx.info