He took no notice of the mumbling crowd as he entered the sparkling ball room. And his angry expression certainly did cause such verbose whisperers to whisper. He saw the object of his prey and with large strides approached...knowing that all eyes were looking up at his dark and foreboding figure...
The most stylish scandal.. etched in paint forever
A few years before the Earl of York even set eyes on the heart of our queen, his evil and rebellious ways were infamous and known by all of high society. His scandalous affairs have been,due to his nature, perhaps the most taboo topics of conversation in Petersburg and London society.
Perhaps the most infamous and terrible of these scandals did not exactly involve a long time courtship but instead a single dance.
A Scottish prince was married to a Russian countess... it was her mother that hosted a ball to be held in Moscow . The prince was friends with the Earl of York and the two of them despite their differences in sophistication were rather good companions. It was believed that his lordship preferred the company of a more genuine and less fickle class... and it seemed that the said gentleman suited his interests. The earl of York was visiting Moscow for some unknown recreational reasons as he was a worldly man who left the continent frequently. He was apparently invited to the ball where the prince and his wife were also in attendance. Then through a dramatic turn of events the earl of York arrived late, walked in without a word and took the hand of the married woman. This open display of his authority and complete dishonor for the woman and the prince was clearly his intention. He danced with her while all the gossipers looked on and all of the finest of Moscow society witnessed his actions. The fickle girl was clearly taken by his power as she continued to dance with him with a look of astonishment. Meanwhile the bitter and jealous prince stood by a pillar and watched on with a look of angry discontentment.
The relationship with his friend was clearly over. After the second dance the prince tried to confront him in hushed whispers… the Earl apparently called the woman “easy” and “very provincial”. He then left angrily with a grimace and scowl across his face. Leaving the woman, the prince and the rest of the royal company to wonder what would happen next.
Days after the prince challenged the Earl to a duel for the reason given of “protecting the honor of the woman I love”. The earl didn't seem to even acknowledge the duel nor did he show up on the day.. and matters seemed to end there. However matters for society did not, This one dance and event had perhaps shown everyone that the Earl of York did not care for anything resembling etiquette or honor . To flee from a duel is often seen as cowardly… and yet the earl did not seem to care what people thought. This greatly baffled and also intrigued society and even to this day his questionable behavior has not been replicated by anyone of his high rank.
A year after the event, an unknown Russian artist from Petersburg painted the whole event onto canvas in oil. The infamous painting depicts the scandal in a very life-like way. The painter was said to be invited to the ball that time.
Now it seems the scandalous womanizer has set his sights on our admired and most revered queen… what could possibly go wrong/
The painting is called “принц Тьмы”and when translated to English it is called Prince of Darkness
