By chance, Henrietta was the self-styled “concubine” of Henry Labouchère MP, architect of the Criminal law Amendment Act of 1885, the legislation under which Wilde was prosecuted for gross indecency ten years later. He introduced her to his friend, retired actress and director Henrietta Hodson, who trained her to become a star. ![]() Oscar’s housemate, the artist Frank Miles, suggested that she take up gardening but Oscar insisted she try her hand at acting instead. When socialite and “professional beauty” Lillie Langtry, a great friend of Oscar’s, was dumped by the Prince of Wales, she found herself destitute. Her favourite, “Cross-çi, Cross-ça,” sat on her shoulder and was attached to her lapel by a gold chain. She had hoped to purchase two lions and a dwarf elephant as well but contented herself with seven chameleons that were thrown in for free by proprietor, Mr. She used the proceeds of an exhibition in London to buy a cheetah and a wolfhound from the Cross Zoo in Liverpool. Oscar’s muse Sarah Bernhardt, the most acclaimed actress of her day, was also an exceptionally accomplished sculptor and exhibited in Paris, London, New York, Philadelphia and Chicago. Later, Oscar wrote: “Not one woman in a thousand would have tolerated her presence, but my mother allowed it, because she knew that my father loved this woman and felt that it must be a joy and a comfort to have her there by his dying bed.” It is likely that she was Emily and Mary’s mother. She never spoke nor lifted her veil to acknowledge his family and they did not acknowledge her. While Oscar’s father lay dying, his mother permitted a woman, dressed in black and closely veiled, to sit at her husband’s bedside. Here are some rather surprising facts about some of the women he knew. ![]() This card became exhibit ‘A’ in the disastrous libel action Wilde launched against Douglas and ensured that, for decades to come, the name Oscar Wilde would be associated with what Lord Alfred Douglas dubbed “the love that dare not speak its name.” Yet, ironically, Wilde’s life and work was shaped by strong, colorful and ambitious women just as much as it was by the men who conspired to bring him down. As Wilde was not present that day, Douglas left his calling card scrawled on the back were the words: “For Oscar Wilde posing somdomite. His intention was to confront one member in particular, Irish poet and playwright Oscar Wilde, who he accused of carrying on with his son, Lord Alfred Douglas. On this day, February 18, 1895, John Sholto Douglas, better known to us perhaps as the brutish 9th Marquess of Queensberry, arrived at the Albemarle Club, a private members club in the exclusive Mayfair district of London.
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