Disability Throughout History: Prince John

This story came to me through an excellently written historical fiction novel: The Royal Nanny by Karen Harper. My dear grandma (called "Mite") lent it to me. Since I was about in middle school, she and I have exchanged hundreds of books. We have similar reading preferences and we know that, if one of us recommends a book for the other, she is never wrong.

The Royal Nanny tells the story of Charlotte "Lala" Bill, a young nanny who cares for the British royal family beginning in 1897. The children she so loves are the great-grandchildren of Queen Victoria. The youngest, John, is the one who needs her the most. The book is beautiful and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys historical fiction. (For the record, I have never read a Karen Harper novel that I didn't like. She sadly passed away from cancer in April 2020.)

John, 1913

We turn now to the story of Prince John of the United Kingdom, as he is formally known. During his short life he held the titles of His Royal Highness Prince John of Wales followed by His Royal Highness The Prince John. He was born John Charles Francis on the Sandringham Estate in England on July 12, 1905. He was the youngest child of six born to George and Mary, then Prince and Princess of Wales. At the time, his grandfather, King Edward VII, had ruled England for four years. John never knew his influential great-grandmother, Queen Victoria, whose reign lasted nearly 64 years. He himself was sixth in line for the throne, after his father and four older brothers.

Queen Mary, John, Henry, Mary, & George, 1905

His name, John, was an interesting choice. It is deemed unlucky for the royal family, following the debacle of King John's reign from 1199-1216. He lost the crown jewels, lost land to France, and broke promises that led to the barons revolting. This, in turn, led to the signing of the Magna Carta, which was the first constitution to put limits on the king's power. Civil war broke out anyway and King John died of dysentery while fighting. He was known for being cruel and selfish. Today, we know him as the infamous "Prince John" from the tales of Robin Hood.

Our Prince John was affectionately known as "Johnnie." He was christened a few weeks after birth at the Church of St. Mary Magdalene with an impressively royal group of godparents. Like his older siblings - Edward "David," Albert "Bertie," Mary, Henry, and George - he spent much of his childhood in the nursery under the care of the head nanny, Lala. He was reportedly a "large and handsome" baby. Though he was highly unlikely to ever ascend the throne, he was instructed in British royal decorum immediately from birth.

John, 1906

By his fourth birthday, however, it was clear that John was unlike his siblings. Though both Albert and Henry had suffered from ill health, John was described as "winsome" and "painfully slow." That same year, he endured his first grand mal seizure. He showed other signs of disability, such as repetitive behaviors, lack of inhibition, and learning challenges. A documentarian said that John "simply didn't understand he needed to [behave]." Experts now think he had Autism Spectrum Disorder. I am always hesitant to retroactively diagnose any historical figure but feel it important to note this theory, as it is likely to be the case. At the very least, John had epilepsy and intellectual disability.

An aunt, Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, anecdotally described John's lack of inhibition: "...one evening when Uncle George returned from stalking he bent over Aunt May and kissed her, and they heard Johnny soliloquize, 'She kissed Papa, ugly old man!'"

John, held by his brother George, 1909

Doctors advised his parents that his life may be short due to his disabilities. At this time, he would have been clinically known as an "imbecile." The royal family, expected to be aloof and separated from the common people, was very careful to keep things like this a secret. Any hint of weakness in the family damaged their reputation and the people's faith in the monarchy. Like in other stories of disability from this time, most were shut away in asylums and forcibly sterilized, thanks to the eugenics movement that was commonly accepted.

As much as possible, John participated as a full-member of the royal family and frequently appeared in public until the age of eleven. His great-aunt, the Dowager Empress of Russia, wrote that "George's children are very nice...The little ones, George and Johnny are both charming and very amusing." His father told President Theodore Roosevelt that "all my children are obedient, except John." Though George was known as a strict disciplinarian, he was affectionate toward all of his children. He tried to show interest in his youngest child and treated him with "kindness and affection." John alone usually escaped punishment from him. His mother, Mary, was also a close confidant to her brood of children. His parents, however, were frequently away for months at a time performing royal duties. John's most beloved caregiver was his nanny, Lala.

L-R: Henry, Edward, John, Albert, Mary, & George, 1909

Life changed drastically for the large family when John was five years old: his parents became King George V and Queen Mary. He did not attend his parents' coronation the following year, as it was deemed too risky for his health and the royal reputation. John was deemed "not presentable to the outside world." After his closest brother, George, began attending St. Peter's Court Preparatory School, the family had to disclose to the media that John would not attend any school at all. Tutors continued to try to teach him at home though, after years of little progress and worsening seizures, his formal education was eventually discontinued. He remained very interested in the world around him and "capable of coherent thought and expression."

L-R: Albert, John, Henry, Mary, Edward, & George, 1912

With his siblings all in school or the military and his parents busy with official duties, John was increasingly isolated. He slowly disappeared from the public eye. No official portraits of him were commissioned after 1913. With John's epilepsy increasing in severity and his care needs growing, his parents moved him to Wood Farm in 1917 with his beloved Lala, now his primary caregiver. There are conflicting reports on whether his mother visited him frequently or rarely. It is alleged that his father did not visit him at all.

John became "a satellite with his own little household on an outlying farm on the Sandringham estate." He had a tutor, coachman, cook, and maid, along with Lala. Guests "remember him during the Great War as tall and muscular, but always a distant figure glimpsed from afar in the woods, escorted by his own retainers." Locals alleged that he sometimes was attached to Lala by a leash for his own safety. His grandmother, Queen Alexandra, did maintain a garden at Sandringham House nearby especially for him. This became "one of the great pleasures of his life." He called it, "Prince John's Garden."

Lala & John

His grandmother, wrote that, "[John] is very proud of his house but is longing for a companion," so his mother, breaking with royal tradition, brought in local children to be his playmates. One girl, Winifred Thomas, had been sent to live with her aunt and uncle in hopes that the country air would help her asthma. The two became close, frequently taking walks together and working in his grandmother's garden. John also enjoyed riding horses and his bicycle. He was very excited when zeppelins flew over the estate and loved meeting Winifred's father, "a real, live soldier."

As for his sibling relationships, Lala had written that “we dare not let him be with his brothers and sister, because it upsets them so much, with the [seizure] attacks getting so bad and coming so often.” A biographer wrote that "his seclusion and 'abnormality' must have been disturbing to his brothers and sister", as he had been "a friendly, outgoing little boy, much loved by his brothers and sister, a sort of mascot for the family." He spent Christmas Day, 1918, with his family for lunch at Sandringham and was driven back to his cottage that evening. Even with the concerns over seizures, his older siblings did visit him occasionally. Once, when Edward and Albert visited, Edward ran off with John in his push-cart, disappearing through the fields.

John, 1918

Seizures continued to strike with more severity and frequency. In the early morning of January 18, 1919, John suffered a severe seizure and died later that day in his sleep. He was thirteen years old. This is now called Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP). His mother wrote in her diary, "a great shock, tho' for the poor little boy's restless soul, death came as a great relief. I broke the news to George and we motored down to Wood Farm. Found poor Lala very resigned but heartbroken. Little Johnnie looked very peaceful lying there." She wrote to a friend that "for him it is a great relief, as his malady was becoming worse as he grew older, & he has thus been spared much suffering. I cannot say how grateful we feel to God for having taken him in such a peaceful way, he just slept quietly into his heavenly home, no pain no struggle, just peace for the poor little troubled spirit which had been a great anxiety to us for many years, ever since he was four years old... The first break in the family circle is hard to bear, but people have been so kind & sympathetic & this has helped us much." John's father described his death as "the greatest mercy possible."

The Daily Mirror reported that "when the Prince passed away his face bore an angelic smile." It also made the first official mention of John's epilepsy. He was buried at St. Mary Magadalene Church on the estate next to an uncle of the same name who had only lived one day. His grandmother wrote to his mother that "now our two darling Johnnies lie side by side." Canon John Neale Dalton officiated the funeral, which was attended privately by family and the Sandringham staff. "Canon Dalton & Dr Brownhill [John's physician] conducted the service which was awfully sad and touching. Many of our own people and the villagers were present. We thanked all Johnnie's servants who have been so good and faithful to him," wrote Queen Mary.

Not all of John's family mourned him. His brother, Edward, was eleven years older and saw his death as "little more than a regrettable nuisance." To his mistress at the time, he wrote that "the poor boy had become more of an animal than anything else." He also wrote a letter to his mother, now lost to history, but was apparently so insensitive that he felt compelled to write her an apology: "I feel such a cold hearted and unsympathetic swine for writing all that I did...No one can realize more than you how little poor Johnnie meant to me who hardly knew him...I feel so much for you, darling Mama, who was his mother."

Prince John's treatment has been brought up as evidence of the royal family's "heartlessness." The British Epileptic Association stated in 1998 that there "was nothing unusual in what [the King and Queen] did. At that time, people with epilepsy were put apart from the rest of the community. They were often put in epilepsy colonies or mental institutions. It was thought to be a form of mental illness."

In 2003, a biographical dramatic mini-series entitled The Lost Prince was released. It was written and directed by Stephen Poliakoff and starred Daniel Williams and Matthew James Thomas as Prince John, younger and older respectively. It won an Emmy for Outstanding Miniseries in 2005. While it is not available for streaming currently, a 2008 documentary directed by Paul Tilzey is on YouTube: Prince John: The Windsor's Tragic Secret.

The last mention of Johnnie in his mother's diary was that she would "miss the dear child very much indeed." She gave his books to his young friend Winifred, inscribed with, "In memory of our dear little Prince." His nanny, Lala, always kept a picture of him on her mantel. Next to it was a note he had written her: "nanny, I love you."

Most sincerely,

Clem

Disability Throughout History

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Monday, May 31, 2021

Prince John - The Lost Prince