Queen Victoria’s daughter died in debt due to secret smoking habit

Queen Victoria’s daughter died with outstanding debt to a tobacconist due to her secret smoking habit, documents have revealed.

Princess Louise, the sixth child and fourth daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, died in 1939 when she was 91-years-old with an unpaid cigarettes bill to a cigarette shop R Lewis Limited, located near Buckingham Palace.

The princess, who was known for her unconventional lifestyle, was a “regular smoker” who managed to hide the habit from her mother who detested smoking.It was not until 1901, when her brother Edward VII became king, that Princess Louise could enjoy a cigarette in the smoking rooms of the royal palaces.

Princess Louise’s death duties file, released by the National Archives in Kew earlier this year, show that she left £239,260, 18 shillings and sixpence, worth more than £70m today. However, the 15 shilling cigarette bill remained unpaid.

Lucinda Hawksley, historian and author of The Mystery of Princess Louise, said: “Princess Louise was definitely a regular smoker and she would have had cigarettes and cigars to offer her guests when they visited, she was very sociable like that.“But Queen Victoria was very anti-smoking, so there was great excitement amongst Princess Louise and her brother when he became King, because they could smoke openly.

“It was no secret amongst her friends that she smoked, but she had to keep it from her mother, who would have been furious at any suggestion that a woman might be smoking, let alone her daughter.

“She didn’t even like her son smoking. She thought it was very unseemly.”The documents released earlier this year are two of the three files detailing Princess Louise’s will.Ms Hawksley said she was “very intrigued” to hear that new documents regarding Queen Victoria’s daughter had been published, as they have been kept notably private for nearly 100 years for unknown reasons.

Ms Hawksley said: “It’s very very hard to find out too much about Princess Louise. So it’s really interesting that new documents have come to light, but the other ones will not be available until the 2030s.

“I believe she had an illegitimate baby and several love affairs and all sorts of things that are really not very scandalous in 2018. But for some reason her files are closed. I was unable to get into them at the Royal Archives. They are completely closed to researchers.“It’s very interesting - that’s why I called my book The Mystery of Princess Louise, because it was a complete mystery researching her.”

—Courtesy The Telegraph