In 1923, a century ago, a case came before the Old Bailey in London regarding the murder of an Egyptian aristocrat in the Savoy Hotel. It sounds like something out of Agatha Christie, but in fact it caused anxious ripples in royal circles and beyond, for the person accused of the murder, one Marguerite Al-Fahmy (née Alibert), had been the mistress of the then Prince of Wales, later King Edward VIII and subsequently Duke of Windsor.
He had then been a soldier in Paris in 1917 and 1918. There were compromising letters. It became necessary, in the eyes of the court and the government, for his early liaison with Marguerite to be hushed up. This was conveyed to the judges who were hearing the case. Special treatment being accorded to royal persons came sharply into focus.
But this was not new. In 1911, in the case of R v Mylius, the king,
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