The Prince, His Tutor and the Ripper

Of the many attempts to discover Jack the Ripper’s identity, few omit the name of James Kenneth Stephen, tutor to Queen Victoria’s eldest grandson, fondly known as Prince Eddy. While Stephen superficially fit the profile investigators established, was he really capable of the demented violence perpetrated by England’s most famous serial killer?
This volume takes an in-depth look at the life and experiences of James Kenneth Stephen, examining the relevant evidence and attempting to determine whether or not Stephen could actually have been involved in the Ripper murders. Delving into what little is known of Stephen’s early years, the work discusses his relationship with his mother and his family’s struggle with a hereditary mental illness. It follows him through his formative years at Eton, which he considered his true home and where he was introduced to the Greek notion of homosexuality. The work’s primary focus is Stephen’s relationship with Prince Eddy, who also became a suspect in the infamous London murders. The way in which Stephen’s life intertwined with those of Prince Eddy and Montague Druitt, another Ripper suspect, is examined in detail. Other incidents of the fateful fall of 1888 and Stephen’s final surrender to mental illness are also discussed. Appendices contain Stephen’s poetry and details regarding his family ancestry.

British writer Deborah McDonald lives in England.

Deborah McDonald
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 240
Bibliographic Info: 33 photos, appendices, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2007
pISBN: 978-0-7864-3018-5
eISBN: 978-1-4766-1691-9
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments      v

Foreword by Colin Wilson      1

Preface      7

Introduction      9

1. A Talented Family      13

2. Eton      20

3. Cambridge      39

4. Prince Eddy      51

5. Tutor and Pupil      61

6. Montague John Druitt      80

7. The Lipski Case      93

8. Eleanor Tennyson      99

9. The Whitechapel Murders      109

10. Prince Eddy in the Fall of ¡888      122

11. Stephen in the Fall of ¡888      127

12. The Mysterious Death of Montague Druitt      136

13. The Maybrick Trial      148

14. The Cleveland Street Scandal      156

15. A Royal Marriage?      166

16. Love and Loss      176

17. The Asylum      189

18. Too Late!      194

19. A Question of Motive      202

Appendix I: “The Littlego (Air Kaphoozelum)” by James Kenneth Stephen      207

Appendix II: The Ancestry of the Stephen Family      209

Chapter Notes      215

Bibliography      223

Index      229

“excellent…highly recommended”—Whitechapel 1888; “a penetrating look at whether James Kenneth Stephen was the Ripper…well-researched biography…using sources such as his mother’s diary…a superbly researched biography…about one of the suspects”—News Shopper; “well written, well researched…impressive…the author offers us much new and fascinating information”—Ripper Notes.