Did Queen Victoria's Daughter Have An Illegitimate Baby As A Teen?

Did Queen Victoria's Daughter Have An Illegitimate Baby As A Teen?
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History Personalities, British Royalty, pic: circa 1880, Princess Louise, The Marchioness of Lorne, who was the daughter (6th child) of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert (Photo by Popperfoto/Getty Images)

Considering Victorian England was a time of covered table legs, figure-swamping crinolines and women fainting at the thought of showing a man their ankle, this juicy rumour doing the rounds is almost too scandalous for words:

Queen Victoria's daughter Louise had an illegitimate baby when she was a teenager.

Well get her to a nunnery!

Princess Louise was the sixth child of the Queen and Prince Albert, and a historian reckons the information she has on her is 'more than circumstantial'.

Queen Victoria, her favourite attendant John Brown and Princess Louise

Lucinda Hawksley, author of The Mystery of Princess Louise told Radio 4's the Today programme she believes the father of the princess's child was a man called Walter Stirling.

"It's very intriguing how he's taken on by the royal household and four months later completely dismissed, but still manages to retain an allowance and an assurance of his discretion," she said.

Lucinda adds further fuel to the fire by adding that there was a baby born around the same time who did not have a birth certificate:

"He was born in 1866/67 and was adopted very hastily by the son of Queen Victoria's gynaecologist," she revealed.

"That baby has descendants, and they have been attempting in recent years to get a DNA sample," she continued. "I have seen their family photo albums and would say there is a remarkable similarity to certain members of the royal family."

Scandalous!