1 00:00:00,440 --> 00:00:03,640 Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of I Heart Radio 2 00:00:03,840 --> 00:00:09,920 Speaker 1: and Aaron Manky. Listener discretion is advised. If you had 3 00:00:09,960 --> 00:00:13,520 Speaker 1: been alive in the early eighteen hundreds, you almost certainly 4 00:00:13,520 --> 00:00:16,960 Speaker 1: would have been familiar with the cartoons of George Krukshank. 5 00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:20,639 Speaker 1: In fact, if you're alive now, you're probably familiar with them, 6 00:00:20,840 --> 00:00:24,319 Speaker 1: even if you don't know his name. Krukshank became most 7 00:00:24,400 --> 00:00:28,640 Speaker 1: famous doing illustrations for the books of his friend Charles Dickens. 8 00:00:29,280 --> 00:00:31,319 Speaker 1: He was the one who did the first edition of 9 00:00:31,440 --> 00:00:36,920 Speaker 1: Oliver Twist. But Krukshank initially rose to prominence with political 10 00:00:36,960 --> 00:00:41,760 Speaker 1: cartoons he did for the satirical periodical The Scourge. He 11 00:00:41,800 --> 00:00:46,639 Speaker 1: did one cartoon in eighteen sixteen that's particularly interesting, featuring 12 00:00:46,800 --> 00:00:51,239 Speaker 1: Ernest Augustus, the Duke of Cumberland, after he requested an 13 00:00:51,280 --> 00:00:56,760 Speaker 1: increased salary from Parliament and that request was rejected. Ernest 14 00:00:56,840 --> 00:00:59,800 Speaker 1: was the fifth son of King George the Third, and 15 00:01:00,040 --> 00:01:02,160 Speaker 1: you're trying to place him in the grand line of 16 00:01:02,200 --> 00:01:06,720 Speaker 1: British monarchy. He's also the uncle to Queen Victoria. In 17 00:01:06,760 --> 00:01:10,959 Speaker 1: the Crookshank drawing called the Financial Survey of Cumberland, the 18 00:01:11,040 --> 00:01:13,920 Speaker 1: Duke is being thrown out of the Parliament building with 19 00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:17,800 Speaker 1: a firing cannon. The cannonball hits him square in the rear, 20 00:01:18,120 --> 00:01:20,920 Speaker 1: ripping the seat of his pants. A little piece of 21 00:01:20,920 --> 00:01:24,160 Speaker 1: parchment with his request for the six thousand extra pounds 22 00:01:24,200 --> 00:01:27,360 Speaker 1: flutters in the smoke. In the background of the cartoon, 23 00:01:27,560 --> 00:01:30,640 Speaker 1: the Duke's new wife, Frederica, is wearing a skimpy yellow 24 00:01:30,720 --> 00:01:35,559 Speaker 1: dress that struggles to contain her zaftig figure in polite society. 25 00:01:35,800 --> 00:01:39,480 Speaker 1: The new Duchess was of shall we say, questionable morals. 26 00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:43,800 Speaker 1: Ernest was her third husband. Her first husband had died, 27 00:01:44,200 --> 00:01:48,280 Speaker 1: and then she became informally engaged to Ernest's brother, that is, 28 00:01:48,360 --> 00:01:51,840 Speaker 1: until she got pregnant by someone else. She married the 29 00:01:51,920 --> 00:01:55,080 Speaker 1: child's father, only for him to die conveniently just as 30 00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:58,560 Speaker 1: she was set to divorce him and marry Ernest. Rumors 31 00:01:58,600 --> 00:02:01,800 Speaker 1: of husband number two poisoned had already made their way 32 00:02:01,840 --> 00:02:06,040 Speaker 1: to British court. In the cartoon, Frederica gazes lustlily after 33 00:02:06,160 --> 00:02:10,240 Speaker 1: three rather ugly soldiers while saying, ah, who could resist 34 00:02:10,320 --> 00:02:14,040 Speaker 1: lovers such as these? But there's something else interesting in 35 00:02:14,040 --> 00:02:18,000 Speaker 1: the cartoon, visible only if you look closely. You see 36 00:02:18,280 --> 00:02:21,280 Speaker 1: the new Duchess and her three less than attractive lovers 37 00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:24,600 Speaker 1: are standing on a hill, and that hill is painted 38 00:02:24,639 --> 00:02:28,240 Speaker 1: with a brown splotch. From far away, it looks like 39 00:02:28,280 --> 00:02:31,600 Speaker 1: it could be mud. But when you look closer, through 40 00:02:31,680 --> 00:02:34,040 Speaker 1: the brown paint, you can see the remnants of a 41 00:02:34,080 --> 00:02:38,480 Speaker 1: ghostly figure someone Crookshank had drawn and then decided to 42 00:02:38,520 --> 00:02:42,680 Speaker 1: cover over. Some restored versions of the cartoon reveal that 43 00:02:42,720 --> 00:02:46,480 Speaker 1: the literally hidden figure is a man, but a man 44 00:02:46,600 --> 00:02:51,200 Speaker 1: drawn grotesque, with big bulging fish eyes, wearing only a 45 00:02:51,320 --> 00:02:55,320 Speaker 1: night shirt. A red gash marks his slit throat, and 46 00:02:55,360 --> 00:02:59,359 Speaker 1: he holds a razor aloft still dripping blood. Is this 47 00:02:59,440 --> 00:03:02,120 Speaker 1: a raised her that I see before me? The figure 48 00:03:02,240 --> 00:03:06,160 Speaker 1: says in a speech bubble, thou canst not say I 49 00:03:06,240 --> 00:03:10,200 Speaker 1: did it? You see, the Duke of Cumberland's wife wasn't 50 00:03:10,240 --> 00:03:13,160 Speaker 1: the only one with the specter of murder hanging over her. 51 00:03:13,880 --> 00:03:17,000 Speaker 1: The figure is a man named sellis the Duke of 52 00:03:17,040 --> 00:03:20,760 Speaker 1: Cumberland's former valet, who was found to have killed himself, 53 00:03:21,240 --> 00:03:25,799 Speaker 1: but under more than mysterious circumstances. Why did Krookshank decide 54 00:03:25,840 --> 00:03:28,680 Speaker 1: to self center the cartoon? Did he think that the 55 00:03:28,720 --> 00:03:32,160 Speaker 1: implication that the Duke committed murder was a step too far. 56 00:03:33,120 --> 00:03:35,880 Speaker 1: The truth is he was most likely protecting himself from 57 00:03:35,920 --> 00:03:39,600 Speaker 1: a libel lawsuit. The Duke had already proven himself litigious 58 00:03:39,640 --> 00:03:43,360 Speaker 1: against people who suggest that Celis's death was anything other 59 00:03:43,360 --> 00:03:46,680 Speaker 1: than a suicide. Krookshank would have wanted to avoid a 60 00:03:46,800 --> 00:03:51,280 Speaker 1: lengthy and expensive trial and the possible subsequent prison sentence. 61 00:03:51,960 --> 00:03:55,280 Speaker 1: But still, if you look closely at the cartoon, the 62 00:03:55,360 --> 00:04:00,560 Speaker 1: figure is still visible, just barely, an internal finder of 63 00:04:00,640 --> 00:04:04,280 Speaker 1: the gruesome death that occurred one May night at one 64 00:04:04,280 --> 00:04:07,720 Speaker 1: of the most prominent homes in London. The ghost of 65 00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:10,360 Speaker 1: a figure at the heart of a murder mystery that 66 00:04:10,840 --> 00:04:16,600 Speaker 1: to this day still remains unsolved. My name is Danis Schwartz, 67 00:04:17,400 --> 00:04:27,640 Speaker 1: and this is noble blood. It was an unseasonably warm 68 00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:31,599 Speaker 1: evening at the end of May in eighteen ten when Ernest, 69 00:04:31,800 --> 00:04:35,320 Speaker 1: the Duke of Cumberland returned to his residence at Saint 70 00:04:35,400 --> 00:04:38,599 Speaker 1: James Palace after an evening at an opera benefit for 71 00:04:38,680 --> 00:04:42,279 Speaker 1: the Royal Society of Musicians. It had been an overall 72 00:04:42,360 --> 00:04:46,159 Speaker 1: unpleasant evening. The room had felt stuffier than normal, and 73 00:04:46,240 --> 00:04:48,880 Speaker 1: his suits stuck to him in the heat. All in all, 74 00:04:48,920 --> 00:04:51,039 Speaker 1: he was glad to be home to put on his 75 00:04:51,120 --> 00:04:55,000 Speaker 1: night things and retire to his bedroom. All was quiet 76 00:04:55,040 --> 00:04:59,720 Speaker 1: in Saint James's Palace, at least it was until after midnight. 77 00:05:00,800 --> 00:05:03,880 Speaker 1: At twelve thirty a m. The Duke woke two blows 78 00:05:04,080 --> 00:05:09,440 Speaker 1: raining down on his head, two blunt blows, then frenzied cutting. Later, 79 00:05:09,600 --> 00:05:11,880 Speaker 1: the Duke would say that, in the dreamy haze of 80 00:05:11,960 --> 00:05:16,320 Speaker 1: semi sleep, his eyes still struggling to adjust to the darkness, 81 00:05:16,320 --> 00:05:19,080 Speaker 1: he thought a bat had made it into his room, 82 00:05:19,120 --> 00:05:22,159 Speaker 1: a leathery thing with sharp claws that had come down 83 00:05:22,279 --> 00:05:26,080 Speaker 1: through the chimney and mistakenly attacked him. But he only 84 00:05:26,120 --> 00:05:29,839 Speaker 1: thought that for a moment before the third blow. When 85 00:05:29,839 --> 00:05:32,240 Speaker 1: the third blow came down, the Duke was able to 86 00:05:32,320 --> 00:05:35,719 Speaker 1: make out the flash of a metal weapon, illuminated only 87 00:05:35,760 --> 00:05:40,039 Speaker 1: by the single dim lamp in the room. Dazed injured, 88 00:05:40,440 --> 00:05:42,919 Speaker 1: the Duke pulled himself from the bed and tried to 89 00:05:42,960 --> 00:05:46,280 Speaker 1: make it across the room. The assailant slashed him across 90 00:05:46,279 --> 00:05:48,880 Speaker 1: the thighs. The Duke called out to the valet on 91 00:05:48,960 --> 00:05:53,679 Speaker 1: duty that night. Neil, the Duke shouted, Neil, I am murdered, 92 00:05:53,720 --> 00:05:57,920 Speaker 1: and the murderer is in my room, Cornelius. Neil flung 93 00:05:58,040 --> 00:06:01,880 Speaker 1: himself into the room, branding a fire poker, prepared to 94 00:06:01,920 --> 00:06:06,200 Speaker 1: do battle, but the assailant was gone out the opposite door. 95 00:06:06,680 --> 00:06:09,240 Speaker 1: The room was empty but for the Duke of Cumberland, 96 00:06:09,600 --> 00:06:13,360 Speaker 1: still alive but bleeding on the floor, and a few 97 00:06:13,360 --> 00:06:17,120 Speaker 1: feet away, still glinting in the dim light, the would 98 00:06:17,160 --> 00:06:22,239 Speaker 1: be murder weapon, the Duke's old military saber, the saber 99 00:06:22,279 --> 00:06:24,960 Speaker 1: he had used as a colonel commander of the military 100 00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:29,000 Speaker 1: forces defending the southern regions of Great Britain against France. 101 00:06:29,800 --> 00:06:32,840 Speaker 1: Though blood still gushed from the wound on the Duke's head, 102 00:06:33,240 --> 00:06:35,360 Speaker 1: his life had been saved by the fact that the 103 00:06:35,440 --> 00:06:38,800 Speaker 1: assassin seemingly had struck him with the flat side of 104 00:06:38,839 --> 00:06:46,719 Speaker 1: the saber and not its sharpened edge. Neil raised the alarm. 105 00:06:46,720 --> 00:06:50,600 Speaker 1: Within minutes, the entire household was roused, summons that they 106 00:06:50,640 --> 00:06:53,680 Speaker 1: could all get a handle on what exactly had just happened. 107 00:06:54,440 --> 00:06:57,880 Speaker 1: Though everyone was still dazed from sleep, in various states 108 00:06:57,880 --> 00:07:00,720 Speaker 1: of pajamas and whatever formal at fire could have been 109 00:07:00,760 --> 00:07:04,080 Speaker 1: hastily thrown on, it still only took a few minutes 110 00:07:04,160 --> 00:07:09,520 Speaker 1: for the household to realize that someone was missing. Neil 111 00:07:09,680 --> 00:07:14,200 Speaker 1: was actually the Duke's second valet, his first valet was 112 00:07:14,240 --> 00:07:18,480 Speaker 1: a man named Joseph Sellis. Sellus had been off duty 113 00:07:18,520 --> 00:07:20,800 Speaker 1: that night, but as a member of the household, he 114 00:07:20,880 --> 00:07:23,800 Speaker 1: still lived at St. James Palace and should have heard 115 00:07:23,880 --> 00:07:27,400 Speaker 1: Neil's alarm and come running. And yet there was no 116 00:07:27,560 --> 00:07:31,520 Speaker 1: sign of Selus. With the Duke still lying on the floor, 117 00:07:31,720 --> 00:07:35,280 Speaker 1: his thighs and head freshly bandaged, Neil and two other 118 00:07:35,360 --> 00:07:38,920 Speaker 1: men set out to find the missing valet. They knocked 119 00:07:38,960 --> 00:07:43,080 Speaker 1: at his door, no answer, sell Us. Neil said, at 120 00:07:43,120 --> 00:07:46,240 Speaker 1: the door, sell Us, man, come out. This was unlike 121 00:07:46,320 --> 00:07:50,880 Speaker 1: Joseph Sellis. He was famously punctual and disciplined. Other staff 122 00:07:50,920 --> 00:07:54,240 Speaker 1: members found themselves even slightly resenting him for the endless 123 00:07:54,280 --> 00:07:56,760 Speaker 1: hours and devoted service he put in with the Duke, 124 00:07:57,120 --> 00:08:00,400 Speaker 1: often for going his own breaks. Neil opped at the 125 00:08:00,440 --> 00:08:04,160 Speaker 1: door again, sell As, I say, open up. The men 126 00:08:04,240 --> 00:08:08,480 Speaker 1: tried the knob. To their utter surprise, they found it locked. 127 00:08:09,080 --> 00:08:11,840 Speaker 1: Kneel and the two men raced down the hallway through 128 00:08:11,880 --> 00:08:14,720 Speaker 1: a second corridor, down into the kitchen, and then back 129 00:08:14,840 --> 00:08:17,880 Speaker 1: up through another staircase that they ascended in order to 130 00:08:17,920 --> 00:08:21,920 Speaker 1: get into Selus's room through a back entrance. Their breath 131 00:08:22,000 --> 00:08:26,680 Speaker 1: caught in their throats as they tried that back door open. 132 00:08:27,840 --> 00:08:31,440 Speaker 1: Selus was still in bed, but it soon became obvious 133 00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:34,040 Speaker 1: why he had not joined them in assembling with the 134 00:08:34,080 --> 00:08:38,440 Speaker 1: rest of the staff. The body of the valet was 135 00:08:38,480 --> 00:08:41,600 Speaker 1: sitting up in bed, propped up by pillows, as if 136 00:08:41,640 --> 00:08:44,160 Speaker 1: he were moments away from pulling out a book to read, 137 00:08:44,920 --> 00:08:49,160 Speaker 1: but his eyes were flat and colorless. Blood pooled beneath 138 00:08:49,240 --> 00:08:52,440 Speaker 1: him a stain of red vast as a lake that 139 00:08:52,600 --> 00:08:55,640 Speaker 1: blossomed from his neck all the way down his torso. 140 00:08:56,520 --> 00:09:00,640 Speaker 1: Selus's neck was slashed a seemingly self in did wound. 141 00:09:01,800 --> 00:09:05,760 Speaker 1: Sell Us, it appeared, had been the mystery assailant, but 142 00:09:05,920 --> 00:09:09,160 Speaker 1: his assassination attempt had been unsuccessful, and so he ran 143 00:09:09,240 --> 00:09:12,640 Speaker 1: in retreat back into his own bedroom after abandoning the 144 00:09:12,640 --> 00:09:15,480 Speaker 1: bloody murder weapon on the floor of the Duke's chamber. 145 00:09:16,160 --> 00:09:18,920 Speaker 1: Cellus himself had actually been the one to sharpen the 146 00:09:19,000 --> 00:09:21,800 Speaker 1: blade of that saber for the Duke only a few 147 00:09:21,880 --> 00:09:25,600 Speaker 1: days earlier, and so, in shame and disgrace after his 148 00:09:25,679 --> 00:09:30,120 Speaker 1: supposed assassination attempt, knowing he would soon be discovered and arrested, 149 00:09:30,520 --> 00:09:33,440 Speaker 1: or maybe just racked with guilt, sell Us then split 150 00:09:33,480 --> 00:09:37,440 Speaker 1: his own throat at least, that was the story the 151 00:09:37,480 --> 00:09:40,760 Speaker 1: men of the Duke's household slowly put together in their 152 00:09:40,800 --> 00:09:44,640 Speaker 1: minds as they took in the scene, it's gruesome victim 153 00:09:44,840 --> 00:09:49,800 Speaker 1: and the overwhelming stench of warm salt and iron and death. 154 00:09:51,160 --> 00:09:54,800 Speaker 1: But in the ensuing hours, as the sun rose over 155 00:09:54,920 --> 00:09:58,520 Speaker 1: London and the details of the night crystallized as the 156 00:09:58,640 --> 00:10:02,600 Speaker 1: night's fog evaporate, it, servants began to bite their lips 157 00:10:03,120 --> 00:10:06,000 Speaker 1: and look at one another from the corners of their eyes. 158 00:10:07,120 --> 00:10:11,320 Speaker 1: Certain wrong details stuck out, like sharp, poking feathers and 159 00:10:11,360 --> 00:10:15,400 Speaker 1: a goose down pillow, tiny things that left an unpleasant 160 00:10:15,480 --> 00:10:18,120 Speaker 1: prickle in the back of the mind of anyone who 161 00:10:18,160 --> 00:10:21,240 Speaker 1: thought about them for too long. Because even as the 162 00:10:21,240 --> 00:10:25,560 Speaker 1: police ruled Sellus's death a suicide, things just didn't quite 163 00:10:25,600 --> 00:10:30,360 Speaker 1: add up. For one, Sellus's throat hadn't just been split. 164 00:10:31,120 --> 00:10:34,120 Speaker 1: The cut had been so deep that the man was 165 00:10:34,240 --> 00:10:39,400 Speaker 1: nearly decapitated. The white of his spine was visible through 166 00:10:39,480 --> 00:10:42,680 Speaker 1: the gore. The bone had been the only thing to 167 00:10:42,800 --> 00:10:47,120 Speaker 1: stop the blade. The question that lingered on the tongue 168 00:10:47,120 --> 00:10:50,320 Speaker 1: of everyone who had seen the body was what kind 169 00:10:50,320 --> 00:10:54,040 Speaker 1: of man could possibly do that to himself? But then 170 00:10:54,040 --> 00:10:57,520 Speaker 1: the second more dangerous question was the one that had 171 00:10:57,559 --> 00:11:01,040 Speaker 1: to be banished before it was even fully formed, because 172 00:11:01,080 --> 00:11:04,840 Speaker 1: maybe Cellus hadn't taken his own life. Maybe the real 173 00:11:04,960 --> 00:11:13,760 Speaker 1: question was what kind of man had done it to him. 174 00:11:13,760 --> 00:11:16,720 Speaker 1: There were a few details that seemed to indicate foul 175 00:11:16,800 --> 00:11:21,000 Speaker 1: play with Celus's death. For one thing, Celus had been 176 00:11:21,120 --> 00:11:24,840 Speaker 1: left handed, and the physician who examined the body said 177 00:11:24,840 --> 00:11:27,559 Speaker 1: that the wound had been inflicted with the right hand, 178 00:11:28,080 --> 00:11:32,640 Speaker 1: a slash from left to right. The setup of Celus's 179 00:11:32,679 --> 00:11:37,200 Speaker 1: locked room also seemed strange. Celus's hands had no blood 180 00:11:37,200 --> 00:11:39,560 Speaker 1: on them from either his attack on the Duke or 181 00:11:39,640 --> 00:11:43,280 Speaker 1: his own supposed suicide, and a basin of water sat 182 00:11:43,360 --> 00:11:47,040 Speaker 1: on a chest of drawers tinged pink with blood, supposedly 183 00:11:47,080 --> 00:11:50,480 Speaker 1: where Cellus had rinsed his hands. But the chest of 184 00:11:50,559 --> 00:11:52,960 Speaker 1: drawers was on the opposite side of the room as 185 00:11:53,000 --> 00:11:55,679 Speaker 1: the bed, and right next to that basin on the 186 00:11:55,760 --> 00:11:59,240 Speaker 1: chest of drawers was the bloody straight razor that Cellus 187 00:11:59,280 --> 00:12:02,240 Speaker 1: had supposed he used to kill himself, the only weapon 188 00:12:02,280 --> 00:12:05,640 Speaker 1: in the room, And again they were both on the 189 00:12:05,679 --> 00:12:08,720 Speaker 1: opposite side of the room as the bed, so Sellus 190 00:12:08,720 --> 00:12:11,560 Speaker 1: would have had to race into the room locked the 191 00:12:11,640 --> 00:12:15,920 Speaker 1: door behind him, slash his throat, then placed the razor 192 00:12:16,000 --> 00:12:19,800 Speaker 1: down neatly on the dresser, wash his hands, then get 193 00:12:19,840 --> 00:12:23,120 Speaker 1: into bed, all while his head was all but dangling 194 00:12:23,200 --> 00:12:27,640 Speaker 1: from his body. And there was another problem. Sellis had 195 00:12:27,679 --> 00:12:31,400 Speaker 1: no motive. He had a wife and four children. He 196 00:12:31,480 --> 00:12:34,520 Speaker 1: was a highly respected and well liked member of the staff, 197 00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:38,600 Speaker 1: close to the Duke and the entire royal family. He 198 00:12:38,760 --> 00:12:41,040 Speaker 1: was so trusted that he was one of only two 199 00:12:41,080 --> 00:12:44,360 Speaker 1: people to have a key to Queen Charlotte's royal bedchambers, 200 00:12:44,920 --> 00:12:48,440 Speaker 1: the other person being Queen Charlotte herself. And the very 201 00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:51,880 Speaker 1: next day after his death, Sellis was planning on accompanying 202 00:12:51,880 --> 00:12:54,320 Speaker 1: the Duke to Windsor, and Sellus's wife said he had 203 00:12:54,360 --> 00:12:57,640 Speaker 1: been looking forward to it. Sellis had been in the 204 00:12:57,679 --> 00:13:01,679 Speaker 1: Duke's personal employee for five years, and according to his wife, Marianne, 205 00:13:01,920 --> 00:13:04,679 Speaker 1: he enjoyed his job and felt nothing but respect and 206 00:13:04,720 --> 00:13:08,680 Speaker 1: gratitude for the monarchy that permitted his livelihood. Why would 207 00:13:08,679 --> 00:13:10,920 Speaker 1: he want to kill the man that gave him a job. 208 00:13:11,679 --> 00:13:14,560 Speaker 1: But over the course of the inquiry that followed his 209 00:13:14,640 --> 00:13:19,680 Speaker 1: mysterious death, details about Sellus's past began to slowly emerge. 210 00:13:20,840 --> 00:13:23,880 Speaker 1: Joseph Sellis had grown up in Corsica, the tiny French 211 00:13:23,960 --> 00:13:27,000 Speaker 1: island in the Mediterranean, but he had traveled all over 212 00:13:27,040 --> 00:13:28,760 Speaker 1: the world as he worked his way up in his 213 00:13:28,840 --> 00:13:32,400 Speaker 1: career until he finally landed at the prestigious post working 214 00:13:32,440 --> 00:13:36,240 Speaker 1: for the Duke of Cumberland. Before settling in England, he 215 00:13:36,280 --> 00:13:39,319 Speaker 1: had worked in New York City for a man named Mr. Church. 216 00:13:39,760 --> 00:13:42,920 Speaker 1: Sellus was hard working and dedicated and quickly became one 217 00:13:42,960 --> 00:13:48,000 Speaker 1: of Church's most trusted servants. But then Mr Church's desk 218 00:13:48,120 --> 00:13:51,920 Speaker 1: was robbed. The thief had smashed open a chest and 219 00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:55,560 Speaker 1: taken a gold watch, a diamond pen, and a large 220 00:13:55,559 --> 00:13:59,840 Speaker 1: sum of cash. Church rounded up every member of his staff, 221 00:14:00,080 --> 00:14:03,840 Speaker 1: interrogated them individually, and in the end he determined that 222 00:14:03,920 --> 00:14:07,040 Speaker 1: Sellus had been the thief. Not only did Sellus have 223 00:14:07,120 --> 00:14:10,760 Speaker 1: free access to Mr Church's private study, but they also 224 00:14:10,800 --> 00:14:15,080 Speaker 1: found in Cellus's possession a rather incriminating hammer, one that 225 00:14:15,120 --> 00:14:17,400 Speaker 1: looked like it might have been used to smash open 226 00:14:17,480 --> 00:14:22,320 Speaker 1: a certain chest of valuables. Sellis was immediately dismissed from 227 00:14:22,360 --> 00:14:25,880 Speaker 1: his post, but because all the evidence was circumstantial, Mr 228 00:14:25,960 --> 00:14:30,120 Speaker 1: Church didn't take legal action. Church also did something peculiar 229 00:14:30,200 --> 00:14:33,120 Speaker 1: for a man he was firing for thievery. He gave 230 00:14:33,160 --> 00:14:36,240 Speaker 1: Sellus a large severance payment so he'd be able to 231 00:14:36,280 --> 00:14:40,120 Speaker 1: find his footing elsewhere. After that, Sellis made his way 232 00:14:40,160 --> 00:14:42,440 Speaker 1: to England, taking up a post with the Earl of 233 00:14:42,520 --> 00:14:45,480 Speaker 1: mount Edgecombe. It was through his work there that he 234 00:14:45,520 --> 00:14:48,280 Speaker 1: met the Duke of Cumberland and eventually began working for 235 00:14:48,320 --> 00:14:52,360 Speaker 1: the royal family. The fact that Sellus had been a 236 00:14:52,400 --> 00:14:55,880 Speaker 1: one time suspected thief was a major point brought up 237 00:14:55,920 --> 00:14:59,280 Speaker 1: in the inquest trial about his death. After all, what 238 00:14:59,480 --> 00:15:02,520 Speaker 1: is petty thievery but one step away from violent murder. 239 00:15:04,320 --> 00:15:06,760 Speaker 1: One more element of his time in New York working 240 00:15:06,760 --> 00:15:10,520 Speaker 1: for Mr Church also came up. Supposedly, in his time 241 00:15:10,560 --> 00:15:15,840 Speaker 1: in America, Sellus had been a revolutionary, a strong anti monarchist. 242 00:15:16,440 --> 00:15:19,400 Speaker 1: According to a maid named Martha Perkins, who worked for 243 00:15:19,480 --> 00:15:22,320 Speaker 1: Church at the time, Sellis had been heard to say, 244 00:15:22,680 --> 00:15:25,480 Speaker 1: damn the King and all the royal family of England, 245 00:15:25,800 --> 00:15:27,880 Speaker 1: and the man who throws a stone at the king 246 00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:31,720 Speaker 1: deserves a seat in the House of Commons. It's possible 247 00:15:31,760 --> 00:15:33,520 Speaker 1: that those were just the words of a young man 248 00:15:33,640 --> 00:15:37,000 Speaker 1: at the start of his career, caught up in revolutionary fervor, 249 00:15:37,840 --> 00:15:40,880 Speaker 1: or maybe Cellis had been plotting the murder of a 250 00:15:40,960 --> 00:15:45,400 Speaker 1: member of the royal family for years, slowly working himself 251 00:15:45,520 --> 00:15:48,800 Speaker 1: up into their good graces, pretending for all the world 252 00:15:48,840 --> 00:15:51,520 Speaker 1: that he was a supporter of the crown, never letting 253 00:15:51,520 --> 00:15:54,960 Speaker 1: the mask drop, not even for his wife. Also that 254 00:15:55,120 --> 00:15:58,800 Speaker 1: years later he could bungle an assassination attempt of someone 255 00:15:58,880 --> 00:16:06,160 Speaker 1: not actually even in line for the throne, Cornelius. Neil 256 00:16:06,320 --> 00:16:08,680 Speaker 1: had his own theory for why Cellus would have wanted 257 00:16:08,720 --> 00:16:12,560 Speaker 1: to attack the Duke. According to Neil, the entire thing 258 00:16:12,640 --> 00:16:16,360 Speaker 1: had been an attempt by Sellus to frame him Neil, 259 00:16:16,760 --> 00:16:20,600 Speaker 1: for the Duke's murder. At the inquest, Neil testified that 260 00:16:20,720 --> 00:16:25,720 Speaker 1: Cellus had a very malicious disposition. My opinion, Neil said, 261 00:16:26,080 --> 00:16:29,320 Speaker 1: a Cellis meant to murder the Duke, thinking the blame 262 00:16:29,400 --> 00:16:32,160 Speaker 1: should be put on me. I have no more doubt 263 00:16:32,200 --> 00:16:34,640 Speaker 1: he did it to cause me to be suspected than 264 00:16:34,680 --> 00:16:39,080 Speaker 1: I have of my own existence. Sellus did hate Neil. 265 00:16:39,840 --> 00:16:42,520 Speaker 1: Neil was the one in charge of making purchases for 266 00:16:42,560 --> 00:16:46,080 Speaker 1: the household, and Sellus thought that he was swindling the Duke. 267 00:16:46,880 --> 00:16:49,200 Speaker 1: He had written in a letter to the groom, I 268 00:16:49,280 --> 00:16:52,360 Speaker 1: have been told Sir that Mr Neil cheats his Royal 269 00:16:52,440 --> 00:16:55,760 Speaker 1: Highness in everything he buys. The man is as great 270 00:16:55,800 --> 00:16:59,800 Speaker 1: a villain as ever existed. Maybe sell Us wanted to 271 00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:03,320 Speaker 1: checked the Duke so badly from Neil's wickedness that he 272 00:17:03,400 --> 00:17:06,040 Speaker 1: was willing to attack the Duke if it meant Neil 273 00:17:06,119 --> 00:17:11,439 Speaker 1: getting framed. Another theory Celis was a secret Catholic. The 274 00:17:11,520 --> 00:17:14,600 Speaker 1: Duke was a vehement anti Catholic, and so it was 275 00:17:14,640 --> 00:17:17,680 Speaker 1: possible that Sellis might have wanted him dead to avenge 276 00:17:17,680 --> 00:17:20,919 Speaker 1: his faith. Of course, Sellis never gave any indication in 277 00:17:21,040 --> 00:17:24,040 Speaker 1: his life that he was Catholic. He baptized all four 278 00:17:24,040 --> 00:17:27,080 Speaker 1: of his children in the Church of England, but remember 279 00:17:27,119 --> 00:17:31,320 Speaker 1: he was born in Corsica, which seemed highly suspicious. But 280 00:17:31,600 --> 00:17:35,439 Speaker 1: the trial also yielded suspicious details about the Duke and 281 00:17:35,560 --> 00:17:39,400 Speaker 1: his behavior in the aftermath of that eventful night. According 282 00:17:39,480 --> 00:17:42,960 Speaker 1: to the Duke, the assailant had given him seventeen wounds 283 00:17:43,280 --> 00:17:46,200 Speaker 1: and left him in a state of agony for somewhere 284 00:17:46,240 --> 00:17:50,080 Speaker 1: between six weeks to two months. The attack had happened 285 00:17:50,080 --> 00:17:52,320 Speaker 1: at the end of May, and according to the Duke, 286 00:17:52,720 --> 00:17:55,080 Speaker 1: it wasn't until the beginning of August that he was 287 00:17:55,119 --> 00:17:58,400 Speaker 1: able to leave the house. But that wasn't quite true. 288 00:17:58,720 --> 00:18:01,320 Speaker 1: The Duke was out of bed three days after the attack, 289 00:18:01,680 --> 00:18:04,120 Speaker 1: and he had made his first public appearance less than 290 00:18:04,160 --> 00:18:07,920 Speaker 1: two weeks after. Was he exaggerating the wounds to bolster 291 00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:11,399 Speaker 1: public sympathy, or were they far more minor than anyone 292 00:18:11,440 --> 00:18:14,760 Speaker 1: had been led to believe, Maybe because there wasn't an 293 00:18:14,760 --> 00:18:17,439 Speaker 1: attack on him at all. Maybe the wounds were so 294 00:18:17,560 --> 00:18:20,959 Speaker 1: minor because they were the results of the Duke, or 295 00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:24,040 Speaker 1: the Duke and Neil as a team staging a cover up. 296 00:18:24,920 --> 00:18:28,720 Speaker 1: The inquest was exhaustive. The foreman of the jury was 297 00:18:28,760 --> 00:18:33,000 Speaker 1: a man named Francis Place, a well known radical politician 298 00:18:33,200 --> 00:18:36,359 Speaker 1: who hated the monarchy and made his thoughts very clear 299 00:18:36,680 --> 00:18:42,600 Speaker 1: and very public. Even so, the verdict was unanimous. There 300 00:18:42,680 --> 00:18:45,679 Speaker 1: was no proof to furnish any other explanation for that 301 00:18:45,840 --> 00:18:51,000 Speaker 1: night other than that Sellis had committed suicide. The case was, 302 00:18:51,560 --> 00:18:56,439 Speaker 1: as they say, closed, but that didn't mean people stopped talking. 303 00:19:04,040 --> 00:19:07,800 Speaker 1: Two years after Sealus's death, a man named Henry White Jr. 304 00:19:08,119 --> 00:19:11,360 Speaker 1: Was found guilty of libel for implying in his Radical 305 00:19:11,359 --> 00:19:14,959 Speaker 1: Whig publication that Selus's death had been an elaborate cover up. 306 00:19:15,560 --> 00:19:19,280 Speaker 1: He got fifteen months and of five hundred pound fine. 307 00:19:19,960 --> 00:19:23,920 Speaker 1: White believed that Selus had caught the Duke and Cornelius 308 00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:28,240 Speaker 1: Neil in flagrante having a gay affair, and that Cellus 309 00:19:28,320 --> 00:19:32,359 Speaker 1: seemed tempted to go public. His suicide then was really 310 00:19:32,359 --> 00:19:36,879 Speaker 1: a murder to preserve the Duke's reputation. Another theory that 311 00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:40,919 Speaker 1: Celis himself had actually rejected the Duke's advances, and that 312 00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:43,320 Speaker 1: the Duke needed to have him killed out of a 313 00:19:43,359 --> 00:19:46,640 Speaker 1: combination of shame, embarrassment, and the fear of him going 314 00:19:46,680 --> 00:19:51,280 Speaker 1: to the press. Even after the inquest had formally cleared 315 00:19:51,320 --> 00:19:54,360 Speaker 1: the Duke's name, and even after the libel trials continued 316 00:19:54,400 --> 00:19:58,000 Speaker 1: to protect his name, the public still believed deep down 317 00:19:58,400 --> 00:20:02,400 Speaker 1: that somehow the Duke been involved, and most likely with 318 00:20:02,520 --> 00:20:06,960 Speaker 1: something involving some sort of secret homosexual affair. But the 319 00:20:07,000 --> 00:20:10,760 Speaker 1: most damning cloud of the Duke's guilt didn't emerge until 320 00:20:10,880 --> 00:20:15,880 Speaker 1: eighteen twenty seven, nearly two decades after Sellis's death, when 321 00:20:15,880 --> 00:20:19,280 Speaker 1: a man by the name of Captain Charles Jones wrote 322 00:20:19,280 --> 00:20:22,800 Speaker 1: a memoir. Jones had been the Duke's aide DeCamp during 323 00:20:22,800 --> 00:20:26,159 Speaker 1: the Napoleonic Wars, and the two men met again on 324 00:20:26,280 --> 00:20:30,840 Speaker 1: Christmas Eve eighteen fifteen, when the Duke couldn't sleep when 325 00:20:30,840 --> 00:20:33,480 Speaker 1: he lit a fire and asked his friend to sit 326 00:20:33,560 --> 00:20:38,119 Speaker 1: with him. In what Jones described as a gloomy frenzy, 327 00:20:38,200 --> 00:20:40,520 Speaker 1: the Duke told Jones that he believed he had not 328 00:20:40,680 --> 00:20:44,359 Speaker 1: one sincere friend in the whole world. Something dark and 329 00:20:44,520 --> 00:20:48,240 Speaker 1: terrible flashed across the Duke's face then, and despite his 330 00:20:48,320 --> 00:20:53,200 Speaker 1: closeness to the fireplace, Jones felt himself shutter. The Duke 331 00:20:53,520 --> 00:20:58,040 Speaker 1: looked into jones eyes. Swear to me, my dear Jones, 332 00:20:58,359 --> 00:21:00,760 Speaker 1: that you will never devolte. What I'm going to say 333 00:21:00,800 --> 00:21:04,320 Speaker 1: to you from my mind requires relief. It is more 334 00:21:04,400 --> 00:21:08,680 Speaker 1: than I can bear, the Duke said, wanting to unbosom myself, 335 00:21:08,800 --> 00:21:13,359 Speaker 1: but not knowing whom to trust. In his memoir, Jones wrote, 336 00:21:13,840 --> 00:21:17,119 Speaker 1: had I known what was to follow, no power on 337 00:21:17,280 --> 00:21:21,320 Speaker 1: earth could have induced me to have heard the dreadful confession. 338 00:21:22,040 --> 00:21:26,160 Speaker 1: But heard it he did. According to Jones, the Duke 339 00:21:26,280 --> 00:21:30,840 Speaker 1: spoke as follows. You know that miserable business of Selous's, 340 00:21:31,320 --> 00:21:35,680 Speaker 1: that wretch. I was forced to destroy him in self defense. 341 00:21:36,240 --> 00:21:39,560 Speaker 1: The villain threatened to propagate a report, and I had 342 00:21:39,600 --> 00:21:43,480 Speaker 1: no alternative. The Duke had continued to speak, but the 343 00:21:43,520 --> 00:21:46,959 Speaker 1: confession knocked the wind out of Jones, and the Duke's 344 00:21:47,000 --> 00:21:51,600 Speaker 1: words became nothing more than dizzy buzzing, and Jones recorded 345 00:21:51,760 --> 00:21:56,399 Speaker 1: no more of the confession. Of course, the true details 346 00:21:56,560 --> 00:22:00,440 Speaker 1: and reasons for Selus's death will now almost certainly never 347 00:22:00,560 --> 00:22:04,240 Speaker 1: come to light. They're buried with him in an unmarked 348 00:22:04,280 --> 00:22:07,679 Speaker 1: grave somewhere between the bottom of Northumberland Street and the 349 00:22:07,680 --> 00:22:11,639 Speaker 1: gateway to Scotland Yard. Sellus was buried with the Christian 350 00:22:11,760 --> 00:22:14,320 Speaker 1: rituals of a suicide in the middle of the night, 351 00:22:14,480 --> 00:22:18,200 Speaker 1: in the utmost secrecy, in order to prevent curious crafts. 352 00:22:19,040 --> 00:22:22,600 Speaker 1: But they say his ghost still haunts Saint James Palace. 353 00:22:23,320 --> 00:22:27,280 Speaker 1: According to some, Cellus sometimes appears in the very room 354 00:22:27,359 --> 00:22:31,480 Speaker 1: where he died, a specter drenched in blood, his throat 355 00:22:31,560 --> 00:22:36,320 Speaker 1: slashed and his jaw unhinged and hanging in a silent, final, 356 00:22:36,480 --> 00:22:40,639 Speaker 1: gruesome screen. People say on the anniversary of his death 357 00:22:41,040 --> 00:22:43,560 Speaker 1: they can hear the sound of a ghostly struggle in 358 00:22:43,600 --> 00:22:46,560 Speaker 1: the middle of the night between two men, and then 359 00:22:46,560 --> 00:22:50,520 Speaker 1: the sound of a blade on flesh, and everyone reports 360 00:22:50,560 --> 00:22:55,200 Speaker 1: the smell, the sickly sweet iron stench of warm blood 361 00:22:56,200 --> 00:23:04,919 Speaker 1: that's carried along with Celus's restless spirit. That's the tale 362 00:23:05,080 --> 00:23:08,800 Speaker 1: of Selus's mysterious death. Noble Blood will be back with 363 00:23:08,840 --> 00:23:12,080 Speaker 1: a new episode in two weeks, but stay tuned after 364 00:23:12,119 --> 00:23:15,600 Speaker 1: these brief sponsor messages to hear how the story of 365 00:23:15,640 --> 00:23:25,959 Speaker 1: the Duke of Cumberland ends. Ernest Augustus, the Duke of Cumberland, 366 00:23:26,080 --> 00:23:29,760 Speaker 1: it seemed, carried the stain of scandal with him everywhere 367 00:23:29,800 --> 00:23:32,560 Speaker 1: for the rest of his life. There was that terrible 368 00:23:32,600 --> 00:23:36,199 Speaker 1: affair with Selus, then his shocking marriage to a twice 369 00:23:36,200 --> 00:23:41,520 Speaker 1: widowed woman, and then in eighteen thirty another mysterious suicide. 370 00:23:42,520 --> 00:23:45,560 Speaker 1: In the early weeks of that year, gossip papers began 371 00:23:45,680 --> 00:23:48,760 Speaker 1: circulating rumors that the Duke was having an affair with 372 00:23:48,800 --> 00:23:52,560 Speaker 1: a woman named Lady Graves, a mother of fifteen and 373 00:23:52,640 --> 00:23:55,439 Speaker 1: the husband of Lord Graves, the Duke's lord of the 374 00:23:55,480 --> 00:24:01,040 Speaker 1: bedchamber and a household comptroller. That February, Ward Graves left 375 00:24:01,080 --> 00:24:03,720 Speaker 1: his wife a note saying that he never for a 376 00:24:03,800 --> 00:24:08,280 Speaker 1: moment doubted her faithfulness, and then he split his throat. 377 00:24:10,280 --> 00:24:12,440 Speaker 1: There was never any real proof that the Duke was 378 00:24:12,480 --> 00:24:16,120 Speaker 1: a murderer, but that did nothing to diminish his black reputation. 379 00:24:16,720 --> 00:24:19,399 Speaker 1: The Duke's own niece, Princess Charlotte, wrote that he was 380 00:24:19,560 --> 00:24:24,359 Speaker 1: quote at the bottom of all evil. His family and 381 00:24:24,560 --> 00:24:28,080 Speaker 1: the country wanted him out of England, and in eighteen 382 00:24:28,119 --> 00:24:32,119 Speaker 1: thirty seven they finally got their wish. You see, when 383 00:24:32,200 --> 00:24:35,399 Speaker 1: King William the Fourth died, the crown of England and 384 00:24:35,440 --> 00:24:39,840 Speaker 1: its holdings all went to William's niece, Queen Victoria, but 385 00:24:39,960 --> 00:24:44,280 Speaker 1: the tiny Germanic kingdom of Hanover still operated under Salack law, 386 00:24:44,640 --> 00:24:47,200 Speaker 1: which meant that women couldn't be in the line of succession, 387 00:24:48,240 --> 00:24:50,720 Speaker 1: and so the throne went to the next male relative 388 00:24:50,760 --> 00:24:55,960 Speaker 1: in line, the dead king's brother, Ernest Augustus. For all 389 00:24:56,000 --> 00:24:59,440 Speaker 1: of his disgrace as in England, Ernest was a generally 390 00:24:59,480 --> 00:25:03,320 Speaker 1: successful well king of Hanover. He was the first ruler 391 00:25:03,359 --> 00:25:06,280 Speaker 1: of Hanover to actually live there since George the First, 392 00:25:06,600 --> 00:25:09,719 Speaker 1: and he reigned for fourteen years until he died at 393 00:25:09,720 --> 00:25:12,600 Speaker 1: the age of a d There's a statue of King 394 00:25:12,720 --> 00:25:16,480 Speaker 1: Ernest Augustus of Hanover in front of Hanover Central Station, 395 00:25:16,960 --> 00:25:20,359 Speaker 1: with the king on a majestic horse wearing a majestic 396 00:25:20,440 --> 00:25:25,639 Speaker 1: feathered cap. It's inscription reads in German to the father 397 00:25:25,760 --> 00:25:37,800 Speaker 1: of the nation from his loyal people, Noble Blood is 398 00:25:37,800 --> 00:25:41,000 Speaker 1: a production of I Heart Radio and Aaron Mankey. The 399 00:25:41,000 --> 00:25:44,040 Speaker 1: show was written and hosted by Dana Schwartz and produced 400 00:25:44,040 --> 00:25:48,280 Speaker 1: by Aaron Mankey, Matt Frederick, Alex Williams, and Trevor Young. 401 00:25:48,840 --> 00:25:51,919 Speaker 1: Noble Blood is on social media at Noble Blood Tales, 402 00:25:52,200 --> 00:25:54,159 Speaker 1: and you can learn more about the show over at 403 00:25:54,200 --> 00:25:57,200 Speaker 1: Noble blood Tales dot com. For more podcasts from I 404 00:25:57,320 --> 00:26:01,000 Speaker 1: heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 405 00:26:01,240 --> 00:26:04,920 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. H