Eyewitness: 1860 'Baron Renfrew' charms Pittsburgh's ladies
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King Edward VII
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Future king's visit
to pittsburgh
a poorly kept secret
The real identity of the 18-year-old Englishman traveling to the United States under the title Baron Renfrew had to be one of the worst-kept secrets of the 19th century.
The baron, who had been christened Albert Edward at Windsor Castle shortly after his birth in 1841, was the Prince of Wales and heir to the British throne. Pittsburgh was one of his stops 150 years ago on an unofficial tour of North America. He arrived Oct. 1 at Allegheny City's railroad depot on what is now Pittsburgh's North Side.
He was the first member of the Royal Family to visit the former British colonies, and the Daily Pittsburgh Gazette reported that he made a favorable impression.
He stayed overnight in the city's finest hotel, the Monongahela House on Smithfield Street. The next morning he traveled by open coach to the Pennsylvania Railroad station, giving residents plenty of opportunity to observe him, but not get too close. As he left the hotel, a cavalry escort from the Duquesne Greys militia and Young's Brass Band, "defiling on each side of the carriage, formed an escort of honor to the Prince and checked the inconsiderate curiosity of the crowd."
"As the cortege passed along the streets, it is needless to say the Baron Renfrew was the person upon whom all attention centered," a reporter for the Gazette wrote on Oct. 3.
"The ladies in particular smiled benignly on him and waved their handkerchiefs, and he invariably responded to their attentions by bowing and lifting his hat."
Men were free to cheer, according to the newspaper, while the women showed "in their countenances that enthusiasm which was maintained by the other sex in a more boisterous way."
First Published October 17, 2010 12:00 am
