One of the most frequently asked questions on the Jack the Ripper Tour is, “was Jack the Ripper a member of the Royal family?”
It is an intriguing question as the idea of a Royal ripper has been doing the rounds for many years and several books have been published that cite Prince Jack as their main suspect.
The member of the Royal family whose name is most often credited with the mantle of Jack the Ripper is Prince Albert Edward Victor, who was the grandson of Queen Victorian and who, but for his untimely death in 1892, would have become King of England following the death of his father Edward V11.
However, Eddy’s movements during the period of the murders are fairly well documented and tend to rule him out as a viable suspect in the Jack the Ripper murders.
Between August 29th 1888 and September 7th 1888, the Prince is documented as having being in Yorkshire staying with Viscount Downe. This would therefore rule him out as having committed the murder of Mary Nichols on 31st August 1888.
From the 7th to the 10th September, the period that covers the murder of Annie Chapman on 8th September 1888, the Prince was Stationed at the Cavalry Barracks in York.
On the 27th September 1888 Eddy (as he was known to the Royal family) left London for Balmoral, in Scotland, where according to Queen Victoria’s diary, the two of them lunched together on 30th September. Since both Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Eddowes had been murdered in the early hours of the 30th September 1888, this would also rule him out as being responsible for their murders.
Finally, between November 2nd and November 12th the prince was at Sandringham, the Royal family’s residence in Norfolk, which would eliminate him as a suspect in the murder of Mary Kelly on the 9th November 1888.