Queen Victoria’s Strangest Stalker
The stalker Thomas Flower’s pursuit of Queen Victoria was creepy. However, it paled in comparison to an even more persistent stalker, Edward Jones, a teenager dubbed “Boy Jones” by palace staff. Around 5AM on December 14th, 1838, a palace servant saw a gargoyle of a face in a window. It appeared to be smudged with soot, and belonged to an ugly youth who impishly grinned at him. Investigation revealed that a palace room had been ransacked, so the alarm was sounded, and the hunt for the intruder was on. A constable spotted a teenager outside the palace, gave chase, tackled, seized, and hauled him in.
A closer look revealed that the arrestee was an unfortunately featured young man, whose face and clothes were covered in grease and soot. He had on two pairs of pants, and when the outer one was removed, several pairs of ladies’ drawers fell out – Queen Victoria’s panties. The soot and grease covered young man arrested with Her Majesty’s underwear gave his name as Edward Cotton. Subsequent investigation revealed his real name to be Edward Jones, a fourteen-year-old urchin. He had gotten into the queen’s bedroom, and along with her panties, had stolen a letter, her portrait, and assorted linens.