Welsh aristocrat Lord Arthur Somerset was BOTD in 1851. Born in Troy House in Monmouthshire, he was the youngest son of the 8th Duke of Beaufort and Lady Georgiana Curzon. His was privately educated, and joined the Royal Horse Guards in 1869, eventually promoted to the rank of major. In 1885, he became equerry to Edward, Prince of Wales, and became a close friend and confidante of Edward’s son Prince Albert Victor, at the time second-in-line to the British throne. In 1889, police discovered a male brothel operating at 19 Cleveland Street in central London, run by Charles Hammond. During the police investigation, Somerset was named by 18 year-old rent boy Henry Newlove as a regular visitor to the brothel. Somerset was subsequently interviewed by police, though was not arrested, and his name was suppressed in a report prepared by the Attorney-General. Historians have speculated that the Home Secretary was reluctant to apprehend Somerset, given his close connection with the Prince, who was also a suspected client. Somerset instructed his solicitor to act in defence of the rent boys arrested over the scandal, and fled to France to avoid arrest, eventually resigning his Army commission and employment in the Royal family. Meanwhile, a media scandal erupted in London, with several newspapers speculating that Somerset and “P. A. V” were Hammond’s clients. Another celebrity suspect, Henry FitzRoy, Earl of Euston, sued The North London Press for claiming he had visited the brothel. During the trial, the newspaper called Cleveland Street rent boy Jack Saul to testify, who gave a graphic description of his sexual encounters with Fitzroy. Despite Saul having admitted in court to committing sodomy, police were also reluctant to charge him, likely due to concerns that he would name Somerset and the Prince as clients. Somerset never returned to England, settling in France and living with his male companion James Neale until his death in 1926, aged 74.