For, despite his mother’s misgivings, real advantages had accrued from Edward’s relentless pleasure-seeking. It was an age in which the levers of power were, for the most part, in the hands of the aristocracy. Statesmanship and high-level diplomacy were transacted not just in Westminster and Whitehall but in the embassies and country houses he frequented so assiduously. Conversations over billiards and brandy could reverberate across Europe. The Prince of Wales was able to hone his skills and knowledge of world affairs in the company of ministers and ambassadors as well as Guards officers and
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