An Original Hand Written Address Paper and Initialed by Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale to Lady Maine. Undated but C1885. Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale. Prince Albert Victor Edward, Duke of Clarence and Avondale 1864-1892 was the eldest child of the Prince and Princess of Wales (later King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra) and grandson of the reigning British monarch, Queen Victoria. From the time of his birth, he was second in the line of succession to the British throne, but did not become king or Prince of Wales because he died before both his grandmother and his father.Albert Victor was known to his family, and many later biographers, as "Eddy". When young, he travelled the world extensively as a naval cadet, and as an adult he joined the British Army but did not undertake any active military duties. After two unsuccessful courtships, he became engaged to be married to Princess Victoria Mary of Teck in late 1891. A few weeks later, he died during a major pandemic. Mary later married his younger brother, who eventually became King George V in 1910. Albert Victor's intellect, sexuality, and mental health have been the subject of speculation. Rumours in his time linked him with the Cleveland Street scandal, which involved a homosexual brothel; however, there is no conclusive evidence that he ever went there, or was indeed homosexual. Some authors have argued that he was the serial killer known as Jack the Ripper, or that he was otherwise involved in the murders, but contemporaneous documents show that Albert Victor could not have been in London at the time of the murders, and the claim is widely dismissed. Albert Victor attended Trinity College, Cambridge where he would have created a friendship with Sir Henry James Sumner Maine and his wife Jane. Size is 180mm x 80mm. Condition is quite good. Mounted on card. Light age toning/marking.