Abstract
The police report fell into the wrong hands. James Rogers, an up-and-coming actor from the Olympic Theatre, performed a small role in Charles Dance’s Hush Money at Windsor Castle on 28 January 1857. (The Queen called it an ‘absurd piece’, which for her was a compliment.1) For his efforts the comedian received, through the Olympic’s manager, Alfred Wigan, a paltry honorarium of 13 shillings and 4 pence. Although insulted by this meagre payment, he saw that it presented a golden opportunity for shameless self-promotion. But it came at the price of ridiculing the Queen. Rogers embarrassed the court by placing the ‘Californian sum’, as he facetiously overvalued his royal wages, in the poor box at Bow Street as the ‘joint contribution of Her Majesty and her loyal subject’.2 The following account appeared shortly thereafter in the Lambeth police report:
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© 2004 Richard W. Schoch
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Schoch, R.W. (2004). Hush Money. In: Queen Victoria and the Theatre of her Age. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230288911_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230288911_4
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-51634-6
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-28891-1
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