John Conroy

Sir John Conroy, 1st Baronet (21 October 1786 – 2 March 1854) was an Irish soldier and adventurer who served as Comptroller of the Household of Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, the Duchess of Kent, the mother of the future Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and widow of Prince Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent and Strathearn. He was widely rumoured to have been the Duchess's lover and Victoria's natural father.

uspected lover of the Duchess

Conroy's relationship with the Duchess was the subject of much speculation in his lifetime. When asked if he supposed that the Duchess and Conroy were lovers, Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington replied that he "supposed so". The then Princess Victoria (known to her family as "Drina") had a poor relationship with Conroy, whom she believed saw himself as "in loco parentis". She suspected that he wished to become the power behind the throne if she inherited the throne before the age of consent and her mother was named regent. She was reported to have caught Conroy and her mother "engaged in familiarities" (it was not recorded whether the familiarities were of a physical sexual nature, but she interpreted them as indicating that they were lovers rather than mistress and servant) and reported the matter to her governess, Baroness Lehzen, who in turn told Madame de Spath. De Spath confronted the Duchess about the relationship and was immediately dismissed by the Duchess for doing so.

Unsubstantiated claim that he was Victoria's father

Victoria faced constant rumours during her lifetime that Conroy, and not the Duke of Kent, was her natural father. However the evidence suggests that this was not the case. She bore no physical similarities with Conroy, but looked like the Duke's family. She also inherited diseases from the Royal Family, again suggesting that she was the daughter of the Duke. In addition, the Duchess and Conroy had not yet met at the time of Victoria's conception.

When Victoria became queen in 1837 one of her first acts was to dismiss Conroy from her own household - unfortunately, she could not dismiss him from her mother's household. She did however also grant him a baronetcy and a pension within weeks of assuming the Throne. This did not satisfy Conroy, who felt that he deserved at least an earldom.