Sir William Gordon-Cumming, 4th Baronet

William Gordon-Cumming
Gordon-Cumming in 1891
Born	(1848-07-20)20 July 1848 Forres, Morayshire, Scotland
Died	20 May 1930(1930-05-20) (aged 81) Forres, Morayshire
Military career
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1868–1891
Rank	Lieutenant-Colonel
Unit	Scots Guards
Battles/wars	Anglo-Zulu War (1879) Anglo-Egyptian War (1882) Mahdist War (1884–1885)

Lieutenant-Colonel Sir William Alexander Gordon Gordon-Cumming, 4th Baronet (20 July 1848 – 20 May 1930), was a Scottish landowner, soldier, socialite and a notorious womaniser. He was the central figure in the royal baccarat scandal of 1891. After inheriting a baronetcy he joined the British Army and saw service in South Africa, Egypt and the Sudan; he served with distinction and rose to the rank of lieutenant-colonel. Something of an adventurer, he also spent time hunting in the US and India.

A friend of Edward, Prince of Wales, for over 20 years, in 1890 he attended a house party at Tranby Croft in the East Riding of Yorkshire, where he took part in a game of baccarat at the behest of the prince. During the course of two nights' play he was accused of cheating, which he denied vehemently. After news of the affair leaked out, he sued five members of the party for slander; the Prince of Wales was called as a witness. The case was a public spectacle, widely reported in the UK and abroad, but the verdict went against Gordon-Cumming and he was ostracised from polite society.

A handsome, arrogant man, Gordon-Cumming was a philanderer, particularly with married women. After the court case he married Florence Garner, an American heiress; the couple had five children, but their relationship was unhappy. He was the grandfather of the writers Katie Fforde and Jane Gordon-Cumming.