Before she turned into her portly and elderly self, Queen Victoria was a young and attractive 19-year-old girl. The media went crazy for her and the people adored her. The young lady would soon be crowned Queen of England.
Unfortunately, her fame provided her with what many young and beautiful celebrity girls never wish to have – a stalker. His name was Edward Jones, but many people knew him as Boy Jones. Jones was a low-class outcast of society, literally a nobody in 19th century England.
However, he gained his notoriety by somehow managing to sneak into Queen Victoria’s most private apartments without raising any suspicion from the royal militia that guarded her.
About Boy Jones
Edward Jones was born in 1824 in the home of a poor tailor. As true is the fact that a family builds a child’s character, Edward’s father was a drunk. They had a single shabby little room for a house and Boy Jones slept on a worn rag for a bed. No doubt, he emerged as a lousy, dirty, disgusting fellow.
Related: Celebrity Stalkers: When Obsession Goes Too Far
With all the commotion surrounding the coronation of the new Queen, curiosity sparked in the boy’s mind, and Boy Jones developed a new habit. He started infiltrating Buckingham Palace and slyly observing Queen Victoria while she went about her daily chores. But not for long.
In the cold December of 1838, just five months after the crowning of Queen Victoria, he was found ransacking the bedrooms of Buckingham Palace. The guards discovered the queen’s underwear insider Boy Jones’ pants.
He went to trial at Westminster Sessions, accused of stealing some of the palace’s personal belongings, including the undergarments. Treating his acts as a joke, the court acquitted him.
Stubborn Edward Jones
Instead of celebrating his safe escape from a criminal trial and choosing a life of truthfulness and honesty, the stubborn Edward was recaptured under a sofa in the Queen’s bedroom in December 1840. He had been spying on her conversation with Prince Albert.
[blockquote align=”none” author=”Queen Victoria journal entry”]Supposing he had come into the Bedroom, how frightened I should have been![/blockquote]
The Privy Council sentenced Boy Jones to 3 months of imprisonment. Just a few days after he was released in March 1841, Edward was caught eating meat and potatoes from the royal kitchen and hiding in the picture gallery of the palace.
The press began criticizing the safety of the Royal Palace of Britain. People around the nation theorized multiple conjectures as to how the cunning teen found his way into the palace despite the security. Boy Jones simply stated that he entered through an unguarded basement window.
Unlawful Detentions and Misfortunes
Newspapers continued lashing at the incompetent security. Boy Jones’ father revealed that his son would often disappear for days without explanation.
Lord Melbourne believed the boy should be removed, fearing for the Queen’s life. Melbourne snatched up the boy and transferred him to Brazil. While attempting to return to England, Boy Jones was kidnapped and forced to serve as a sailor in the Royal Navy.
Twice he tried to escape but failed. They made him a mere slave of the crown. However, he was finally released in 1848 because the Queen was concerned about any possible negative media publicity should anything wrong happen to him.
But Jones was still far from repentant and found himself arrested once again for burglary and deported to Freemantle in Australia.
But Boy Jones found his way back to England in 1857 and subsequently apprehended for theft.
His Fate
In 1868, a newspaper reported that the new Minister of Public Works in Victoria, Mr. Jones, was actually the brother of Boy Jones. The same Boy Jones who got into trouble for trespassing and theft on multiple occasions.
A civilian also came forth with information that Boy Jones had found a job as a town crier in Perth, Australia.
On 26 December 1893, a passerby found the body of a certain Thomas Jones underneath the Mitchell River Bridge. He died fell from the bridge while in a severely drunk state. According to the Bairnsdale Advertiser, this was the same Boy Jones. He apparently changed his name to escape his past.
Mental Illness?
Among those who knew Edward Jones, he was a shy, introvert, allergic-to-work kind of fellow. They considered him a complete loner and a heartless wretch with no affection even for his own parents.
According to writer Jan Bondeson from the Fortean Times Magazine, Jones may have been a sufferer of Schizoid personality. This is a behavioral disorder that causes someone to become emotionally cold and detached. The individual may also develop a special attraction for someone of the opposite gender. Thus, under the misconception that the person of desire is giving in to his advances, the sufferer of Schizoid personality may even take up to stalking.
Perhaps Boy Jones suffered from this disorder, perhaps not. But one thing is for certain. He is arguably the first celebrity stalker.
