Stephen Knight was a busy guy. His book collected a whole bunch of scattershot ideas of Jack The Ripper's identity, with one suggesting that not only was the whole thing a conspiracy, but one perpetrated by the British Royal Family. It's the story told in Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell's brilliant graphic novel From Hell (and it's less-than-brilliant film adaptation starring Johnny Depp), which alleges that it was all done to cover up an illegitimate baby fathered by Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence, with a lady of the night. Prince Albert Victor Eddy to his mates figures in no less than three theories regarding the Ripper, in fact. During the time of the Ripper murders, there were no actual theories presented linking Eddy to the crimes. Since then, however, there was Knight's suggestion that the whole thing was a pretty messy cover up and one which would have been very, very difficult to keep quiet, especially if the Prince was as thick as reports of the time suggest whilst another simply posits that the Duke of Bedford teamed up with him to commit the murders as a lark, or something. Or it may have been a cover up, and it was related not to Eddy being a baby daddy but being driven insane by syphilis, which is apparently something that can happen. There's basically no evidence of any of this, although if you think the monarchy may be have been involved in keeping hush-hush about the Jack The Ripper murders, that might be enough to tip you over into a yes vote in the upcoming Scottish Independence referendum.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
