10 Theories About The Identity Of Jack The Ripper

When it comes to fingering Prince Albert Victor as the killer, there are a few factors that point towards him. It was alleged that "S" suffered from syphilis, that insanity stemming from the disease led to the murders, and that he was commissioned in the army at 21, later resigning that commission following a raid on Cleveland Street brothels attended by well-off homosexuals.

In his article in The Criminologist, Stowell never directly stated that "S" is Prince Albert. In fact, he would later deny it. However, Prince Albert's name was circulated in rumours regarding the Cleveland Street raids; in the late 19th century, all homosexual acts remained illegal. The Prince of Wales eventually intervened in the case, and no clients of the brothels in question were ever prosecuted. Albert was never even charged. But royal intervention only furthered the conspiracy theories. Nor is Stowell even the first to have implicated the Prince — in the 1960s, French art historian and biographer Philippe Jullian had as well.

Before any more information could be revealed, Stowell himself would pass away, aged 85, just days removed from the article's publication. As to his research, which could have shed more light into the identity of "S," his son reportedly burned it. Unread.