‘The newspaper Die Zukunft, Papa.’ His voice was unsteady, his face unnaturally pale. ‘It is hinting that Count zu Eulenburg and the friends close to him – the members of what he calls his Liebenberg Circle – are . . . are . . . are homosexual.’

Willy’s jaw dropped. ‘Homosexual? Homosexual?’ His eyes nearly popped out of his head. ‘What libel and utter nonsense! Phili is a married man. He has eight daughters. I’ll demand a retraction immediately. I’ll have the paper shut down. On dear Phili’s behalf, I will demand a very public apology. Who is the editor?’ He snatched the newspaper from Wilhelm’s hand. ‘Harden? I’ll have him castrated! That my poor, dear Phili should be so publicly and wrongly maligned . . .’

The very thought brought tears to his eyes.

Wilhelm was at a loss. It had never occurred to him that his father might be unaware of Phili zu Eulenburg’s sexual preference. His father had, after all, counted Eulenburg his closest friend for the past eighteen years. Eulenburg and members of his Liebenberg Circle had been his father’s guests aboard the imperial yacht countless times. Several times a year they went on hunting trips together. Several times a month they met up for evenings of drinking and practical jokes. How could his forty-seven-year-old father not have known?

‘Because your father is an innocent!’ his mother said to Wilhelm when, after Willy had blundered into his study to telephone Phili, her son had shown the newspaper article to her. ‘He takes people at face value. Your dear, dear papa never thinks! What other horrible things are now going to be printed?’

On the telephone a near-hysterical Willy was saying agitatedly to Phili, ‘That it is all lies, beloved Phili, doesn’t matter. They are lies that must be refuted. You must sue for libel! You must emerge from this farrago of nonsense with your reputation intact.’

Stunned, Phili said he was going to take court action immediately, and Willy collapsed in relief – but it was relief that was short-lived.

Dona, thick-waisted and stout, stared at Willy disbelievingly. ‘And you think the threat of a libel action will put an end to these rumours about yourself and Philipp zu Eulenburg?’

‘Gott im Himmel!’ He wanted to tear his hair out in frustration at her stupidity. ‘There are no rumours about me. The filthy, lying rumours are all about dear Phili.’