Francis Laking

Sir Francis Laking BtGCVOKCB
Born	(1847-01-09)9 January 1847 Kensington,London, England
Died	21 May 1914(1914-05-21)(aged 67) Cleveland Row, St. James’s, London, England
Education	St. George’s Hospital Heidelberg
Years active	1870–1914
Known for	Physician to the Royal Household
Relatives	married (1) Emma Ann Mansell sonSir Guy Francis Laking, 2nd Baronet married (2)? Hackworth, no issue.
Medical career
Profession	Physician
Institutions	St. George’s Hospital Victoria Hospital for Children, Chelsea
Research	all

Sir Francis Henry Laking, 1st Baronet,GCVO,KCB(9 January 1847 – 21 May 1914) was anEnglishphysicianwho wasSurgeon-Apothecary in OrdinarytoQueen Victoria,andPhysician-in-OrdinarytoKing Edward VIIandKing George V.

Life

Laking as caricatured by Spy (Leslie Ward) inVanity Fair,February 1903

He was educated firstly atSt George's Hospitaltaking diploma of L.R.C.P. in 1868, afterwards atHeidelbergtaking L.S.A. as well as the degree of M.D. in 1869. He was house-physician at St. George’s Hospital in 1870, medical registrar from 1871 to 1874, and was at one time assistant physician to the Victoria Hospital for Children, Chelsea. Soon after leaving St. George’s he entered into partnership with M. Du Pasquier, Apothecary to the Royal Household, and his connection with the Court in various capacities of ever-increasing distinction continued until his death. He became Surgeon-Apothecary-in-Ordinary to Queen Victoria, Apothecary-in-Ordinary to the Royal Household, and to the household of the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Edinburgh, and the Duke of Connaught, an office which he retained under King Edward VII and King George V.

On 29 March 1901, after the accession of King Edward VII, he was appointed one of three Physicians in Ordinary, together withSir William Henry Broadbent, Bt,andSir James Reid, Bt.But even before the new King could be crowned Laking was the royal physician. He diagnosed appendicitis in March 1901 urging the King seek advice and elective surgery fromSir Frederick Treves,the royal surgeon. The correct decisions were taken and an ailing monarch's life was saved by Laking's presence of mind.

Family

Francis Henry Laking, born 9 January 1847, was the son of Francis William Laking (Middlesex,ca.1797 –25 November 1874), of Addison Road,Kensington,Middlesex, and (m. 12 October 1844) Louisa Jane Wilkinson (Devon,ca. 1818 – 17 March 1894), a daughter of Thomas Wilkinson, ofPlymouth.

On 26 January 1873/1875, Laking married Emma Ann Mansell (St Pancras, London,Middlesex,ca.1843/1844 –Pall Mall, London,Westminster,1 March 1905), daughter of Joseph Mansell (Clerkenwell,Middlesex, ca. 1803 –living 1871),stationer,and wife Elizabeth... (Poplar, London,Middlesex, ca.1821 –living 1871). Their only son wasSir Guy Francis Laking, 2nd Baronet(Westminster,21 October 1875 – Meyrick Lodge,Avenue Road,London, 22 November 1919), who succeeded to the baronetcy, upon the death of his father, on 21 May 1914. He married secondly the daughter of the late Mr. James Hackworth, ofDunedin,by whom he was survived and, by whom he had no children.

Sir Francis died at his residence at Cleveland Row,St. James's,London on 21 May 1914. The funeral took place on 25 May 1914 atQueen's Chapelfollowing which he was interred atHighgate Cemetery.

Honours

He was knighted in 1893. It was announced that he would receive abaronetcyin the1902 Coronation Honourslist published on 26 June 1902 for the (subsequently postponed) coronation ofKing Edward VII,and on 24 July 1902 he was created aBaronet,of Kensington, in the parish of St Mary Abbots, in the Royal borough of Kensington, in the county of London.After the actual coronation had taken place the following month, he was appointed aKnight Grand Crossof theRoyal Victorian Order(GCVO) on 11 August 1902.Shortly after the death of King Edward VII, he was appointed aKnight Commanderof theOrder of the Bathon 3 June 1910.

In addition he held foreign orders from the crowns ofDenmark,Turkey,Italy,Portugal,Sweden,NorwayandGreece,and was also aCommanderof theLégion d'honneur.

Grave of Sir Francis Henry Laking atHighgate Cemetery(west side)

Recent controversy

In 2004,NorwegianbiographerTor Bomann-Larsenput forward the hypothesis thatKing Olav V of Norwaywas not the biological son ofKing Haakon VII,but his mother,Queen Maud,had been, in 1902 inLondon,artificially inseminated by Sir Francis Laking:

In October 2004, in the second Volume of Folket, his history of King Haakon VII and Queen Maud, the authorTor Bomann-Larsenpresents evidence that in October 1902 Princess Maud ever stayed (secretly) in a London Hospital under the care of Sir Francis Henry Laking, 1st Baronet, physician-in-ordinary and surgeon-apothecary to KingEdward VII of the United Kingdom(Princess Maud's father), and that during this secret hospital stay, Sir Francis artificially inseminated Princess Maud, who gave birth to Prince Alexander (the future King Olav V) some nine months later. Mr. Bomann-Larsen further implies, but does not directly state, that the sperm donor was Sir Francis's son,Guy Francis Laking.

In March 2005,Odd Arvid Storsveen,a Historian at theUniversity of Oslo,published a review of Mr. Bomann-Larsen's book inHistorisk Tidsskrift.In this review, Mr. Storsveen claims he can't find adequate sourcing for Mr.Bomann-Larsen's "hypothesis" about King Olav V's paternity.

In popular culture

At a press junket in 2010,MMAfighter Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal referenced Laking, shouting to reporters "I am the greatest, most influential figure in history... John Witherspoon, Francis Laking, they ain't got nothin' on me!" The obscure reference was met with stunned silence.

External links

• BARONETS: Laking of Kensington
• COLLEGE OF ARMS: Sir Francis Henry Laking
• The Ancestry of Sir Guy Francis Laking (1875–1919)