In April 1869 Sir Charles Mordaunt (1836–1897) learnt that his wife Harriet had had three separate affairs, and that her lovers included the heir to the throne. Although Mordaunt did not carry out his threat of citing the prince as co-respondent in the subsequent divorce case, Edward was subpoenaed to appear in court as a witness. Although Edward did not want to appear—and the queen wrote to the Lord Chancellor to see if this could be avoided—the law was such that the heir to the throne could be forced to appear if necessary. The prince appeared voluntarily and was in the witness box for seven minutes, during which time he denied having had a sexual relationship with Mordaunt's wife; he was not cross-examined. Edward's biographer, Colin Matthew, wrote that "the hearing coincided with general criticism of the very different deportments of both the queen and the prince. The latter was several times booed in public". Despite the "taboo on open criticism on prince's actions, an undercurrent of dissatisfaction existed" with him and his actions. For Edward, although such affairs could be discussed between friends, scandal was to be avoided wherever possible.