Sir Charles Mordaunt, 10th Baronet (28 April 1836 – 15 October 1897) was a wealthy English country gentleman, a Conservative member of parliament for South Warwickshire (1859–1868) and High Sheriff of Warwickshire in 1879.
He became notorious for involving the future King Edward VII (then Prince of Wales) in his divorce case.
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Campaign against agricultural unionisation
Mordaunt was an active campaigner against the Warwickshire Agricultural Labourers Union formed by Joseph Arch. He was quick to throw any labourers who joined the union out of their cottages. On 27 March 1872, the Hampshire Advertiser reported that "Sir Charles Mordaunt ....has served notices upon all his 'union' tenants to give up possession of their cottages at Walton and Wellesbourne". Mordaunt was also behind a meeting where 100 farmers agreed to discharge any labourers that so much as joined the union, reported on 13 April 1872 in the Leamington and Warwickshire Chronicle.
Marriage, scandal and divorce
Mordaunt was married on 7 December 1866 to Harriet Moncreiffe (7 February 1848 – 9 May 1906), daughter of a Scottish baronet. Mordaunt was a stolid country squire with no interests beyond hunting and shooting, and his wife was a giddy young beauty. She had already caught the eye of the Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VII). Lady Mordaunt had licence, or thought she did, to carry on affairs with other men. While Mordaunt hunted, fished, or sat in Parliament, she entertained numerous lovers, including the Prince and several of his aristocratic friends.