HENRY CYRIL PAGET
THE DANCING MARQUESS

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Henry Cyril Paget, 5th Marquess of Anglesey, was a real late Victorian aristocrat whose passion for theatre, costume, jewellery, and performance made him one of the most unusual figures of his generation. In An Enigmatic Woman, Tabitha & Wolf Book 10, I place a fictional murder investigation inside his world at Plas Newydd in Anglesey, Wales.

Who Was Henry Cyril Paget?

Henry Cyril Paget was born in 1875 and became the 5th Marquess of Anglesey after his father’s death in 1898. He inherited the family estates, including Plas Newydd on Anglesey, along with a very substantial income. The National Trust records that he renamed Plas Newydd “Anglesey Castle” and, between 1898 and 1904, transformed it into a place closely associated with his love of performance and spectacle.

Paget did not fit comfortably into the conventional image of a late Victorian aristocrat. He became famous for elaborate clothing and jewellery, theatrical productions, and his own performances. The National Portrait Gallery describes him as the “Dancing Marquess,” a name inseparable from the extraordinary public persona that survives in photographs and accounts of his life.

Plas Newydd and the Gaiety Theatre

Theatre was central to Paget’s life. He converted the chapel at Plas Newydd into the Gaiety Theatre, a private theatre of about 150 seats. Productions initially involved friends, servants, and local people, and he later employed professional performers.

His theatrical interests were not merely decorative. Paget performed himself, took productions on tour, and became particularly associated with dance and highly elaborate costume. The theatre created an unusual world in which an aristocratic estate became both a private home and a stage.

That combination of grandeur, performance, and uncertainty made Plas Newydd an irresistible setting for a Tabitha & Wolf mystery.

Extravagance, Debt, and the Great Anglesey Sales

Paget’s spending was ultimately unsustainable. In 1904 he was declared insolvent, and his possessions were sold to help satisfy his creditors. The Great Anglesey Sales began that summer.

According to the National Trust, between 17,000 and 18,000 lots were offered for sale. The contents ranged from clothing and theatrical possessions to cars, household goods, and personal objects. Plas Newydd effectively became a vast auction room.

Paget left Plas Newydd before the sales began and never returned. He died in Monte Carlo in March 1905, still only twenty-nine years old.

The Real History and the Fiction

An Enigmatic Woman uses real people and places as the foundation for a fictional murder investigation. Some elements of Paget’s world are documented history; others belong entirely to the novel.

Henry Cyril Paget in An Enigmatic Woman

In the novel, Henry summons Tabitha and Wolf to Plas Newydd, drawing them into a mystery shaped by theatricality, aristocratic spectacle, secrecy, and danger. I wanted the fictional investigation to feel as though it belonged naturally inside Paget’s remarkable world rather than using him merely as a famous historical name.

I also create a fictional friendship between Henry and Empress Elisabeth of Austria, known as Sisi . There is no historical evidence that this friendship existed. It is an invention for the novel, inspired by the idea that two unconventional, intensely scrutinised figures might have understood something in one another.

Madfabulous and Renewed Interest in the Dancing Marquess

Henry Cyril Paget has attracted renewed attention through Madfabulous, which reimagines his life for the screen. An Enigmatic Woman is not connected with the film. Both works draw independently on the remarkable historical figure who became known as the Dancing Marquess.

Readers who first encounter Paget through Madfabulous may find his real history at Plas Newydd even stranger and more compelling than fiction.