A Tribute to Alexander Waugh - De Vere Society (2024)

Photo © CareyMarks.co.uk

In Alexander we have lost an Oxfordian hero, heroic not only in his wholehearted commitment to our cause, but heroic too in the depth and example of his courage in compassing his final ordeal. The iconoclastic wit, the brilliance of the work, the razor-sharp advocacy which made him the scourge of the professors, these go without saying, for his was a mind addicted to truth. Less obvious, but no less disarming, were the sheer grace and sweetness of the man, qualities that made him an exceptional friend. His insights into Oxford’s soul broke new ground while the range and clarity of his achievements can be summed up in a single number—1740—one that has come to signify so much to so many. His was a rare spirit, one whose influence will surely be felt by many a generation to come.On behalf of the Society you served with such distinction and such love, heartiest thanks, good cousin.

During the last decade of his life, Alexander was tirelessly researching and promoting Edward de Vere as the true author of the works of ‘Shakespeare’. He joined the committee in 2013 and became chairman in 2016, a post he held until his death, guiding the work of stalwarts such as Amanda Hinds (Hon Secretary) and Patrick MacCaskie (Hon Treasurer).

During this time he had three major impacts on the Shakespeare Authorship Question (SAQ) in general and on the DVS in particular. Firstly he greatly energised the DVS meetings by the inclusion of musical interludes and readings by such distinguished actors as Annabel Leventon, Richard Clifford and Sir Derek Jacobi. Secondly, Alexander greatly promoted the public awareness of the cause, bot through print media and through social media, where Rosemary O’Laughlin and Costa Chard excelled. In particular, Alexander’s own podcasts and videos were posted on his YouTube site, full of exciting and entertaining presentations. Finally, Alexander’s own scholarship was exacting and incisive. He carefully researched the Elizabethan theatre and made astonishing discoveries as well as finding many hitherto unsuspected connections between De Vere and other literary figures of his age.

Alexander was an exceptional man, full of superlatives. We recall his wit, his warmth and his interest in all members of the Society. While we mourn his passing, we rejoice in the tremendous legacy he has left us.

For over a decade Alexander has served as the most successful and influential Oxfordian in the entire world, and whose legacy opus, The New Shakespeare Allusion Book, will keep his spirit ever refreshed in our minds. His untimely departure from our ranks will in no way diminish the massive impact of his starring role.

I first became aware of Alexander’s craftiness at the 2012 Pasadena authorship conference when John Shahan informed us he had reliable reports from an Oxfordian mole that the Birthplace Trust and Cambridge University Press were planning to publish their anti-Oxfordian polemic, Shakespeare Beyond Doubt: Evidence, Argument, Controversy in 2013. To our absolute delight, our spymaster Alexander joined with John to co-edit Shakespeare Beyond Doubt? Exposing an Industry in Denial, which was assembled in less than 6 months and mysteriously designed to mirror the style of the CUP edition and has demonstrably out-sold it many times over.

Alexander’s indominable personality was too large to limit his contribution to publications, but most delightful to me was his e-book exposé of the Birthplace mythmaking industry in Shakespeare in Court, with its mock trial and serial biting ironies on the fraudulent claims. He righteously debated Jonathan Bate, found Avon ‘s ‘sweet swan’ at Hampton Court, gave testimony in the Middle Temple, and presented his unique cases at Shakespeare Oxford Fellowship conferences in Ashland, Madison and Chicago. Alexander’s special genius is equally evident in the production of his fascinating series of YouTube educational videos that will long continue to deliver his enriched imagination to future millions of seekers.

Alexander made us visible and took great satisfaction through the developments and following he fostered. His combination of brilliance, humor, sincerity, and self-assurance was never better represented in this uncertain world. We have been blessed by an avatar and shared an initiation that will last well beyond the shuffling off of Alexander’s mortal coil.

Photo © CareyMarks.co.uk

I had the good fortune to work over a period of many years with Alexander Waugh in assembling a multi-volume reference work on the earliest Shakespeare allusions in the record (Forthcoming, 2025). Our own independent research reconnaissance had led each of us to the conclusion that these early Shakespeare allusions had long been misinterpreted in the Stratfordian tradition of the previous Stratfordian Shakespeare Allusion Books. I was and remain in awe of Alexander’s versatile mind, large heart, devastating wit, and prodigious productivity. These qualities led to his widespread acclaim, not only as a public intellectual, but also as a musician, writer of musical comedies, opera critic, cartoonist, and author of many books. He became an editor of the Oxford University Press 43-volume edition of the collected works of famous grandfather Evelyn Waugh (1903-1966), a prolific journalist, novelist, and writer of acerbic satires. As a scholar of Shakespeare and early modern literature – the common interest that drew us together – Alexander became an ingenious analyst of the esoteric paper trail of early modern commentary on “Shakespeare” as well as an enthusiastic and erudite promoter of a post-Stratfordian and Oxfordian reading of the Shakespeare plays.

With the help of the internet, between 2013 and 2020, we ferried versions of manuscripts back and forth across the Atlantic to eventually complete a book covering all the major Shakespeare allusions from 1584 to 1786. While we worked and researched for the New Shakespeare Allusion Book, Alexander was busy developing a YouTube Channel on the authorship question that would grow to attract 17.7K subscribers and eventually include 61 videos, each crafted with exquisite attention to visual and pedagogical detail to back up his many insightful observations about the historical record of the Shakespeare allusions. On this topic, before his passing, Alexander undoubtedly became the most experienced expert in the world.

On YouTube, Alexander’s oratory, pedagogical finesse, and production skills gained him thousands of followers, most introduced to the authorship question for the first time and many inspired by his lucid explanations of the esoteric strategies of early modern commentators on Shakespeare. His video on John Dee has over 160,000 views, with combined total views of over a million. At the same time, he was writing a miniseries about de Vere that we may still hope to see produced in the coming months or years.

A caption to his photo in the July 23 memoriam in The Telegraph remembers Alexander as “An entertaining debater, with a hatred of pomposity, he proved a doughty opponent of Stratfordian scholars and led the De Vere Society” and captures the creative sense of the absurd that made Alexander such a delight to be around: “an impish, amused expression as though a smirk is always twitching at the corners of his mouth.” Although Alexander was far wittier than I, I did stir his laughter once when I joked that our work together on the Shakespeare allusions felt quite unfair. It was, I opined, more like “shooting fish in a barrel” than a fair fight. Certainly, it was not like the Stratfordian uphill battle to fit uncongenial documents into the Procrustean bed of unexamined assumptions. Everywhere we turned the historical record was replete with innuendo or proof against Stratfordian dogma. Alexander knew the data well enough to relish the joke and repeat it.

Alexander Waugh is survived by his loving wife Eliza Chancellor, two daughters, Mary and Sally, and son Auberon. But he is also survived by a large and growing family of admirers and intellectual fellow travelers, including myself, who have been inspired by his wit, humbled by his intrepid research talents, and enlightened by his intelligence and intellectual daring. With gratitude and enduring respect, we will carry forward Alexander’s seminal and original work on Shakespeare to prosecute the case against the Stratfordian fiction and restore the real Shakespeare to his rightful place in history.

It is difficult to put into words what Alexander Waugh meant to me.

Human beings have a huge capacity within themselves to attain greatness in both their heart centred humanity and also the unique

gifts that only they can offer.

Alexander reached the heights of both.

Not only was he a genius who unfolded and clearly communicated extraordinary evidentiary insights as to why Edward de Vere is Shakespeare, but he did so with a lightness, humour and profound kindness that reflected every aspect of the man he was.

Being in his presence was a joy. Being in his presence with his beautiful partner Eliza was even more of a joy.

Alexander set a very high bar for all of us and may we find the courage to live up to his memory on our paths.

May his beautiful family find strength and solace.

Edward, you have another great ally now. May you all continue to work your magic.

I am very sorry to share that news that our dear friend and colleague Alexander Waugh has passed after a heroic battle with cancer. Alexander was a prolific writer, a great thinker, and a fearless leader of the Oxfordian cause. All of us at Controversy Films send our deepest condolences to his family and many friends.

I am most grateful to Margo Anderson, author ofShakespeare By Another Name, for introducing me to Alexander in 2015. She suggested that I interview him for my filmNothing Is Truer than Truthand I reached out to him immediately. Although he did not know me, he generously agreed to participate in the film project.

He suggested that we film an interview at Westminster Abbey so I secured the necessary permissions. On a rainy November morning, we met outside the Abbey and proceeded to Poets Corner. Here Alexander would explain the meaning of the inscription on the Shakespeare monument at Stratford, pointing the reader to Westminster as the final resting place of the great poet. His theory that Edward de Vere, who wrote under the pseudonym Shakespeare, was buried at Poets Corner amidst his peers, Chaucer, Beaumont, and Spenser, became the coda for the film, entreating us to continue the search for proof that the Earl of Oxford lies buried there.

Alexander was a commanding presence even in the majestic edifice that has seen so many great kings and queens walk its aisles. He was perfectly at home amidst so many writers and statesmen. We shot for about four hours, before the Abbey opened to the public, and it was magical. Alexander was a great admirer of Dr. John Dee, Queen Elizabeth’s trusted advisor and renowned alchemist, astronomer, and antiquarian, so I suspect he too sensed the magic of the moment.

We repaired next to his father’s club in Soho for lunch and another interview, where he shared his copy of William Dugdale’sTheAntiquities of Warwickshire, which includes a depiction of the original monument at Stratford-Upon-Avon, which differs significantly from the one at Holy Trinity Church now. We also recorded his discovery about Hampton Court, also known as “Avon” as it relates to the phrase “Sweet Swan of Avon” in Ben Jonson’s dedication to the First Folio. Alexander entertained us with stories of Soho in the 1960s before we parted ways to shoot b-roll at The Globe Theatre..

It is with both joy and sadness that I now remember the last time I heard Alexander speak in person. The DVS event at the Charterhouse in 2023 was another wonderful gathering at a historic site, were Alexander delivered his talk “‘My Beloved the AVTHOR’: The Subtext of Ben Jonson’s First Folio Encomium to William Shakespeare”. It was a mesmerizing deconstruction of the famous tribute poem, ending with the appearance of a new star in the skies above London on October 6, 1604, Kepler’s Supernova, which was first seen exactly three months and three days after Edward de Vere was buried on July 6, 1604. You can read the entire article here in theJournal of Scientific Exploration, Volume 37, Issue 2.

After the day’s presentations concluded, we headed to the nearby pub The Shakespeare to celebrate, and there my husband and associate producer Brian and I had the chance to talk more with the next generation of the Waugh family, Mary, Sally and Bron, who were as charming, curious, and articulate as their father.

I had the honor of speaking at the most recent meeting of De Vere Society in March in London, where Alexander welcomed the members and guests via video with his characteristic good cheer and optimism, and shared his latest discoveries and research. I had met with him on Zoom to discuss his ongoing projects and my new film, and sent him a few notes over the last few months to let him know that he was always in our hearts as he fought valiantly to finish his groundbreaking works.

Still, the news of his passing this week was devastating for me, just as it was for so many members of our community. Thisis a great loss for world of letters and for Shakespeare studies, but there is no doubt that his star will ascend to take its place next to Edward de Vere’s. It was my great good fortune to travel in his orbit and I am ever grateful for his camaraderie, encouragement, and generosity.

Photo © CareyMarks.co.uk

It is now over ten years ago that I first had the pleasure of meeting Alexander, when I became a member of the DVS. He stood out to me as someone who always spoke eloquently at both SAT and DVS meetings, and I always looked forward to listening to his latest presentations.

Although Alexander was always a superb speaker, it was as if something fell into place eventually in his research, and it was a joy to witness and follow his foray deep into the Elizabethan world of codes and hidden meanings, always with the focus on the authorship question.

Through his immense learning and being a true polymath, he was able to emulate the Elizabethan world as few before him. I jokingly said to a friend that Alexander had become a “De Vere whisperer,” but the truth is, he was able to look at 16^th century England with the understanding of a social anthropologist of today. He understood the clues, the ciphers, he understood where to look for them, not as someone who believes that it’s all gibberish, but as someone who could see, find and understand the meaning of these century old riddles. Through his invaluable research, the DVS and the authorship question itself is all the much richer. May we all continue our research and uphold his legacy, as we inch closer to revealing the true author of the works that we all hold so dear.

Alexander and I eventually ended up on the same committee of the DVS, and subsequently met at gatherings, the theatre, and other events. Alexander became a dear friend, as well as his wife Eliza. More than being brilliant, he was one of the kindest, most generous persons I have had the privilege to know, and for me personally, that is how I will remember him.

It is with a heavy heart that I write this tribute to my dear friend Alexander. Our journey together throughout the 174T Podcast was a wonderful experience filled with his deep insights, boundless enthusiasm, and infectious sense of humour throughout each episode. He had a unique ability to make even the most complex topics both accessible and fascinating, appealing to listeners from all walks of life.

Beyond the podcast, Alexander was a friend who inspired me with his relentless pursuit of truth. He was a man of many questions, always seeking, always learning. His passion for understanding the world and uncovering its mysteries was truly remarkable. It was this insatiable curiosity that made our time together so special. He had a way of making the ordinary extraordinary, and the extraordinary understandable.

Alexander’s greatness extended far beyond his intellectual pursuits. He was a devoted family man, deeply in love with his amazing wife, Eliza, who stood by him with unwavering support and love. Their bond was a testament to the power of partnership and mutual respect. Eliza’s strength, kindness, and grace complemented Alexander’s brilliance, creating a beautiful synergy in their life together.

I will miss Alexander dearly. His laughter, his wisdom, and his kindness were gifts that I will forever cherish. Yet, in my sorrow, there is also a sense of peace knowing that Alexander is now at rest, with the answers to the questions he spent a lifetime researching. His legacy will live on in the knowledge he shared, the joy he spread, and the countless lives he touched.Goodbye for now, my friend. You are the soul of our age.

Alexander Waugh was a genius who embodied the living spirit of the English Renaissance. He also happened to have been one of the funniest people alive, and the most generous. The first time I met him in person at the De Vere Society’s annual gathering, he handed me the ring off of his finger — a magnificent silver signet which had belonged to Aubrey Vere — and gave it to me to wear for luck during my presentation on stage. He and his beautiful wife Eliza later hosted me and my creative partner Linds at their stunning home in the countryside, and fed us one of the most delicious meals I’ve ever eaten. It was earthy and fresh and thoroughly English in a way that helped me to understand Shakespeare. Their home was spilling over with books and art and of course piano music. Their generous hospitality taught me so much about the good life, and restored me to sanity. His hilarious stories and infectious good cheer had Linds and I in stitches; we could never have believed that he was so near to the end. I can only hope with all my heart that he knew how much he impacted so many. He leaves behind an extraordinary body of work– his books, his music, his scholarship, and of course his brilliant and erudite YouTube videos that he posted online for free, which inspired so many to fall in love with the Shakespeare Authorship Question, including myself. England seems to have a knack for producing brilliant men of arts and letters, but Alexander will not easily be replaced. He was a gentleman and a scholar, a patriot and a poet, and above all, a family man, devoted to paying homage to his illustrious ancestors, and loving his wife, children, and grandchildren. Dear man, Bon Voyage.

Photo © CareyMarks.co.uk

Condolences to the members of the de Vere Society on the passing of Alexander Waugh, your honourarychair. I owe him a debt of gratitude for telling me that my discoveries in the William Marshal portraitof the 1640 John Bensen edition of the poems was “something”. With that boost, I continued with my on-going research into what I call the Shakespeare Authorship Game.

It was a privilegeto have corresponded with such a “wit-fraught” scholar and generous human being. Without knowing me at all, he gave his time to encourage me in my efforts to understandwhat he knew intimately; the motto “vero nihil verius”.

He will be missed by many.

I had the privilege of meeting Alexander at Westminster Abbey in March 2016. I know the exact date, because the photos from that day live in my phone, and have often reminded me of the fun day that it was. Alexander, my mother Kerstin Teglof, a cinematographer called Karolina and myself had gathered to help create a segment for an American major news network about the Poet’s Corner, and the indications that pointed to the true author being buried there.

After the work was finished, we all had lunch at a nearby pub, and Alexander spoke with engagement and brilliance (as he was prone to do) about the authorship question, mainly to introduce the topic to Karolina and myself, who at the time didn’t know too much about it, other than that it couldn’t possibly be the guy from Stratford.

As he spoke, I remember a couple at a nearby table eventually ceasing their conversation, and discreetly leaning in to listen to Alexander’s wisdom and quips about Shakespeare and the Earl of Oxford. They were hooked. It was a gift that he had, to hook people and draw them in, engaging them and teaching them, inviting them into his world of learnedness, with irony and above all, joy – joy of learning, researching and teaching and sharing. It was a joy to get to be part of it and the energy was contagious.

What always struck me about Alexander was his open-mindedness; his lack of judgment of possibilities and of others, his kindness, and how he never seemed to tire of inviting people into his orbit. He gave everyone some of his time. I consider myself lucky to have crossed his path and have gotten to laugh to his jokes, as well as marvel at the immensity of Elizabethan brilliance and playfulness, all opened up through his own.

I always thought there was something birdlike about Alexander – I mean that in the best of ways; his quickness, his energy and intelligence, the lightness and the ease with which he navigated topics big and small. As he now has flown on to new adventures, he leaves behind an immense legacy, one that I know the DVS and the fellow societies will work tirelessly to uphold.

Here’s flowers for you…

Hot lavender, mints, savory, marjoram

The marigold that goes to bed wi’ th’ sun

And with him rises weeping.

These are the flowers of middle summer

Perdita, The Winter’s Tale IV,4

Would Alexander forgive me if, weeping, I hold back the flowers, declare that he was my great hope for the triumph of our Oxfordian family cause, and rail against him for letting me down? How nonsensical! While Alexander didn’t suppose rationality in family matters, this lady is over the edge: He never agreed to author the “Fathers and Daughters-DeVere-Cecil Story” she planted in his thoughts, however warmly he encouraged the idea. (In April 2022, having invited me to talk about Susan Vere’s role in the FF for a DVS forum, he wrote: “We all loved it and are hoping your investigations prove a great success.” Later he suggested his daughter Mary could be interested too, and he asked for a proposal … which I lost heart to develop.)

Alexander was a family historian par excellence! Whatever Wavian writerly cleverness was in his DNA, he excelled all his forebears as a biographer and serious historian. The literary world might have expected from him the humor, outrageous honesty, and mordant insights offered in his own family story:Fathers and Sons—An Autobiography, issued by Doubleday, in 2004. (I haven’t yet read his earlier work,God—A Biography. Only my guess thatGodis also a sort-of family history, featuringFather-of-us-all and his dysfunctional progeny?) Four years later Bloomsbury published his unexpected masterwork:The House of Wittgenstein––A Family at War. Read the universally glowing reviews to appreciate the depth of his scholarship, the empathy with which he penetrates a family culture so different from his own, his command of German (and how many other languages, in addition to Latin and classical Greek?), his overview of the sweep and swell of European history. See Part II # 20 for Waugh’s trenchant one-paragraph description of ego-mad potentates rushing into the First War–“the scrimmage of nations roused to action in the name of honor.”

Alexander’s videos are something else – erudite, enchanting, mystical, persuasively hypothetical. It’s no wonder he enticed a cult following, far exceeding everyone trying to draw converts to the concealed Shakespeare on a strictly logical plane! Instead, with musical wit, he has orchestrated scene by scene his own spell-binding “Fantasia,” to ponder over and over.

Alexander was our magus and our Puck! We cannot allow that our precious time with him was only a mid-summer night’s dream.Heis our “flowers of middle summer”! They will not bloom again by our weeping. We love you, Alexander. Joy cometh in the morning.

The Times’ aptly anonymous obituary for Alexander was ignorant and dismissive of The Authorship and liberally quoted from (‘Distinguished Shakespearian Scholar’) Jonathan Bate, ending with his stricture against challenging AUTHENTICATED HISTORY, secure in the knowledge that the best person to rubbish this statement was no longer able to do so.

At a public debate a few years ago Alexander devastatingly exposed Mr Bates’ ignorance of exactly what was and wasn’t authenticated in the history he chooses to propagate.

Alexander’s greatest abilities were to instantly summon a myriad of highly detailed and thoroughly researched facts to demolish spurious, generalised, meaningless statements and prove that Stratfordian believers were too confident and lazy to read contrary research and instead relied on eternally quoting imaginary, ‘alternative facts’ coupled with insulting catchphrases.

In Alexander’s tragic absence we must continue his quest to combat ignorance with knowledge, not forgetting the vital importance of humour as an essential ingredient.

It was a privilege to work with him on the recording of his masterly SHAKESPEARE IN COURT script and it must be remembered that he wrote it because Stanley Wells was too frightened to take part in a public trial which, had he won, would have netted him £40,000.

Photo © CareyMarks.co.uk