The couple had at first exchanged letters, which Beatty signed ' Jack ', as Ethel was still a married woman and discretion was advised.

Beatty's father was also unhappy about the match, fearing a repeat of the difficulties he had faced with his own relationship with a married woman, but with the added risk of publicity because both Beatty and Ethel were famous and the risk that Beatty's illegitimacy might be exposed.

Ronald and his mother were never reconciled from his perception that she had deserted his father, but he visited in later life and became friendly with Beatty.

The couple had two sons, David Field Beatty, 2nd Earl Beatty ( 1905 – 1972 ) born at the Capua Palace, Malta, and the Hon.

Beatty ’ s flamboyant style included wearing a non-standard uniform, which had six buttons instead of the regulation eight on the jacket, and always wearing his cap at an angle.

The gunboats were in support at the Battle of Omdurman, where Beatty made the acquaintance of Winston Churchill who had become a cavalry officer in Beatty's father's old regiment, the 4th Hussars, and had there learnt his family history.

At the time Beatty was 27 and had served only 6 years as Lieutenant compared to the typical 12 before promotion.

Beatty was strongly commended by Captain E. H. Bayley, who had been his commander during the siege, and by the commander in chief.

Churchill had met Beatty when Beatty was commander of a gunboat on the Nile supporting the army at the Battle of Omdurman, in which Churchill took part as a cavalry officer.

Seymour had aristocratic connections, which may have appealed to Beatty since he sought connections in society, but it was also the case that Seymour's sister was a longstanding close friend of Churchill's wife.

Beatty is reported to have remarked ( to his Flag Captain, Chatfield, later First Sea Lord in the early 1930s ), " there seems to be something wrong with our bloody ships today ," after two of them had exploded within half an hour during the battle.

In 1927 Beatty, who had become the first chairman of the Chiefs of Staff, retired from active service.

This was partly a consequence of his ships being stationed at Rosyth, rather than Scapa Flow with the main fleet, since local facilities at Rosyth were limited, but this was a problem identified months before Jutland which Beatty had failed to correct.

Beatty was critical of Jellicoe's cautious approach to the Grand Fleet, arguing this had thrown away the opportunity for a decisive numerical victory.

The German strategy was one which relied upon chance to create opportunities for local victories, such as had happened against Beatty, whereas Jellicoe considered a careful approach always favoured the larger force.

" Beatty had requested in his will that he would like to be buried next to his wife Ethel at Dingley.

In Germany, Beatty had ruined his reputation when he told the crews of his ships that were receiving the German High Seas Fleet for its internment at Scapa Flow, " Don't forget that the enemy is a despicable beast ," and arranged the surrender of the German Fleet as a grand spectacle of humiliation.

Beatty tells Montag that he had a dream in which they fought endlessly by quoting books to each other.

A policy was introduced of promoting British naval officers by merit and ability rather than time served, which saw rapid promotions for Jellicoe and Beatty, both of whom had important roles in the forthcoming World War I.

Caron had an affair with Warren Beatty ( 1961 ).

He also had a minor role in Gerald Thomas's thriller Time Lock ( 1957 ) as a welder, appearing alongside Robert Beatty, Lee Patterson, Betty McDowall and Vincent Winter, which commenced filming on 1 December 1956 at Beaconsfield Studios.

They remained close throughout life, so much so that the only time Beatty felt despair was at his brother's death.

DNA testing on a Baty of Cumbrian descent has found close matches with others bearing the following surnames: Beatty ; Beattie ; Beaty ; Baity ; Beattey ; Batey and Bates.

After the affair between David and Katrine became known, David Longfield's father ( Beatty's grandfather ), David Vandeleur Beatty ( 1815 – 1881 ), arranged for his son to be posted to India in the hope that the scandalous relationship might end.

This proved an excellent social opening for Beatty, who established a longstanding relationship with the Duke's eldest daughter, Marie, and with other members of the court.

She then had a high-profile but intermittent relationship with actor Warren Beatty between 1967 and 1974.

May also didn't get along with Adjani, which adversely affected the latter's relationship with Beatty.

This strained her relationship with Beatty even more.

Beatty resigned from the regiment on 21 November 1865, with the honorary rank of Captain.

In 1898 Beatty returned from leave after the Sudan campaign, but finding life in Ireland at the family home not to his taste, stayed instead with his brother at Newmarket.

Beatty was immediately taken with her, for her good looks and her ability to hunt.

Beatty did not respond until after surgery on his arm in September 1900 when he wrote, I landed from China with my heart full of rage, and swore I did not care if I ever saw you again, or if I were killed or not.

Beatty and Ethel married 22 May 1901 at the registry office, St. George's, Hannover Square, London with no family attending.

Beatty was an intelligent and able leader, but all his social and sporting obligations, coupled with his high-strung temperament, prevented him from becoming a coldly calculating professional like Jellicoe – or his adversary, Hipper.

Life in the Mediterranean fleet was considerably easier than cadet life, with visits to friendly ports all around the Mediterranean, but Beatty was concerned to work diligently towards naval examinations, which would determine seniority and future promotion prospects.

Beatty, as a rapidly promoted war hero, with no financial worries and with a degree of support in Royal circles, felt more confident than most naval officers in standing firm on requesting a posting nearer home.

He noted, ' Captains ... to be successful must possess, in a marked degree, initiative, resource, determination, and no fear of accepting responsibility ', and particularly regarding wartime conditions '... as a rule instructions will be of a very general character so as to avoid interfering with the judgement and initiative of captains ... The admiral will rely on captains to use all the information at their disposal to grasp the situation quickly and anticipate his wishes, using their own discretion as to how to act in unforeseen circumstances ..' The approach outlined by Beatty contradicted the views of many within the navy, who felt that ships should always be closely controlled by their commanding admiral, and harked back to reforms attempted by Admiral George Tryon.

The new command came with a competent Flag Lieutenant, Charles Dix, but Beatty was not happy with him, and anyway the former commander of the squadron wanted Dix to accompany him to his new command.

On the eve of the First World War in 1914, Beatty was knighted with the KCB, and promoted to acting Vice-Admiral a month later.

Beatty presented Meurer with the terms, which were expanded at a second meeting the following day.

On 1 January 1919, Beatty was promoted to the permanent rank of Admiral, with seniority from 27 November 1916.

After 1924 Beatty, supported by the First Lord of the Admiralty Bridgeman, clashed with the new Chancellor of the Exchequer, Winston Churchill, over the number of cruisers required by the Royal Navy.