In the construction of the Bazaar it was said that there was an underground passage leading from the back of the premises.  By this means of ingress or egress Druce could appear in the midst of his shopmen when they least expected him and as suddenly vanish, possibly into an underground passage, which it was believed was no myth, leading from Baker-street to Harcourt House.

While conducting this important business at Baker-street, Mr. Druce married in 1851 Annie May Berkeley, daughter of the Earl of Berkeley.  The Earl’s marriage with this lady’s mother had been disputed, and was held by the House of Lords to be illegal.

That, however, has no bearing on the Portland romance, the question that arose in 1898 was whether the Duke, under the alias of T.C.  Druce, married Miss Berkeley.  The strange part of the contention is that Mr. Druce died, or there was a mock burial of his body in Highgate Cemetery, in 1864, whereas the Duke lived on till 1879.  The allegation is that there was no death of that particular person in 1864, and that the coffin at the sham funeral was filled with lead or stones.

Mr. Druce had a residence at Holcolmbe House, Hendon, and it was here that he repaired to die.

The funeral was on December 31st, 1864, and the vault was prepared in Highgate Cemetery.  There was a stately hearse accompanied by six bearers.  The coffin was noticed to be of enormous weight, and the strength of the men were taxed when their duties came to carrying and lowering it into the grave.

From this circumstance arose a curious idea that it did not contain the body of Druce, who was not stout and heavy; but that it was filled with stones or lead.  There were no burial certificates forthcoming, but the owners of the cemetery accepted the coffin for burial.

When Mr. Druce died there were two sons left of the alliance with Miss Berkeley, one of whom continued the Baker-street establishment.

But what was the astonishment of some of the frequenters of the purlieus of Baker-street to see the man who was supposed to have been buried visiting the same haunts where they had seen him before.

To have witnessed or heard of the funeral of a man, and then to meet that same man in his customary sphere of business afterwards, is of the nature of a ghost-story.  “What did the coffin in Highgate Cemetery contain?” was the riddle.

Mrs. Druce’s husband was a son of the late Mr. T.C.  Druce, and it was on behalf of her son that proceedings were commenced.  She made an application to the Consistory Court for a faculty granting her power to have the coffin in Highgate Cemetery opened in order to see whether it contained a body or only some heavy substance such as lead.

It was asserted that T.C.  Druce had been seen alive some years after it was supposed that he had been buried; that he was identified as the Duke of Portland, and that there were persons cognisant of the fact that the Duke and Druce were one and the same person before 1864.  Dr. Tristram, the judge, granted the faculty, but notice of appeal was given to prevent the coffin being opened.