Reply #4: Important Note:

[SteppingRazor]

"Some are THOUGHT to be genuine."

My emphasis.

No one knows which letters are actually from the killer, if any.

As to the "he was royal" deal, I think that's pure Hollywood.

I've read a couple of books on Jack the Ripper, and I'm fairly convinced he was a fellow who had been a science teacher, was fired for his drinking, took up with hookers in Whitechapel, and then committed suicide. The fellow's name escapes me, but the main compelling, if circumstancial, argument for him is this: The Ripper murders began after he was fired. They ended when he committed suicide by filling his pockets with rocks and jumping into the Thames.

On edit: The dude's name was Montague Druitt.