Personal Impressions of the Duke.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 44, 22 February 1927, Page 2

Personal Impressions of the Duke.

A "Good Mixer" and an Entertaining Talker—A Fellow Worker's Sketch.

It is the fate of members of tlie Royal Family to become so enveloped in an iridescent haze of adulation which attributes to them all manner of attainments and virtues which they would l>e the last to claim for themselves, that it is a little difficult to see the real human figure. To no one is such an environment less congenial than to the Duke of York. If he had the mapping of his own life and no sense of public duty to lay down the main lines of it for him, he would never attend another public ceremonial except sts a spectator and would devote his time to the social hobbies and studies which attract him. He dislikes formality of every sort, and if he were asked to name his happiest days he would no doubt choose one of those he has spent in his camp for boys on the Kent coast, where the freomaaonry of youth predominates and he is free to swap stories, join in practical jokes, and sit round the tire at the camp sing-song. Invidious as comparisons proverbially arc, it is inevitable that they should be drawn between him and his elder brother. He undoubtedly lacks the ready and instinctive bonhomie which marks the Prince s nd enables him to feel, or at any rate to seem, at home in any company or in any surroundings. At a first meeting the Duke has an air of reserve which gives an impression of coldness, but it is d.\c merely to shyness and soon disappears. The only persons who erer find him standing on his dignity are those who attempt to exaggerate their own. The Duke has no use for fussy self-import-ance. Nothing delights him more than opportunities of meeting his fellowmen on the level, and once he loses his self-consciousness he is a ready and entertaining talker. Industrial Interests. At Cambridge, a normal academic course being out of the question, the Duke underwent a special course of study, relating principally to history, economics, and civics, a significant selection which showed the bent of his tastes, and a wise one in view of his subsequent career as President of the Industrial Welfare Society, to which reference is made elsewhere. During the last six years the public activities of the Puke have been devoted mainly to the work of that body and cognate schemes. But he has had much else to do besides. In particular when it was decided that the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley should be reopened for a second time, he became President, and devoted himself to its affairs with a close and practical enthusiasm. The Duke is never content to regard any position he accepts as merely titular. Whatever value his name may have, he contributes his services also. During the frequent absences of the Prince of Wales on his Imperial tours, it has fallen to the Duke (latterly with the assistance of the Duchess) to undertake all manner of social duties, and it will be remembered that he went to Rumania, Serbia, and other European countries to represent the King. Admitted a Knijrht of the Garter on attaining his majority, he became Baron Killarney, Earl of Inverness and Duke of York in 1920, received the G.C.V.0., in 1921, and was appointed to the Order of the Thistle (K.T.) a year later. For the benefit of those who are interested in these matters, I may add that his other decorations include the Royal Order of St. Vladimir, the military order of Savoy, the Legion of Honour, the French Croix de Guerre, the Persian order of Qurtz, the Serbian Order of the White Eagle, the Belgian Honour of Leopold, and the Grand Cross of the Rumanian Order of Carol 1., in addition, of course, to his war medals. In December, 1919, the Duke was initiated as a freemason, thus maintaining the long-standing connection between the Royal Family (with the exception of the present King) and the craft. The Duke took his masonic duties with characteristic seriousness. In 1923 he became a leading officer of Grand Lodge, and last year was appointed Provincial Grand Master of Middlesex, one of the most important provinces in the Order. Shortly before leaving home, he had a social meeting with a number of his provincial officers to discuss the administrative arrangements during his absence. "A Good Mixer." One of the advantages of his association with the Industrial Welfare Society has been that it has enabled him to meet not only employers of labour but labour leaders. I could ruin the caree;- of a certain Socialist, who on the public platform, likes to paint himself in quite the reddest hues if I were to mention his name as having had a long personal interview with the Duke. This man's grandfather was killed at Waterloo; his father was wounded in the Crimea; and he lost his own son in the country's service in the European War. The Duke on hearing these facts expressed his desire to meet the Socialist in question, and through the diplomacy of a common friend the matter was arranged. The Socialist miner was escorted to Buckingham Palace, and there the two smoked and chatted for an hour. I believe that when they parted each had a higher opinion of the other. As his New Zealand hosts will find, the Duke in spile of the shyness of manner, which is a family inherits uce, is what they call in America, a "good mixer." A year or two ago when he was due to visit Sheffield there was some talk of the engagement being postponed, and the story was put round that the change was being made in order that the visit might not take place during the reign of the Socialist Lord Mayor, Alderman Yardley, known to that city as "Billie." With the town clerk the Lord Mayor set off to London, called at York House, and told him what was being said. The Duke sent for his engagement book, glanced at the fixtures, and announced that he could go to Sheffield on the 4th of November. "That will do me fine, sir," said '■Billie," "I don't go out of office till the 9th." And the visit took place accordingly. On the occasion of his next visit to Sheffield the Duke missed his old acquaintance, who, he learned, was in hospital as the result of a motorin" accident. Thereupon the Duke did what Royal personages of his family hate doing—he departed from the timetable prepared for him and insisted on going off to the hospital to have a chat with "Billie" and condole vith him. A few years ago on the occasiori of a visit to Wales to inaugurate a golf course the Duke struck up a friendship with Mr. Frank Hodges, the miner's leader, who incurred some censure from his more foolish followers by taking part in several golfing encounters with the Duke. These were thoroughly in accord with the spirit of the game. The Duke probably was (and is) ignorant of the fact that he was merely following the example of one of his predecessors in his title. When the Duke, who afterwards became James 11., was in residence at Holyrood Palace he was fond of playing golf on Leith Links, and two English noblemen, his guests there, were so convinced of the easiness of the game that ihey challenged their host to a foursome. He had the astuteness to select as his partner a certain John Paterson, a working shoemaker, but also an expert golfer, and the descendant of a long line oJ illustrious players. Of course, the Duke's side won easily and the reward of Paterson was the substantial staku for which they had played. According to Chambers' "Traditions of Edinburgh," John used the

money to build a stylish house in the Canongate, then the fashionable part of Edinburgh, and on the to]) of it he carved the watch-words of the game "Far and Sure." It is certainly true that such a house with such an inscription did exist in the Canongate. When he goes on one of his many visits to great industrial establishments the Duke prefers to make them visits of inspection and not merely of ceremony. He does not like to see the place "dolled up" out of

all recognition to its workaday belt and to have his interviews limited to heads of departments and other potentates. He seizes every chance of a chat with the men and the women who do the work, especially the older hands and the younger ones and those who have served in the war. When he goes to a district to open a hospital or a public park or for any similar purpose, he endeavours to see something of the industrial life of the place, and so it comes that h<: has been down in coal mines, through engineering shops, eeen the manufacture of cotton and confectionery, driven a railway engine, and generally learned as much about industrial processes as any man who has not to earn his living by his knowledge. His Recreations. The Duke is a man of many recreations. He is a less daring, or a more fortunate, rider to hounds than his elder brother, and like him often rises early and travels fast in order to enable him to have a run with the Quorn, the Bicester, or some of the. packs more easily accessible from London without sacrificing any of his public engagements. He plays polo with some skill, and was a member of the Rqyal team which a few years ago held its own at Hu'linghani with oiiiers drawn from a wider circle. He likes a little shooting and fishing, especially of the natural and varied sort which is to be found in the neighbourhood of Glands, but he is not so much addicted to the field sports as some members of his House have been. He is happier on the tennis court and the golf course. If there were a Royal championship in tennis he would be an easy winner, for he is the only member of his family who has had the temerity to appear at Wimbledon. As the Duchess is a keen and a sound player too, they would have no difficulty in holding the Royal mixed doubles. When time is short and weather uncertain, the Duke finds his exercise in a game of squash rackets. But if he were a man of leisure, he would probably spend a'good deal of it in golf. He and the Prince of Wales used to be well matched, but the recent enthusiasm of the Prince may have put him ahead. Both are still at the stage when a well-hit shot gives pleasure and a "foozled" one creates more chagrin than surprise. Neither has attained the proficiency indicative of a mis-spent youth. The penetrating and not always welcome light which follows Royal personages in their recreations is apt to create the impression that these occupy an excessive amount of their time. The truth is that they can only devote to them the fagends left over from their commitments to "dutyshows" expected of them by the public. For the pen to compete with the camera in giving some impression of the outer man is not easy. Suffice it to say, that few of the Duke's photographs do him justice. They cannot reproduce the clearness of complexion, which is an inheritance from his mother as well as the mark of a vigorous

open-air life. Nor can they depict the ready flush which suffuses his features and the sparkle in his blue eyes when his interest is stirred. The Duke is of average height, broad-shouldered, well-knit, and with a lithe vigour of movement which indicates that he has to a large extent overcome the delicate health of his earlier days. Of recent years, with growing experience, he has gained an easy confidence of manner and he carries through his public ceremonies as if (which is in fact the case) he took an interest in them. His features are mobile and animated, and though his claim to good looks is perhaps less strong than that of the Prince, he ie a good specimen of the well-bred, well-groomed young Englishman. He and Princess Mary are the fairesthaired members of the family, and young New Zealanders who take an interest in such mutters, will note that the Duke makes his parting in a slightly oldfashioned way well away from the centre. In the matter of clothes, he avoids all extremes and achieves that happy iiicons|>icuotisiiet»H which inukes it difficult, after the event, to suy what he wore.

School Life and Naval Studies. In his youth ut Osbonie Naval College when for the first time away from the parentul roof, the young Prince mingled on equal terms with his contemporaries, shared their studies and their games, looked forward with the same eagerness to the end of term, hailed with glee the arrival of tuck-boxes to supplement the spartan regulation fare, and generally went through the routine prescribed for embryo naval officers. It was the same when he passed on to Dartmouth. The Duke here was much more bookish than the L'rincc, t. e eider brullitr was happiest in the practical side of his work, as represented by the lessons in carpentry, knotting, and splicing. The Duke preferred the study of naval history, the science of navigation, physical and industrial geography, and similar subject:;. After his service with the Grand Fleet and following his breakdown in health in November, 1017, he wa9 posted to Cranwell for executive duties with the Royal Air Force, to which body he was definitely transferred in the April following, and in which he attained the rank of Squadron leader in 1919 and WingCominander in 1920. By this time, of course, peace conditions had returned, and, like so many of his contemporaries, the Duke was "demobbed," except for the retention of his honorary rank. But he has the distinction of being the first member of the Royul Family who has flown his own aeroplane over London. • The Duke and Duchess won instant popularity on their visit to East Africa two years ago, all suctions of the community uniting in a spontaneous demonstration of loyalty and affection. Their genial camaraderie and their readiness to drop formality whenever possible won for them the warmest regard of the people of Kenya. Their present voyage will take high rank among the series of Imperial missions which have been carried out first by the King and Queen, when Duke and Duchess of York, and subsequently by the present Prince of Wales and other members of the Royal Family. (Jn May 9 the Duke of York will be the leading figure in an epochal ceremony, for he will then deliver from the throne in the new Parliament Buildiii;> at Canberra, the address with which he has been entrusted by the kinj*.