THE DUCHESS OF CORN-WALL AND YORK.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 10988, 11 June 1901, Page 5

THE DUCHESS OF CORN--WALL AND YORK.

A CHARACTER SKETCH.

By Mrs Pcs wick M__er, in the Melbourns "Argus.'' An English Princess born and bred, British by training and habit, is the wife of the Heir-Apparent, the Princess who now occupies tlio place of the second lady in the British Empire, and in whom at some future date the nation will in all probability sec its Queen. _\o British woman has liecome the mother of the heirs of the throne since tha date, a little over two hundred years ago, when th?. Lady Ann Hyde, daughter oi the Lord Chancellor of that day, was wedded -by the Prince who was then Heir-Apparent, afterwards King James H., and became tlie mother of two Queens, Mary 11. and Anne. Curiously enough, the Prinoe was also called the Duke of York, and he, too. was the Sailor Prince of his day; but .here the similarity ends, for his bride was not herself Royal, as is the English-born Duchess of York of to-day. H.R.H. Princess Victoria Mary Augusta Louisa Olga Pauline Olandine Agnes, Duchess of Cornwall and York, is a greatgranddaughter of King George the Third. Her husband, the Duke of York, is a generation lower down, for he is great-grcat-grand- | son of the same King; but this is easily ! accounted for by the fact that the mother of tha Duchess was fourteen years younger than the late Queen, aud, moreover, was not married till she was thirty-three years of age. King George the Third had fourteen children, but, of these there were singularly few descendants in the second generation. Several of his sons either did not marry at all or till quite late in life, when their marriages were hurried on because it was seen that the line was in danger of failing; while others only contracted childless or unrecognised unions. Tha Duchess of York's grandfather, Prince AdolpUus, Duke of Cambridge, was one of those who married to oblige tho nation when he bad reached the age of forty-two. He then had three children —the Prince now known to ; us as the Duke of Cambridge (the late com-mander-in-chief of "the army); ■Princess Augusta, who married the Grand Duke of •Mecklenburg Strelitz; and Princess Mary Adelaide, who manned tho Duke of Teck, and becama mother Ol tha present Duchess of Cornwall and York, ns well aa of three sons.

Trine—s Mary Adelaide, Duchess of Teck, v»3 so much beloved for her (rood-humoured nannors, her gaiety, and affability of dis>osit:on, and her benevolence and kindness, ■hat the Duchess of York inherited so to ;peak, popularity with the nation. The Duchess of Teck rejoiced in the idea of beng he—elf a British princess. There is a xadition that, when she was quite a girl, >no of her young companions was talking iver with her their positions in life* tho ittle Princess exclaimed, "Yes, it is _ great ■hing to be a princess of Great Britain and [reland, I feel it in here," striking herself >n the breast as she spoke. Later am in ife —io otten used to call herself "Such a folin Bull." And, in all seriousness, when .he falling of thrones around the ears of Continental moriaichs i*t the year of the -evolutions, 1348, menaced the one to which ier sister Augusta had married, the Princess Mary Adelaide wrote in a letter: —"Axi;usta is English, -and proud of being so, md should she fall her Into would be mont comfortable, as sho would tumble oif Kew Hid a host. of affectionate relations. She ivould certainly not stoop to 'conquer,' but to 'gain.'" Her native land was invariably written of by this enthusiastically patriotic Prinoess as "Dear Old England. '„ Princess Mary Adelaide was the only young Princess Wound, rajs Court in,the late Queen's younger days, and thence boro somothing like tho relation of a younger sister towards her. But though thus seen and admired by many, it tyas not till she was thirty- I —_*e*y— its old that -she met her fate. Then a young Prince, a few years younger thau hersalf, <and almost as handsome as the Queen's husband, appeared on the scene, -He was Prince Francis of T?eck, tha only son of the then Duke of Alexander of Wurtenbui*g, and had his mother also been royal he would; have been heir to the throne of Wurtenburg. But tbe marriage was what is caJled on the Continent a "morganatic" one.' This seems to be supposed by many people in -this country to bo no marriage at all, but merely an irregular connection. The fact that Queen Victoria allowed first her young cousin Prinoess Many* Adelaide, and later her own daughter Princess Beatrice, to marry tlie chili—"-en of "morganatio" marriages, ought to alone sxt_.ee to prevent.this mistake. Such man-iagos are quite legal and respectable; but the children of the Royai (father and his not-Hoyal wife cannot inherit tha father's title or rank, and the wife does not take the titles of ber husband. The Duke of Teck's mother was Claudine, Comtesse de Rhedv. created by the Emperor of Austria, on her marriage with Duke Alexander of Wurtenburg, Countess of Hbbenstein. • The children of this union-~the eldest Bon being the father of the Duchess of York—we—> called "Te-ek," as this is one of the lesser titles of tho -Kings of Wurtenburg. The young Prince Francis of Teck went to England in 1866 to visit the Prince of Wales, whom he had met on tlie Continent. He was present nt a dinner at St. James's Palace on the 7th of March, and thero met tho Princess Mary Adelaide. On April,7th, while walking with her in Kew Gardens, near Kew Cottage, where sho lived with her widowed mother, he proposed to the Princess, and was accepted, and the wedding took place on July 12th, after some sixteen weeks' acquaintance. Queen Victoria was present at the wedding in Kew Church. The Duchess of Cornwall and York was tho first child of the young couple, and was born at Kensington Palace at one minute before midnight, on May 26th, 1867. The room in which tho young Princess first saw the light was closely adjacent to that in which as nearly as possible forty-eight years earlier her illustrious cousin, Queen Victoria, was" barn- The baby was baptised by the long string of names above given in Kensington Palace, the Queen being one of tha sponsors by proxy, and the Prince of Wale*, who was present in person, another. Lady Elizabeth Biddulph, a great, friend of tho young mother, presented the baby to the Archbishop at the font. From the first her name was shortened into "May," obviously because she was born in that, month, but also partly -because the number of "Victoria*" in the younger feneration' of princesses oonnected with the throne was already causing some embarrassment. Princess May remained Iter mother's only girl: three brothers did not take the place of the one daughter, and the tender relation between the Duchess of Teck and her one girl was oif the closest and fondest throughout their life. The devoted mother wrote of the baby to a friend in March, 1868: —"She really is as sweet and engages; a child as you can wish to see; full of life and fun, and as playful as a kitten; with the deepest blue.eye* imaginable, quantities of fair hair and a lovely pink and white complexion, and a most perfect figure! Tn a word a model of a baby! You must amiably overlook a mother's fond conceit in her child; thottgh I must say 'May' wins all hearts by her britrht face and smile and pretty endearing ways. Her papa is in a quiet way thoroughly devoted to her, and she quite adores him, though her mamma is her pet wlavfellow!" Soon after her birth, the pretty country home in which the little Prinoefs grew up, White Lodsr©, Richmond, was lent to the Duke and Duchess of Teck for lifa by the Queen, whose property- it was -by inheritance. It is a nice house in Richmo-nd Park, surrounded by the country, and Teck children grew up in ouiet and simplicity. TKeir mother gave them inreat personal attention. "The Chicks" -sba calfed them, and their bodily and mental progress were her chief interest-. It was all inst motherly and simple. "We reached White Lodge," pbs write* once, "snort after sewn where the chicks were on the !©ok-out for ns, and rushed out to greet us. They were

(May especially) wild with dt_ight- at __*V* ing us- home again," Htir "diary shows how otten alio was personally engaged in caring for. them and training libera. Such entries aro frequent- as.. "Heard May her d__s3s". "Had May down, and read the Psalms -with;

her". "Had _ea in tha nursery, end played geographical .-lotto," and.so on. We know thero is no Royal road to learning, and that Princes and Princesses who speak several languages, and are intellectually cultivated in every way, tlo not b_conisT so by any other means than close attention to" their studies. Hence _we find the Duchess of

Teck refusing invitations to childreani's parties for lier children because they had already been out twice that week, a_.__ it interfered too much with lessons. Princess May was taught several languages -from her infancy upwards, having a German 'governed, and a French maid, and already when she wag but nine years old her mother could ■write of her, "May ie quick and clever, and understands German, and is very musical." The latest reference is to one of tha greatest of tho Duchess of Cornwall and York's accomplishments. Signor Tosti taaight her to sing, and is very proud of hi* pupil, who has a beautiful, soprano voice, and sings with great express, ion. Between Princess May and her brothers, and tho children of the 1-tince and Princess of Wales, there was a good deal of intimacy and family visiting. They .m. much of tui age, tha Duke of Clarence, ihe Prince of Wales's eldest son. having been three years and the Duka of York only two years Princess .May's senior.

One summer, in particular, the Princ. of Wales took a 'house at Chiswick ior his children's summer residence, and then tha White Lodge being neJwr, it frequently happened that such entries as the following* were made in t'he Duel-ere of Te.k's diai-y: —"Wales's children came in the afternoon, and I went up to the nursery to keep them all in order." Prince George {now Duke of Cornwall and York) Mas the "pickta'- 1 of the family at the time, full of gaiety and pranks. He had lv.-t then hanging' over him tho responsibility of be.ing heir to tha throne, but expected to pass hi« life in the perhaps really more pleasant obscurity of a younger son. Princess May was very gay and lively, too; but, perhaps the gentfe una mora me_a__c__o_y elder cousin was more attract. v_ to her lively spirit at that time. 'Mitny as are the oaJls and responsibiliticst of. a Royal 'housekeeper, and costly as is tho education of sons, tlie Duke and __H._h.e-_8 of Teck, whose income -for their station, was small, found it necessary in 1883 to give up altogether their London apart* meats in Kensington Palace, uind to .Loss White Lodge, and speaii some time as economically ai possible abroad. Tlhe greater part of their period of absence was passed in the home of art, Florence, and there i Princess May, now an intelligent maide- ir, her teens, studied art, under "the guidance of her mother, and the willingly-given aid of 'the authorities on the ■ subject who cluster in Florence, amidst the treasures of tho Pitti and Uffisi Palaces and other galleries. Here, too, she perfected hoc . knowledge of foreign languages; and she returned to England with her parents altois an absence of some eighteen months, to t__kt_ her place in London Court circles, a mora accomplished and cultured'young lady thatfc* she could possibly have been m__ ion tha experiipce. Princess May attended her first Royal 1 drawing-room iv the spring of 1886, and- wag, present At two or tiirce other State fanetions iv tlie year, Sba was the constant, companion of her mother at all the private, gatherings -that the Duchess .oi Took honoured with her .presence, aa well as tho theatre and other pub-io places, said thai right, self-reliant, almost audacious countenance of tho gay and happy, young Prior" cess became familiar to many people. Constantly together as they were, •Princess 'May could not but be inspired with the* characteristics of her "English" mother; Of these, pcii'iaps, .the most notable.- were charity and industry. Th. Duchess of Tecb was very industrious. All her housekeeping was done by herself; she wrote hmumembLa .letters, both friendly and' charitable, with her own hand; and she always had a piece of some needlework ready to taJse .i_p to fill unconsidered trifles of tame. In a little paper that __h«s once wrote to recommend the "Needlework Guild" to ladies, «___ observed that -both she and her daughter always had a piece of knitting cr seedier work lying ready to take oip at an od4 moment, and tho result of those aoCuniu* luted moment., was astonishing. Charity, in-. deed, took almost the form of a business r at least, it was an ever-present, duty with . the DuchesH,' and in this respect, too, Pricceas May was trained to follow her mother's example.

It- was not merely "patronising" with words, or even organising and opening bazaars and concerts, that thee© Royal ladies gave the charities that they approved. l Once the Duchess mentions tha-fe "May ia going to write twenty-aix letters' to individual- whom .ihe thought likely to give to the Home for Little Boys. Another time we hear of tbe Duchess pouring out. the tea at a visit to t. home, and Princess May ciM.ry_.g- it round. Their picnics wero turned into charitable ends by everybody present being expected to gather as many wild flowers as posMble, which Princess (May would afterwards make up into.,bunches to despatch to hospitals and miesions in the east of London. Nor did they disdain personal efforts of a small kind. Thero is one inadcub recorded of the two. Princesses helping an old woman, to" gathef dried sticks, and another when the Duchess and Princess May lifted a perambulator over a hedge to oblige ft, ipoor girl, who was thus saved a long journey round. Chief amongst, their interest.., however, must bo counted the Needlework Guild. This bieds I the ladies who are its members to make 'at least two garments in 'tlie year for Win poor. These are all sent in near Christmas I time to tho local president., the bundlL-i tv ■be opened and sorted by her, and sent 01. :to hospital-" and other centres for di_» ! tribution to cases of real need. l'ho Duchess of Teck was president for London ■ and for Surrey, too, and the actual labour j entailed on her and her daughter wits y_ry__

great. | ■ In 1887 the Dhcliess of Teck writes ty'tiii frdend: —"May and I threw ottreeives into' the guild work, which took up pretty nearlyall our time through th. whole of November and tbe early, part of December, though! we bad most excellent helpers. Tlie guild! clothes had be*n pouring- iv over wnc*. about the middle of October, and had overflowed the children's corridor, ante-room* inner schoolroom, and next room. So ymt may imagine what a tremendous business the unpacking, ■sorting, arranging, and repacking wa», independently of tl)« divid>. ing and distributing. May'knelt so long.' at first over the huge parcels and that she very nearly gave herself a htniai maid's knee.'" Indeed, site worked so ener* getically- that fche quite kuocked herself. up, poor; child! May contributed 461 articles ; very good for her first year as president." This isr very different from merely fyivingj subscriptions out of an amply-filled "banking account. _ '■'.'■.» > "Very favourite lines with my daughter, as well as with myself," wrote Princess Mary, sending them in repponse to the vicar of Kew Vf request that <*he would con-, tribute something to the first number ofhis new "Parii-h Magazine," "ara thrfis©: •*-. *■ 'If each man in his measure i ' Would do a brother's part, l To cust a ray of sunshine Into a brother's heart, How changed would be our countryHow changed would be our poor! - And then might Merrie England Deserve her najno once more.'

And in their measure she and her daughter wrought in the spirit. Such work as all this is not done s-J whole-hearted and kindly without win* ning recognition.; and when it was announced in December, 1891, that the then heir to the throne, Prihoe Edward, or, a. the public knew him, Albeat Victor, Duk& of Clarence, was betrothed to his pretty cousin May. public satisfaction with- ths "English' Princess," tlie daughter of the beloved Princess -Mary, Duchess of Teck, was. very great. The- Queen, who had always felt and shown much kindness to h»r cou* pin's family, g<wve her hearty approval to the match, and preparations for the wedding were imn-_diate_y begun. Alas! those happy plans were clouded over almost instantly. Only two or ■three weeks after the betrothal M_flueca_a. brokss out with great virulence at S__ndringh____, Prince "Eddy" was taken ill only on Jmaary Bth, and on January KtU he passe* away. Something more than a year elapsed."be, fore it was made knowik that the Duke o|

tmk had offered himself to few consm, jittd that after all Princess May was tobe the bride of the heir to the throne. The wune •reasons that bad made tho original marriage with the heir popular were now added to by popula* sympathy with tbe i*«ss that she liad sustained, and the marriage wa» generally approved. The Queen cave it alt the distinction in her power, IV atU-ndiug in st-ato at tho ceremony-, which took place in the Chapel Koyal, St. James's, on July 6bb, 1895. The bndal dress was of satin woven in Spitalficlds, for ono of tlie charitable efforts in which the bride had taken special interest was that for reviving English si Ik-weaving and bringing home manufactures into use for our own ixrtintry's benefit. The tweeds in the trousseau nil came from Scotland, the flannel* from Wales, the lace from lr&land. Apartments ia St. James's Palace, called Yost Hotwo, were provided as a town residence, awl York Cottage, in Sandnngham ■park, was enlarged and bf-aime the country home of the young couple. "This miuriage has proved fruitfol, the Duke and Duehears being already the parents of lour children. The heir-presumntive to the throw*, Prkvee Edward of York, -was bt.rn at White lx>dge, wb*r* the Pilch-* had £< n« to have her mother's tender care and support, on June 23rd, 1894. H* waa ff_rUrt*u«l i» the there. Oiie-i Victoria wjw» present on the historic «s;aion, and herself presented the b-Mr io her throne in the third generation to the Archbishop .to be named- , Tho I)ucbe*s of Tcck's death the follo-w----itur ve»r was a grewt grief to her daughter, mho" ha*! the melancholy saUsfaefaon of being present at tho last. tb«ugh the. <taauiro" waa very sudden. The Duke of leek h&& died —nee. ' , Many publio functions have been per-f.rf-mkl by tho Duke and Dnohws of _ork. (tea of the nKfit'imoortaDt events m then* Juwtorv was tbur State vikit to the Sister late. "But the increased cnnswinenco now given thorn by th* aoce««on of the Dukes parents to the throne will render publio appearances r-vwi more numerous and interesting in future.