DUKE OF GLOUCESTER

Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 141, 11 March 1930, Page 9

DUKE OF GLOUCESTER

THE KING’S THIRD SON .“A SOLDIER’S LIFE THE LIFE FOR ME!” (By Thornton Hall.) (National Press Agency, Ltd., World Copyright.) When Prince Henry, Duke of Glou cester, the King’s third son, was cracll ed on the last day of March, in 1000 his grandmother, jQueen Victoria, was nearing the end of her long life and reign, which terminated ten months later. “I am glad,” she said to the Duchess of Bnccleucb, “that I have lived long enough to see the new baby; for lie promises, to be a duplicate, in appearance at least, of my dear husband. I devoutly hope he will be as good a man.” Although the. Prince bears no marked resemblance to his great-grandfather the Prince Consort, he certainly has more of the German in his appearance than any other member of our Royal Family, although in all other respects he is essentially British. At the time of his birth his eldest brother, our Prince of Wales, was nearing his sixth birthday; and Princess Mary was an “adorable little tot” not quite three years old. To them, as to their brother, George, the coming of the “little stranger” was a very exciting event. The Princess, we are told, “soon established herself as his little mother,” and was quite furious when she was not allowed to take full charge of him. Childish Pranks. As a child Prince Henry is said to have been “a very imp of mischief, up to all kinds of tricks, and yet looking so demure and innocent that it seemed impossible to imagine his being capable of anything naughty.” To-day he is the most serious-looking of the King’s sons, though his impishness has by no means deserted him. Of one of his many childish pranks the following story is told. One day, chancing to discover a bottle of gum, he poured its contents on. the seat of his father’s favourite chair in the library at Sandringham. When, a little later, the Prince of Wales sat on the chair and found it so damp and adhesive his sensations can be better imagined than described. Sending for the culprit—for, of course, he knew who it was—the Prince, assumed a very stern voice and aspect, and demanded to know what his son meant by playing such a low trick on him. Then, as he got no answer, and seeing the child’s look of reproachful innocence, he burst into laughter. “You young monkey,” he/ said, shaking a finger in mock menace at him. “Don’t you think I am sufficiently ‘attached’ to the chair? Or did you do it as a reminder to me to “stick” to iny work? Off you go—and don’t do it again!” At Eton, where the Prince had his schooling, he made himself highly popular, both with masters and boys, by his simplicity and geniality. “Everybody liked him,” one of his masters says. “At .first he was looked on rather with suspicion. He was expected to put on airs; but when the boys found that he meant to be just one of themselves and to share all their fun and sports, he quickly became- one of the most popular boys in the school. He always showed annoyance when any boy addressed him as “Prince.” “Call me ‘Henry.’ he would say. “I like it much better. It’s what I am always called at home.” Though intelligent, he showed no great love for study, but he was always ready for a ‘bit of .fun”—in fact, it,is said, he was the ring-leader in more than one daring escapade—and for games. He excelled at squash-racquets and tennis and pulled a good oar. On cricket he was not at all keen—and when he was asked why, be answered: “I’m no good at it. None of my family are. My grandfather had a good try at it; but, I believe, 'he collected more duck’s eggs than all the other members of bis club at Oxford put together. Fond -of Soldiering. Unlike his father and brothers. Prinee Henry never felt “the call of the sea.” As a child in the nursery his favourite game was “playing at soldiers”; and a soldier he, would be. So, when his schooldays ended; he blossomed into a subaltern of the King’s Royal Rifle Corps, and found himself in Jhis true element. He loved the life and lias enjoyed every day of it. He refused—as he still refuses —to be treated in any way differently from his brother officers, ami has carried out guard duties, inspections and all the other tasks of a Regimental officer. Among his. fellow otiieers he has always been very popular.? “The jolliest chap in the regiment,”'one .of them has said, “full of funthe, life and soul of the mess. He can tell a capital storv. sing a good song; he is an excellent dancer, a rattling good man across country—and all round a credit to his profession.” < The Duke, as Prince Henry is now known, has so far had ten years of soldiering, and loves the life more every year. Last August he was placed on half-pay with the intention that he should spend a year or so at the War Office, to gain some knowledge of a Government Departmentand then that he should go to a Dominion or Colony as Governor. But the prospect by no means appealed to the Duke, and the idea has been abandoned. “The life of a Governor doesn’t appeal to me at all,” he said. “It may be all right for George or Bertie; but a soldier’s life is the life for me !” Nor does flying appeal to him. The Prinee of Wales and Prince George have done their best to persuade him to give up the saddle for the aeroplane, but he point-blank refuses. He loves a horse as he loves the army; and is never happier than when following the hounds across a stiff country, or jumping, the fences in a steeplechase. Luckily he has a firmer seat than his eldest brother and has seldom come to grief. He is, in fact, one of the best riders tq hounds in England. This winter he has made arrangements to take Tresillinn House, outside Melton Mowbray and hunt with the Quorn. And next year he will be off to India to rejoin his regiment, the 10th Hussars. [The next article in this series relates to Prince George.]