OUR NEW SOVEREIGN-KING EDWARD VIII

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 100, 22 January 1936, Page 14

OUR NEW SOVEREIGN-KING EDWARD VIII

His Career as Heir to The Throne REMARKABLE IMPERIAL PRESTIGE

King is dead. Long live the King!” This historic announcement, in which sorrow and a new-born inspiration for rejoicing are strangely yet nobly blended, signifying the immortality of the Throne, marks the passing of a British Sovereign and the summoning of his heir. Edward VIII, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions Beyond the Seas, King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India, who succeeds his late father, occupies a place in the hearts, not only of his subjects, but of the peoples of the world, that has no parallel in history. No ruler, whether of Britain, or any other country, has ever travelled as much—and, indeed, few men have travelled more in a lifetime—and no ruler has ever met personally so many of his people, as the young man who is now called to his high destiny, that of Sovereign of the greatest empire the world has ever known.

BDWARD Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David of Windsor, who for more than two decades has been known to the world as Prince of Wales, is the eldest son of the late King and Queen Mary, and was born at White Lodge, Richmond, near London, at 10 p.m. on June 23, 1894. At St. Paul’s Cathedral the Canon closed the Sunday morning service with the following words: “There has been born, by the goodness of God, a great-grandson to our Sovereign, a son to the Duke of York, an heir to sit, if it so please God, in years to come, upon the throne of this realm. There is joy in that Royal household which finds a responsive echo in every true English heart.” Later the Canon added that in the opening days of her 58th year of sovereignty, Her Majesty Queen Victoria could “look upon a sight no other sovereign of these realms has looked upon—a son, a grandson, a greatgrandson, all in the direct line of succession to her throne.” Three weeks later the baby Prince was christened at a quiet family gathering at White Lodge. He was given the names Albert after the late Prince Consort of Queen Victoria, Edward after his grandfather, George after, his father—it was also that of the Patron Saint of England—Christian after the father of Queen Alexandra, with the addition of Andrew, Patrick, and David, representing Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. He was officially known as Prince Albert Edward—he has always signed himself Edward P.—but his mother chose David as the pet name for her first-born, and by this ancient Welsh name he has always been known in the family circle. Death of Aged Queen. His brother, Prince Albert, Frederick Arthur George, now Duke of York, was born on December 14, 1895, his only sister, Princess Mary, on April 25,1927, and Prince Henry (the Duke of Gloucester) on March 31, 1900. At this time the Empire tour of the Duke and Duchess of York was in preparation, but the arrangements were upset by the death on January 23, 1901, of the aged Queen Victoria, in the 64th year of her reign. Her death was the cause of great grief to her seven-year-old great-grandson Prince Edward. On March 15, 1901, his parents left Portsmouth in the Ophir on their memorable tour of the Empire, and it was not until October 31 of the same year that the family, were reunited.

Prince David was a high-spirited boy full of fun and mischief, whoso love of games was fostered by. his Royal parents, who brought up their family in an atmosphere of remarkable simplicity, observing all that was best and most suitable in the traditions of English family life. The new conception of Royalty Introduced by King Edward VII was reflected in the upbringing of the young Prince and his brothers and sister.

The Coronation of King Edward and Queen Alexandra on August 9, 1902, marked a new stage in the Prince’s life'. As the Prince of Wales’s eldest son he was a more important personage than he had been as the great-grand-child of the Queen, and his governess now retired in favour of a tutor. The appointment of a male tutor for the young Prince was not made without the greatest deliberation and anxiety.

Cadet in the Navy. In 1907, Prince Edward entered Osborne Naval College, having passed his entrance examination with distinction. Policing the death of Edward VII and the accession of his father as King George V on May, 1910, he was created Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester on June 23, 1910, and as such he attended the Coronation of his Royal father and mother. On the day following his sixteenth birthday he was confirmed in the Royal Chapel at Windsor Castle, subsequently returning to his studies as a naval cadet at Dartmouth College, which he finally left on March 30, 1911. On June 17, Prince Edward was duly invested by his father with the insignia of the Order of the Garter in St George’s Chapel, Windsor. In the following month his formal investiture as Prince of Wales took place with fitting ceremony at Carnarvon Castle in the presence of a vast concourse of people. A few weeks later the Prince of Wales went to sea as a cadet in the battleship Hindustan. He was allowed no special privileges, and worked as hard as any other junior officer, probably a good deal harder, for he had, in addition to his ordinary duties at sea, special courses of study under his tutor, Mr. H. P. Hansell. After over a year t sea, the Prince left the Hindustan, shortly before the King and Queen departed on their second visit to India, and continued his studies at Sandringham. The King and Queen returned on February 5, 1912, and in May of that year, the Prince cf Wales left on a lengthy visit lo France, where although his tour was ,

made incognito, he received a warm welcome and created a deep impression upon all with whom he came into contact. At Home and Abroad. He returned to England in August and two nr ths later commenced his university education at Oxford. He took up his studies at Magdalen College, Oxford, about the same time as his brother Albert entered Cambridge. While at Oxford the Prince of Wales concentrated on history, geography, political economy, and English, French and German literature. In the spring of 1913 the Prince, travelling as the Earl of Chester, visited Germany, to improve his knowledge of the language. He made a second visit in July of that year his hosts being the German Emperor, the King of Wurtemberg, and several of the Grand Dukes. Returning to England, he continued at Oxford, until his studies were interrupted by the outbreak of the Great War. IN GREAT WAR Prince’s Valuable Work FRONT LINE VISITED

On August 10, 1914, the Prince of Wales left Buckingham Palace to join the first battalion of the Grenadier Guards, to which regiment he had been gazetted two days before as a second lieutenant. His earnest desire to serve overseas was gratified in November, but he was greatly disappointed to find that, instead of going to France with his regiment, he had been appointed A.D.C. to Sir John French at General Headquarters. Whatever his private desires, the Heir to the Throne could not be permitted to serve in the firing line; but deep admiration for his spirit grew in the hearts of the British people. In 1916 he was attached to the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, and he was accorded a great welcome by the Australian and New Zealand troops when he visited them in Egypt. The Prince at the Front.

At the very beginning of the war the Prince of Wales inaugurated a fund bearing his name for the benefit of the relatives of men killed in action. The response was a wonderful one, and by the end of 1917 it had reached the huge total of over £6,000.000. The Prince always has had the interests of soldiers and exservicemen very much at heart, and during the war and since 1918 he has been prominently connected with various movements for their welfare. Notwithstanding' anything that has been said to the contrary, it is a fact that the Prince of Wales frequently visited the forward areas in many parts of the “line” in France and Flanders, and saw the war at close quarters. He shared many of the discomforts and dangers of the troops in the war zone. In May, 1916, the Prince of Wales paid a visit to General Headquarters on the,ltalian front, and, in company with the King of Italy, visited many parts of the front, where he was accorded a wonderful reception from the troops. The Prince celebrated his twentyfirst birthday at the front in France. Prince Edward took risks in France, but they were as far as possible minimised. He himself would be the last to deny it. That is why he referred to “my insignificant part in the war.” But there was no need for any apologia on the part of the sensitive young Prince. No one expected the heir to the Throne to wield a bayonet or shoulder a rifle. Probably if he had done —and his wishes on this subject have never been doubted—the actual influence, both on the result of the war and the moral of the troops, would have been insignificant compared with that which his presence alone effected. It was a harder —a thousand times harder —task for the Prince of Wales to reconcile himself to his “safety” duties than actual fighting would have been.

Post-War Activities. The Prince of Wales returned to London in February, 1918, and took his seat in the House of Lords. His grandfather had done so 55 years before, and his father had taken his seat as Duke of York. The Prince then undertook an extensive tour of industrial areas in Britain, beginning in South Wales, and next visiting the estates of the Duchy of Cornwall. Everywhere, and especially in the Clyde and other shipbuilding areas, he was enthusiastically welcomed. In May, 1918, he visited Rome for the celebrations connected with the third anniversary of Italy’s entry into the war and he was accorded a magnificent reception. Immediately after the Armistice the Prince made a round of visits to the Australian, New Zealand, and American headquarters, and to those of the Guards and other British divisious. His strenuous activities had begun to tell on his health, on the advice of his doctors he spent some weeks on his estates in the Duchy of Cornwall, where he inaugurated a small-holding system and an afforestation scheme, besides many improvements in the housing of his tenants. The Duchy estates include parts of Kennington, in London, and here, after a tour of inspection, the Prince instituted a great rebuilding scheme in the poorer quarters. Early in 1919 the Prince of Wales was made a Freeman of Plymouth, and on May 29 he was admitted by patrimony to the freedom of the City of London at an historic ccrc-

mony in the Guildhall. In the same month he was admitted as a Freemason of the Household Brigade Lodge on the register of the United Grand Lodge of England. In July, 1919, he again visited Scotland, and was made a Freeman of the City of Edinburgh. On July 1, 1919, with his father’s full consent and approval, the bachelor Prince of Wales, now in his 26th year, took up residence in his own quarters at fork House.

For the next few years, however, the Prince was destined to enjoy few. of the comforts of bachelor quarters. His time was spent, in the main, in gaining an intimate knowledge of the customs and temperaments of the people of the Empire.

TRIP TO CANADA Notable Empire Tours NEW ZEALAND VISIT

On August 5, 1919. the Prince ot Wales left Portsmouth in H.M.S. Renown for Canada on the first of his great Empire tours. His landing in Newfoundland was the start of a remarkable tour of the North American Continent that was a personal triumph for the young Prince. As soon as reports of the wonderful receptions accorded him reached England anxiety regarding the tour gave place to lively pleasure, and, more important still, produced in the people at Home an even greater confidence in the Prince to weld the parts of the Empire in a firmer whole. Everywhere throughout the length and breadth of the Dominion of Canada it was the same—Halifax, Quebec. Toronto. Ottawa, and Winnipeg, the prairie cities and towns, and those of the Far West, and every tiny village gave a whole-hearted welcome to the laughing Prince who was some day to be Sovereign of the British Empire. He saw Canada from end. to end, travelling well over 10,000 miles during his visit.

The Prince, experienced in farming and cattle breeding by his activities on his Cornish estate, was particularly interested in the prairie regions of North-West Canada, and forthwith decided to purchase for himself a ranch in Alberta, and transfer some of his English cattle there. This ranch has since been greatly developed.

J Wonderful as was his reception in Canada, it was paralleled by the remarkable enthusiasm shown by the people of the United States when the Prince of Wales extended his tour to the great American Republic. He arrived at Washington on the day of the'first anniversary of the Armistice, and in the absence of President Wilson owing to serious illness was received by Mr. R. Lansing, Secretary of State. He received a truly Royal welcome in New York and the other great cities visited, and no false note was struck anywhere. New Zealand and Australia. In March, 1920, the Prince of Wales sailed in H.M.S. Renown from Portsmouth on his second Empire tour, this time to the West Indies, New Zealand ■.and Australia. After a call at Barbndoes the Renown passed through • the Panama Canal to Panama City and thence to San Diego (California), Honolulu and Suva, warm welcomes being extended everywhere.

On April 24, 1920, after a strenuous journey of 14,000 miles the Renown anchored in Auckland Harbour and the Prince of Wales began his triumphal tour of New Zealand, which lasted 28 days, and was remarkable for scenes of loyal enthusiasm unprecedented in the history of the Dominion. Landing nineteen years after the visit of his father and mother, lie won all hearts. Everywhere lie went he was welcomed by the older generation, by thousands of ■ exsoldiers, and by tens of thousands of children. Replying to the people’s address of welcome at Auckland the Prince said: “I feel myself no stranger in a strange land, but one of yourselves amongst my own kith and kin.” A Wonderful Reception. From Auckland he went on to Rotorua, where he was accorded a Royal welcome by the greatest ..ssemblage of Maoris since the visit of his father and mother. Returning to Auckland he spent two or three days awaiting the settlement of the unfortunate railway strike, the delay thus caused necessitating the rutting out of a deer-stalking expedition to enable him to cover the Taranaki and Hawke’s Bay section of his itinerary. The Royal journey from Auckland was remarkable for the intense enthusiasm which marked the wayside welcomes at every stopping-place on the way to New Plymouth, thence across the island to Napier and through the Wairarapa to Wellington. The Prince of Wales arrived at Wellington on May 6, and was received with tremendous enthusiasm and a spontaneous display of affectionate loyalty. Wellington had- never before witnessed such scenes as marked his three days’ stay in the capital city of the Dominion, the programme including a great civic reception in the Town Hall, a military review’ in Newtown Park, a Government luncheon at Parliament House, a ball at Government House, a citizens’ ball in the Town Hall, a pageant representing the landing of the early settlers at Petone, and a gathering of 12,000 children in Parliament House grounds. The Royal tour of the South Island furnished a repetition of the wonderful scenes of enthusiasm seen in the North Island. Landing at Picfon from the Renown the Prince of Wales travelled Io Blenheim and Nelson, and thence through the West Const mining and sawmilling districts to Westport. Greymouth, Reefton and Hokitika. The railway journey to Christchurch was broken at Otirti to enable the Prince to traverse the famous gorge and Arthur’s Pass. After a full throe days at Christchurch he travelled south to Dunedin and Invercargill, returning thence to Lyttelton, w’here he embarked on H.M.S. Renown for Australia. In a farewell message, he said: “My delightful visit to Now Zealand has come to an end. . and I cannot sail without sending a message of

affectionate farewell . . I have been most deeply touched by the wonderful welcomes which have met me everywhere. New Zealand is one of. the, greatest monuments of British civilisation in the world, and I have felt from end to end of the Dominion that there is, nowhere a British people more set in British traditions, or more true to British form. I have found the strength of your.loyally to the Empire and its Sovereign as keen and bracing as mountain air, and I know you will never weaken in your devotion to British unity and British ideals. . . .” The Australian Visit. After his. arrival at Melbourne and throughout the whole of his Australian tour the scenes witnessed in New Zealand by the Prince of Wales, were repeated on a larger scale. Every part °i Victoria was visited, and so overwhelming was his reception, find so fatiguing his public appearances that, his healta suffered a temporary breakdown, neeessi-

" FURTHER TRAVEL The Mission to India WEMBLEY PRESIDENT

tating a brief holiday. The crowd which farewelled him at Melbourne was so unrestrained in its enthusiasm that it was a miracle he escaped injury. He left for Sydney with the words ringing in his ears: “Australia is proud of you I” When he arrived at Sydney about 20,000 demobilised men broke work, sought out their old war khaki, and voluntarily formed themselves into units over half a mile long for the Prince’s inspection. Behind him were 30,000 spectators, and thousands of bath-chairs containing invalid soldiers to his left. H.R.H. shook hands with every disabled man present. After a visit to Canberra the Prince of Wales boarded the Renown in which he travelled to Western Australia, thence back to South Australia and on to Tasmania and Queensland. His visit to Australia was a magnificent success. On the homeward voyage the Prince called, amongst other places, at Samoa, Honolulu, Mexico, Panama, Trinidad, Deru-e rara, Granada, Dominica, Antigua and the Bermudas, arriving back at Portsmouth in October.

Exactly a year later, on October 26, 1921, the Prince of Wales, travelling again in the Renown, left Portsmouth on his great mission to India. This tour was of immense importance, and its duties were far more exacting in many ways than those of the Canadian, Australian and New Zealand visits. In India, with its myriad peoples and numerous native rulers of varying races, he had to maintain unceasingly his dignity as a Prince, who was heir to the great British “Raj.”

After opening the new Parliament of Malta at Valetta, and paying a visit to the Mediterranean Fleet, in which his younger brother, Prince George, was serving as a midshipman in H.M.S. Iron Duke, the Prince of Wales duly arrived at Bombay, and there began a wonderful series of great pageants and ceremonies, every one of which was a triumph for his personality. Bombay, at the time, was in the throes of a native upheaval, but the fears for the safety of the Prince were groundless, for his greatest safeguard was his own self which won the hearts of the agitators, who joined in doing homage to him. The same thing happened at Poona, at Lucknow, at Benares, and many other places, but at Allahabad and some other cities, feeling ran so high that hardly a soul was seen in the streets during his stay. Nevertheless India was swept with a wave of loyalty such as had not been known since the visit of his father and mother. The princes and rulers of the native States vied with one another in offering magnificent hospitality to the Prince of Wales who, in the intervals of his official duties, enjoyed a whirl of social gaiety, and many entertainments, including a tiger shoot. After an enthusiastic reception at Calcutta, the Print-, travelled to Burma, where he was splendidly received and feted. Back to Madras and on to Bangalore, Mysore, Bhopal (ruled by the only woman ruler in Asia), Gwalior, Agra, Delhi and Lahore. Thence he travelled to Peshawur, the Khyber Pass, Rawalpindi and Kapurthala, before rejoining the Renown at Karachi for hi's journey to Ceylon. It was a remarkable and memorable tour, but arduous as it had been the Prince had still further to go. By way of Singapore and Hong Kong he journeyed to Japan, where he was given a truly wonderful welcome by the Prince Regent and the Japanese people. When he finally returned to England in June, 1922. it was with the knoweldge that he had achieved all that he had set out to do and had once more proved himself a real Ambassador of the Empire. President of Exhibition. For the past four years the Prince’s life had been an extremely strenuous one. and no one grudged him the well-earned holiday he decided to take in the summer of 1923. It was to be a short visit to his Canadian ranch in Alberta, and it was made known that he did not intend to take part in any official engagements during the time he was in the Dominion. Before he left, however, there was still much work to be done at home. As president of the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley the Prince found a great deal ,of his time taken up in completing the necessary arrangements to make the Exhibition the success he desired. He threw himself whole-heartedly into the project, and it has been generally conceded that the part he played went far towards awakening public enthusiasm in the venture and ensuring its immense success. At the same time lie made extensive tours through the West and North of England, visiting many industrial and mining centres. Holiday Visit to Canada. The Prince of Wales acted as best man to his younger brother, the Duke of York, when the latter was married, on April 26, 1923, to Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. On September 6, the Prince left as Baron Renfrew in a C.P.R. liner for Canada. For several weeks he spent a quiet, restful holiday on his “E.P.” Ranch, which by the quality of its purebred stock had achieved a reputation amongst Canadian breeders. During his stay on the ranch near Calgary he mixed freely with the farmers of the region, gaining further respectful popularity. He attended a number of private informal social functions at Calgary, Winnipeg. Ottawa, and Quebec, and returned to England at the end jf October greatly benefited by his holiday. He had not been home a fortnight before he was fulfilling public engagements in North Wales, Dundee, and Edinburgh, as well as attending meetings of the many organisations and movements with which he was actively associated. The Wembley Exhibition, too, claimed much of his time. In the spring of 1924 the Prince paid a short visit to France and the Riviera, but he returned to London well in time to take his place as president at the inauguration of the great British Empire Exhibition which was officially opened by his father on April 24. United States Welcome. On August 25, 1924, the Prince of Wales departed for his second visit to his Canadian ranch and to accept the invitation of President Coolidge to visit the United States. He had an enthusiastic reception at New York and Washington, and he was cordially welcomed at White House by President and Mrs. Coolidge. Although the Prince’s stay in the United States was not a long one, it did not lack for enthusiasm, and before proceeding to Canada to spend a short time on his ranch, the Prince sent his farewell massage to the people of America, expressing his appreciation of their attitude. “Your President and all his fellow-citizens with whom I have come in contact have united in giving me the right hand of good-

fellowship ; very many others whom I have never met have taken the trouble to write me kind words which have touched me deeply.” On March 28, 1925, the Prince of Wales sailed from England in H.M.S. Repulse on his fourth great Empire tour, this time to Africa. He first landed at Bathurst, in Gambia, where he was accorded a loyal welcome by the chiefs of all the tribesmen. Every British possession in West Africa was visited —Sierra Leone, the Gold Coast and Nigeria, whence a 700-mile journey took him to Kano in the Western Soudan, where a great durbar was attended by 20,000 riders under the Moslem chieftains of Northern Nigeria. The South African tour began at Cape Town, and every part of the Union was visited, the Dutch-speaking Nationalists according him a welcome that was not less sincere than that of the people of British descent. The strenuous tour, which imposed a severe physical strain upon the Prince of Wales, embraced the Cape Province, the Free State, Natal, the Transvaal, Zululand, Basutoland, and Rhodesia. Returning to Cape Town, he embarked once more in H.M.S. Repulse and proceeded to St. Helena for a brief visit before going on to South America. South American Triumphs. The Prince’s tour of the South American Republics was a personal triumph. On August 14, 1925, he landed at Montevideo, in Uruguay, and was welcomed by huge crowds. But the time he arrived nt Buenos Aires, in the Argentine Republic, the enthusiasm of the people had reached a high pitch. The Senate of the Republic had voted £34,000 for the festal arrangements in connection with the Royal visit, and the Prince was everywhere entertained with the most lavish hospitality. After a comprehensive tour of the great republic, the Prince travelled by rail across the pampas and over the Andes to Chile, where he received a similar welcome. He returned to Buenos Aires and thence to England, arriving in Portsmouth in October. Undoubtedly his tour did much to cement good relations between Britain and the South American republics.

The second South American tour of the Prince, on which he was accompanied by his brother, Prince George, was of such recent date that its circumstances and triumphs need little recalling. Nevertheless, it should be emphasised that of all the Prince’s tours none was more important, politically and otherwise, and none more successful than this. With Buenos Aires and the central stage of the British Trade Exhibition as their goal, the Royal brothers travelled by air and sea, • visiting France, crossing the Atlantic, calling at British possessions, and touring the Latin lands of South America. Once again the tour and its climax —the opening of the exhibition — was a triumph for the young man who now is known as the world’s greatest ambassador of trade. With the greatest care and enthusiasm the Prince prepared for the part he played so well in Buenos Aires. It was unnecessary for him to study the need for an expansion of British trade abroad —in the last few years he has advocated it unceasingly—but he surrounded himself with economists and business experts who supplied him with information which enable him to carry his important message of goodwill and commercial co-operation to the South American people in terms which carried full conviction. Doubtless, behind the earnestness with which he spoke at the opening of the exhibition, was his memory of personal visits to the industrial centres of England, and of talks, not only with industrial leaders, but with workers—the miners in their cottages, the weavers, the representatives of the hundred-and-one British trades whose members are competing in what the Prince himself has called “the greatest game of all”—the game of world commerce. Life at Home. After the death of Queen Alexandra in 1927 the Prince of Wales made Marlborough House his London residence, though he still retained the use of York House. His financial affairs are attended to by his Comptroller and Treasurer, Admiral Sir Lionel Halsey, who is well known in the Dominion as the first captain of H.M.S. New Zealand, and who has accompanied the Prince of Wales on all his Empire tours. Practically the whole of the Prince’s personal income has been derived from the revenues of his Duchy of Cornwall but he expends a large proportion on the development of his estates, and is a subscriber to many charities, while income-tax and supertax represents a considerable sum. The Prince of Wales has always been a great sportsman, and it has to be confessed that his many falls in the huntingfield and in steeplechasing have more than once created anxiety. He is a game rider and is also intensely fond, of squash racquets and of tennis. During the last three or four years he has made many aeroplane flights, although he is not a qualified pilot like the Duke of York. Many Public Activities. During the last decade the Prince of Wales has led a busy life, and outside the Royal Family few men have fulfilled more publie engagements than he. The Prince has been a great champion of the cause of those who suffered through, the war, and as president of the British Legion he has done more for ex-service-men than any man living. A few years ago he joined the pilgrimage of ten thousand members of the Legion to the battlefields Of France and Flanders. Although lie served with the Army during the war, the Prince of Wales has always shown

the greatest interest in the Senior Service and the Mercantile Marine. This is no doubt due to his early training in the Royal Navy. It gave him the greatest personal pleasure, and was regarded as a fitting recognition of its importance in the life of the Empire when he was appointed by the late King early in 1928 Master of the Merchant Navy and Fishing Fleets. He is a patron of the Honourable Company of Master Mariners and an honorary member of the Mercantile Marine Service Association. The Prince has also associated himself with various schemes of emigration, especially the. Big Brother movement, of which he is a patron. He has also taken a very active part in the Toe H Brotherhood movement. The Prince is a member of several London clubs, including the Bath Club, the Marlborough, founded by his grandfather, the Guards, the Naval and Military, the United Service Club, the Caledonian, Union, and Boodles. The Bath, Marlborough, and Guards are the only clubs ■which he acti ’lv and habitually uses, however.

Practically ever since the war the Prince has had to deliver countless speeches on all kinds of subjects. Necessarily he has to speak a great deal from manuscript, but he prefers the impromptu address when he can dispense with the “read’--made,” and he is rightly counted as a finished and polished speaker. South African Hunting. But, between the first and second South American tours came a hunting trip in Africa —one which, though delightfully successful in its objects, was marred by the slight illness of the Prince, and later by the grave news of the King’s serious illness.

Late in 1928 the Prince and his brother, the Duke of Gloucester, set out on a holiday visit to East and Central Africa. The tour was purely a private one, and much of it was to be taken up with hunting and sightseeing. It was while he was thus engaged far off the beaten track that news of the illness of his father caused him to at once abandon his tour and hasten back to London. His memorable journey of 7200 miles was followed anxiously by the world, but, happily enough, the end of the journey was followed by a period of increasing hope, and finally, thankfulness for a Sovereign’s preservation. A Popular Succession. The new King has lived about one-half of his life, and has achieved equally that amount of his career. Indeed, it may well be said that he has squeezed more into the first half of his life than Justly belongs to it. The war undoubtedly hastened his manhood and maturity; from the war he learnt human nature, and did for his education what years of study would never have done. His tours have given him an insight into the life of other nations which none of his ancestors ever possessed. But with all these experiences he still retains that boyishness which is one of his greatest charms. No Sovereign of Britain has succeeded to the Throne possessing greater personal popularity in every part of his Realm than he. Certainly none has possessed a more intimate personal knowledge of its countries and peoples, or is better equipped and fitted to be its head.

A Bachelor King.

One thing that has greatly exercised the minds of many people is the fact that Edward VIII. is still a bachelor, and is still, as far as m known, heart-free. The custom of prewar years whereby Royal matches were almost invariably made in the Courts of Europe has apparently gone, and the question of where the new King will find a wife is a much-discussed one. In this connection it is interesting to note the marrying ages of Heirs Apparent in the past. His father, George V., was 28, Edward VII. was 22, William-IV. was 53, and George IV. 33. The latter was Prince of Wales for 57 years—longer than any of his predecessors —but even that record was beaten by Edward VII., who was Prince for 59 years. Five times there have been two Princes of Wales in one reign—under Edward 111. and IY., Henry VII., James 1., and George 11. Only two kings have been succeeded by their grandsons.

As “the lad who was born to be king, the Prince of Wales inevitably had a specialised education and training for his exalted destiny. In many ways, the preparation could not have been otherwise than irksome, ou occasion. *As a kid it was the devil I” said the Prince in later life, when commenting upon his early days in realisation that he was in the succession to the Throne. But from early boyhood he demonstrated a personal love of open-air exercis'e and the reactions and sport which set the British nation apart from most of the other nations. Il or many years the Prince’s favourite recreations were hunting swimming and golf, and when these were not available he kept in excellent physical condition by vigorous! daily exercise and plenty of it. Even at’an earlv age when most men prefer to see their children do the running, his Royal Highness often ran round the specious grounds of Buckingham Palace, ell also was keen on squash racktee, but lawn tennis never had for him the fascination it had for his father or for the Prince’s sister, Princess Mary, and hw brother, the Duke of, York. As landlord of the Oval, the Prince naturally took a ken interest in cricket. During each summer for years he often eujoyed an early morning swim at the Bath Club.