ENJOYS KINGSHIP

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 125, 29 May 1930, Page 24

ENJOYS KINGSHIP

ALFONSO OF SPAIN

WILL KEEP HIS THRONE

FIVE TIMES ATTACKED

King Alfonso of Spain, whose throne, according to a recent cable message, is again in peril, is not likely to worry overmuch about the maledictions which sorte of his puople have just been hurling on-him, accusing him of having violated his coronation oaths and'the Spanish; Constitution. : ilfonso, the longest-reigning king in the world, and "the.only one left who thoroughly enjoys being a king" (in spite of the fiv ( e attempts made, to assassinate him') will not be shifted from his throne without a struggle, satfs an American writer. _ •. ■ The throne of Spain has been in peril for so rriany centuries1 and in so,many varied circumstances that it long-ago became one of the wonders of the worldIt was in peril when its present tenant, wrapped in cotton wootaiid lying on-a silver salver, was handed, to .the Councillors of State "a few-hours after hia; birth on 17th May, 1886. It was m peril when, a frail and melancholy boy, he drove out with his. mother and .was greeted by the scowls of the populace. It was in deadly peril on that May day in i 906 when he drove through the gaily beflagged streets of Madrid with hia bride? Princess Victoria Eugenic, granddaughter of Queen Victoria of England, and an assassin threw a'bomb which killed 12 people around the royal car"iJTwas in peril three years after the Great War, when 10,000 Spanish soldiers, the cream of the army, were massacred by Abd-el-Krim's Eiffsm the savage'wastes of Spanish Morocco; and, when the news became, known in Spain, Alfonso was discovered to be abgeiit, amusing himself in Deauville, that seaside paradise of Europe's rich, It was in peril again when the politicians were accusing the generals of incompetence in 1922 and 1923, and^e generals were accusing the politicians of treachery and corruption; and Primo de Rivera staged his army revolt and sent the Government of the politicians scuttling from . Madrid—and Alfonso got the news at San Sebastian and drove a racing car all night over the mountain roads and got to the capital in time to sign the decree proclaiming martial law. •■''.. THE KING WILL STAY. In the past centuries, the Spanish throne has been in danger countless times. But always in the end. the people'have once more acclaimed their king. . ,- All things considered, one would be »afe in wagering 50 to 1 that much more will happen in Spain than has happened or appears likely to happen before Alfonso surrenders his great Madrid palace that looks out to the lugged Guadarrama - Mountains, his lovely summer palace on the peak of the peninsula at Santander, his Mediterranean playground at Malaga, Mb racing stables, his fleet ,of high-powered motorcars, his polo ponies, his spacious i hunting preserves in the Gredos moun-J tains, his royal state, not to mention an immense annual revenue, and retires to kill time as a privtae gentleman after the manner of the former King of Greece and ex-King Manuel of Portugal.1"' " ■■■'-■•. • .■■;■■ This tall, tanned,, active man, who loves movement ■ and action, polo ponies, racing cars, everything .swift and dashing; who looks,.and is, ironhard and fit, without an ounce of superfluous flesh on Ms spare frame, is manysided and indomitable.. If he is still king to-day it is not • because he was (literally) born one, but becausej he likes being a king, and intends togo on-being a king if patience, tact, adroitness, quick action, and an audacious courage can preserve his balance on the mdnarchial tight rope. In estimating his chances in the present crisis, which may last through 1930, with intermittent demonstrations, declarations, risings, and riots, it is wo'i^th remembering that, apart from the fact that five assassins have tried to kill him and; have failed, he has been astutely playing his cards for at least 20 of his 40. years of life and kingship in order to retain his throne. •, jns museum. In his Madrid palace lie treasures one of the world's queerest collections of mementoes; a.stone on which-he once cracked his head in a fall; the rusty knife with which the assassin tried to stab'him as a boy; the"skeleton of the horse killed by the bomb hurled- at him as he drove with President Loube.t in state through bedecked Paris in 1905; the poisoned feeding bottle through which he nearly sucked death before he was a year old; fragments' of the steel bomb thrown at him and-hia bride just after their marriage 24 years ago in Madrid (the young Queen'reached the palace with her white satin wedding shoes splashed with the blood of the killed and.injured bystanders); the revolver which Sanchez Alegre - fired repeatedly at him in the open street (Alfonso saved himself by spurring his horse on the assassin and riding him down, with a shout). His philosophy of kingship is summed up in the declaration he made, in: answer to rumours of his intended abdication: "A king who abdicates is a deserter." In 1922 he got annoyed with the poll'ticians and delivered a celebrated speech at Cordova, which the Government of the day thought;it; wisest, to censor. A year later, still defying; the politicians, he declared he ■wquld "perish on the quarter-deck if neeeisary." Primo de Rivera's coup d'etat, which eliminated the politicians, removed that necessity—at any rate, for the time being1.... ..'";■.'., The army made de Rivera; the arrhy ; broke him. And the army in due course will decide whether Alfonso is to'stay or go. Aa it is leavened with his relatives and connections, and as the chief of the royal military household is chief of the new Ministry,'Alfonso seems pretty safe. ;