In the Public Eye

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 47, 23 August 1930, Page 27

In the Public Eye

King Boris of Bulgaria. | There are not many bachelor kings in the marriage market of Europe to- j day, so the good-looking King Boris ot! Bulgaria is a very eligible bachelor in the eyes of match-making and am- i bitious mothers of young daughters in i search of royal alliances. Even a Balkan throne has gone up in value since thrones have been so scarce. Even the very aggressive granddaughter of Queen Victoria, Queen Marie of! Rumania, has cast eyes upon it for her youngest daughter, Heana. She once decided to have her children all around

■her on the pick of the Balkan thrones. Indeed, she was known as the Mother-in-Law of the Balkans, but apparently King Boris, who looks like a. quiet, retiring, and earnest young man, decided that she was not going to be his mother-in-law. Even in these days of political freedom and ballot boxes and what not, Balkan countries depend upon bridal vows more than they do upon treaties for national safeguarding. So while Bulgaria is accepting all the attentions and advances of Italy the king is preparing to marry to suit his subjects. And some of his subjects think he should marry Princess Giovanna, daughter of the King and Queen of Italy. All sorts of dukes and duchesses, courtiers and statesmen, even Mussolini, have been having a finger in the royal marriage pie. King Boris is a quiet, fairly conventional gentleman who holds down a difficult job by his tact. At eighteen he was a major in service in one of the Balkan wars, and during the Great War he served upon the stafl of his father, King Ferdinand, who was known as the "Fox of Bulgaria." At the end of the war King Ferdinand was invited to abdicate and tho throne was passed on to this quiet son of his. Bulgaria was disarmed, fined with a big indemnity and corners of her territory lopped of£ as compensation for her neighbours. All these things Boris has had to contend with. More than a quarter of a million refugees from the sequestered parts of Bulgaria poured back into what remained of the kingdom, and reduced Bulgaria to poverty. However, Boris steered a tactful course, keeping strictly to the terms of the constitution. Ho seems to have been bound all his life by-the opinions and dogmas of other people, and \\vm so far made little effort to free himself. Ho must bo wondering what "they" will decide for him on the question of his marriage. If he cannot many Princess Giovanna there seems "to be only one princess left for him of tho proper ago and religion. She is Princess Kira, daughter of Grand Duke Cyril, pretender to the tlirono of Russia, but her marriage would not bring Bulgaria much that would be useful in. the way of political alliances. Tlie Earl of Clarendon. Beeently the announcement was made that the King had been pleased to approve the appointment of the Earl of Clarfindon as Governor-General of the Union of Sonth Africa in succession to Major-General the Earl of Athlone, K.G., whose extended period of office expires nest January. Under the last Conservative Government, Lord Clarendon, , then Under-Sccrotary for the Dominions, was appointed chairman, of the

new corporation that took over the British Broadcasting Company in January, 1027, an office he still holds. Ho is 52 years or.' ago, is a grandson of the famous Foreign Secretary of Victorian days, and a son of the fifth Earl, whom Ik; succeeded in 1914. He was educated nt Eton and served as A.D.C. to the I Earl of Dudley when the latter was j Lord-Licutennnt of Ireland. From ]919 to 1921 he was chancellor of the Primrose League, and in the latter year he became a Lord in Waiting to tho King. |He has also been Captain of the Hon. Corps of Gcntlemen-at-Arms. lie is still | a great landowner, and though his holdings have been diminished by sale since Mk succession, he retains his estate in Warwickshire, which includes (ho picturesque ruins of Kenilworlh Cnstlc and 1 the hotel whore Scott stayed while writing part of his famous story. Kenil- ' worth has been in possession of Mm family since the Restoration. Lord Clarendon was Chief Conservative Whip in tho House of Lords from 1922 to 3924. Before he succeeded to tho earldom he had settled in Ontario as a fruit farmer, and he came to the office of Parliamentary Undcr-Secrctary of State for the new Department of Domiirion Affairs in 1925 equipped with considerable experience of life overseas. He held that office until December, 19 i:) 0, fmii shortly afterwards lie was appointed chairman of the British Broadens!.ing Corporation. His wife, Lady Clfirrndon, as tho hostess of Pitt House, Hampstnnd Heath, their historic LnnrJon home, is distinguished for herj

charm and hospitality. She is the only 6ister of Lord Somers, and is a keen sportswoman and good shot. When, in 10.12, she first went to Canada with her husband —then Lord Hyde—who bought and worked ' a small farm there, sho declared her intention of becoming a practical farmer's wife. She lived simply on a fruit farm in Ontario, with a typical colonial shanty as her home, and there they reared their family of throe —two boys and a girl. Feisal, King of Irak. Of the smaller States of Arabia, Irak is probably the most fortunate in its ruler. King Feisal, who has just terminated a visit to England, during which he opened up negotiations for ending the Mandate over his country, lias ail along been very anxious that the honour and prestige of Irak should bo maintained. Ho realises —which is nol; always the case with Eastern rulers —that peace is.vital to the progress and development of his country. And this is no sham or royal pose, but is rather the clear vision of the man. It is this extraordinary detachment from the policy of centuries, the conviction that their King has really and truly the- best interests of the country at heart, that has been the main factor in -uniting the many tribes and religions sects over which he rules. Writing recently of King Feisal, Mr. T. Comyn-Platt, a well-known journalist with Eastern proclivities, said: "My first sight of the King was the occasion of his going to a Mosque. Preceded by his bodyguard of native lancers, who rode their horses as only Arabs can, he. drove through the streets of Bagdad in a Victoria with his brother, the ex-King of the Hcdjaz. He wore a black abba — a long and full native gowp with Joose sleeves —a blue kefia or handkerchief bound round with an agal—a sort of rope coil, the ordinary Arab headdress. As he passed along the streets, those by the wayside either stood in respectful silence or salaamed, the King bowing his acknowledgment with extraordinary grace and dignity. A very great gentleman, one would have said, tooth in manner and nppearanco, even without knowing him. And so he is. But what struck me most in connection with King JFeisal was the

exceptional charm of his expression. Sad, even in its smiling. Brown of complexion, his features are almost Greek in their cutting; his eyes deepset; his beard cut close to the outline of his face, so that at a distance one would almost think he was clean shaved. I never saw a more wistful eye or an expression that convinced me of deeper feeling and earnestness." He was crowned King of Irak in 1921, prior to which ho received the fealty of all the Arab notables of Irak, his actual coronation being carried out with all the pomp and circumstance for which the East is :o famous. Flight-Lieutenant K. L. K. Atcherley. Last week it was announced that Plight-Lieutenant E. L. E. Atcherlcy, British Schneider Trophy pilot, will represent Britain at tho national air races which commenced at Chicago yesterday. He was invited to visit America in the first case by Lieutenant Williams, U.S.A. Schneider Cup pilot, who visited Europe recently with the idea of extending personal invitations to tho principal pilots of that side of the world. Flight-Lieutenant Atcherley, who was accompanied by the German pilot, Captain Loshe, left England on 10th August, taking with him his own machine. In 1929 the Englishman won the King's Cup, which is considered to bo the Derby of the air, and was also ouo of tho pilots in last year's Schneider Cup race, but was disqualified for failing to round one of the marks correctly. In that race he ia stated to have travelled over one of the laps at 332.49 miles per hour, his average for the whole distance being 325.54 miles per hour. Plight-Lieutenant Atcherley

was educated at Oundle, and he was granted a permanent commission in the it.A.F. nfter going through CranwcH Cadet College. He was appointed to No. 2!) Fighter Squadron, passed through the Instructor's Course at the Central Flying School, returned to No. -!) Squadron as instructor, and was subsequently appointed to No. 23 Fighter Squadron. Ho is a brilliant! pilot, and soon after his appointment to the High-Speed Flight, looped the loop on one of the 1027 Schneider Cup seaplanes. He has also given exhibitions, including upside-down flying, at the U.A.F. displays. Captain W. K. Jones, of Criccicth (Wales), playing in the Carnarvonshire golf championship meeting, put liis seventh tee shot into a pheasant's nest. The startled bird flapped the ball out of the nest into a playable position, and Captain Jmies holed in four.