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Evening Post, Volume CXIX, Issue 104, 4 May 1935, Page 25

It is confidently expected;that within six months King George 11,, ex-king of the Hellenes, will return'to the throne of Greece. ' ,' .

i King ,George is. the eldest son of [King Coristahtine." "He was torn'in July, IK9O, at Tatoi,' the royal villa near Athens. On account, of his supposed Germanophile tendencies during the. World War, he was.excluded from the succession, by.the Allies in favour of-his younger .brother, Alexander, upon : the. deposition of his father by .the ultimatum of June 11, 1917. After his father's restoration to the throne in 1920,.he. married 1921 Princess Elizabeth, elder" daughter of King1 Ferdinand and, Queen Marie, of Rumania. Upon the: second deposition of his father by -the'-revolution- of General Plasteras, his younger brother Alexander I having diet! in .1920, he succeeded to .the throne on September.27, 1922. After the unsuccessful counterreyolution of October, 1923, his' position became more difficult, although there was. no proof that he had been a party to that rising. Republican feeling grew under the leadership of Papanastasiou^and others, and despite Vehizelos's advice to await the de-' cision of. the! National Assembly, a number of military and naval officers demanded the deposition of the Glucksburg dynasty. On December 19, 1923, the King and Queen left Greece. Next day Admiral Condouriotes, for the second ' time, became regent. On March 25, 1924, the1 Assembly deposed the dynasty arid forbade its members to reside, in Greece; and the plebiscite on April 13 confirmed the vote of the Assembly.

In a preface to her translation of her husband's book "Towards Disaster" in 1930, Princess Alice of Battenberg, wife of Prince Andrew of Greece, wrote: "Both the author and wife owe a deep debt of gratitude to King George for the promptitude and efficiency of his action, which saved the author's life."

. The Princess relates that when the Greek army was overwhelmed by .disaster in 1922, due to treache.ry in its io&the down-; fall formed a military government in Athens and told Prince Andrew he could stay on his property, in Corfu if he resigned from the army. A month later he was: arrested, court-martialled and sentenced to -death.

She continues: "King George, realising: Prince Andrew's deadly peril,took the necessary.: steps, resulting in Lord Curzon sending out Captain Gerald Talbot, .afterwards knighted for.hisservices,: who by. a miracle got the author out,of the clutches of the dictators, and.brought ; him and his family away the Say "after'the trial, on a British warship.". ",",•/.' King George is a great sportsman, preferring—yachting,- mountaineering, and .swimming.,- ,He is- also . fond of literature. At about the age of 15 he became" a close friend of Mark, Twain, arid, he has pleasant recollections of this early friendship yith the author of "Tom Sawyer." . ; Sir Austen- Chamberlain. ■ > v ■ Sir Austen v <3hamberiainL was presented with a replica of the Star of the Order of the Garter,- comprised of rubies; arid diamonds set' in platinum and gold,l at- a private luncheon given in his -honour- at Birmingham recently. The original star was presented to Sir Austen when he was -created a Knight of the Garter in 1925. It must be returned to the King on' Sir Austen's death. . , The. gift .was made, on behalf of 20 personal ;friends ,of Sir Austen. He was accompanied by Lady Chamberlain aifd Mrs. Terence Maxwell, his daughter, r and the" presentation was made by Alderman J. Lloyd, the father of the Birmingham City Council and an old school friend of Sir Austen, who referred to Sir Austen's services at Locarno.

It was Sir Austen's wish that the gift should take the. form of the Star of the Garter and the ceremonial robes to accompany it—which are also part of the gift—so that he could wear, them when he takes part in the parade of. the1 Knights of the .Garter in connection with the celebration of the King's Jubilee.

Sir Austen said he looked back upon his Parliamentary career not wholly without satisfaction. The presentation had. recalled "the dearest, greatest achievement of his life"—the conclusion of the conference at Locarno, the signature of the Treaty, and the other treaties there made, and in the change which, at any rate for a time, they wrought on the spirit of Europe, and in the hope they opened and, in spites of all difficulties, still held for the. peace of the world. • ■ , "They represented the only hope for civilisation," and; the, only issue from the;conflicts arid -the -troubles that afflict .u5.;..1 believe this is the only spirit, and on that pattern that we, can find an issue out of our troubles today. ; . .

•Either., the nations whose dispute might disturb the peace of the world SfnJll^ aS, friends and e <suaJs pledging themselves to abstain from hostile action, and give mutual guaran-tees-for the. preservation of peace, or W^ fl k toto a system, of-alliances and the balance of power with the ultimate, inevitable result of a drift into the war which nobody wanted _ "I do not know what the future has in store, for in, the unrest and confusion of today we cannot see as far ahead as in clearer and more tranquil times.

•'There.is a great deal at stake, and I agree that the hope of our world the safety, of us all-lies in a common policy.to support the League of Nations and the enforcing.in each area by mutual pacts ambng possible antagonists by giving a powerful sanction to ■ the general. principles and covenant of the League of Nations.

"This is the programme which is now before the world. What the choice, of each' Power may be, how much can be conceded to obtain agreement, I do not pretend to say, but I believe it is on these lines, and these lines alone, that our civilisation can be preserved."

The Star was made in Birmingham feXUocal/wprkmea'-at'S-cost pf :.£soo.'<.