KING EDWARD VIII

Evening Post, Volume CXXI, Issue 78, 1 April 1936, Page 21

KING EDWARD VIII

A BUSY SUNDAY

CHURCH OF ALL HALLOWS

AFTERNOON WITH 8.8.C.

(From •', "The Post's" Representative.) LONDON, March 7. King Edward VIII will always be performing- spontaneous acts which will give pleasurable surprise. He has marvellous intuition and understanding that will ever, inspire him to do something unexpectedly, and these actions will be performed as informally as possible. One of the first thoughtful, but unannounced, acts of his Majesty that greatly touched his subjects was his taking midnight guard, with his three brothers, during the lying-in-state of King George in Westminster Hall, on the night before the funeral. Last Sunday morning, prior to making his first broadcast as King, his Majesty paid a surprise visit to the Church' of All -Hallows, Barking-by-the-Tower, to attend the St. David's Day parade service of the Welsh Guards. He afterwards took the salute at the march past at the Tower. It was the 21st anniversary of the raising of the regiment. SEATED AMONG THE OFFICERS. He wore the uniform of Colonel-in-Chief of the Welsh Guards, and .sat in the body of the church among his brother officers. As Prince of Wales the King was Colonel of the Welsh Guards. His Majesty drove from Buckingham Palace and was received at the church by Colonel M. B. Beckwith-Smith, commanding the regiment, the Rev. E. H. Thorold, Chap-lain-General to the Forces, and the Rev. H. W. Todd, Chaplain to the Forces, who conducted the service. A big crowd outside cheered him on arrival. He carried his bearskin under his arm. All the 500 seats in the church were occupied by past and present officers and men of the regiment. Many of the old comrades 'who served in the war wore daffodils and leek emblems in honour of the National Day of Wales. The service included a short sermon by the Chaplain-General, and ended with the singing in Welsh of "Land of My Fathers," followed by "God Save the King." The King was the first to leave the .church. He shook hands" with the clergy and expressed his pleasure that the Welsh Guards' coming-of-age service should have been held in a church which he knew so well. He also asked after the Rev. "Tubby" Clayton, who is in the Mediterranean. MARCH PAST AT THE TOWER. Afterwards the King drove to the Tower to take the salute. With the Constable of the Tower and Colonel Beckwith-Smith, he took up his position opposite the King's Steps on Tower Wharf, and stood, with his hand at the salute, while the band and the regiment, preceded by their old comrades, marched past. Before leaving the Tower the King handed to each ■ officer of the Welsh Guards a leek emblem and went into the men's mess,; where he was greeted with ah outburst of cheers.;..'... This was the first time for centuries that a reigning Sovereign had attended a service in the Royal Church of All Hallows. But the King had long been familiar with "the Toe H church," where he has several times attended the,annual birthday services of the movement. On Sunday he sat

in the old sent he used to occupy as Prince of Wales. It is a large pew at the back, and it has been known as "the Prince's seat" ever since the time of Richard Coeur de Lion, who built a chapel at All Hallows. AT THE 8.8.C. HEADQUARTERS. In. the, afternoon, his Majesty, in civilian dress, arrived at Broadcasting House a minute earlier than he had been expected, and in the vicinity he was greeted by ; throngs of people who had been waiting for over two hours to see him. A large detachment of police formed cordons to prevent the crowd from surging into the roads and blocking the way. The King was accompanied by Sir Godfrey Thomas and Sir Bryan Godfrey Faussett, his Equerry. He wore a black overcoat with an astrakhan collar, black trousers, a white stiff collar, and black tie. He carried his silk hat. He walked slowly to the door,. and before shaking hands with Sir John: Reith, Director-General of the 8.8.C., and Mr. R. C. Norman, chairman of the governors, he turned and smilingly acknowledged the cheers of those outside with a wave of his hat. Sir John Reith conducted the King to his own room, where, in the few minutes remaining before the broadcast was due to begin, his Majesty read through the text of his message and made some, last-minute alterations. Then the King was taken to the talks studio, 38, which was decorated with bowls of flowers—Hisabura—double pink plum blossom—purple lilac and camellias, grape hyacinths, anemones, and freesia. On the table were two microphones —one for use, the other in reserve. Both were of an improved type never before used in Broadcasting House, and the higher quality of transmission was' ;noticeable. The microphones stood on walnut pedestals specially made for them. These stands will always be used in future when the King .broadcasts. CONFIDENCE At MICROPHONE. Although-this was his first broadcast since his ' accession; it was the 76th occasion on" which ;he .had spoken into the microphone. ,He now shows complete mastery of the. art. There was a time when he disliked using it, remarking. to ,a :friend that it made him "feel' cold all over." ■ ■ ; ' , After the broadcast the King posed for a photograph and' then took tea in Sir John" Reith's room. '"Others present were Mr.'Norman, Mr. Harold; Brown, deputy : chairman of■ the 8.8.C.;; Sir Charles, .Carpendaie,, deputy direc-tor-general;, Sir. Stephen Tallents, Controller of Public Relations; arid' Mr;' ; Cecil Graves, the programme con-; troller. ' ■•■;■,.' " . , ■ While in Sir John's room the King heard his speech. It had been recorded...^.'. ;.the...8.E,.C. . Maida ... Vale : studios and was relayed to Broadcast-: ing- House by ■ landlirie. When his| Majesty left, almost. exactly an hour after his arrival, he-was again loudly: cheered, by.Hhe waiting crowds.-. He: drove to Buckingham Palace, and; spent some time with the Queen. Her Majesty had listened "to.'his address; with the Princess Royal in'her private apartments. •". '. ■• . '.. The Duke'and 'Duchess 'of York,, with the Princess Elizabeth and Prin-j; cess Margaret Rose, heard the broad- : cast at their home in Piccadilly. In the Queen's Hall nearly 2000 ( people heard, the broadcast -during the , London Philharmonic .Orchestra's con- • cert. Sir Thomas Beecham had timed the programme so ,th£t.the second item finished a minute before the • broadcast. The players left the platform, | on which a loud-speaker was placed, j and stood'iiv the auditorium to listen, j When.the. King spoke there was a 1 silence as profound as if he were 1 actuallyl present. His voice sounded clearly through the hall. 1 While the King was speaking a 1 gramophone record of his message was j made by the His Master's Voice Com-

3 pany. Matrices of this are to be deL posited in a hermetically sealed case > in.the British Museum. From these it : will be possible''at any time in the t future to make perfect records of the speech; Copies ■of the record, in a special album of Royal blue, are to be pre--1 sented to the King. • A member of the gramophone com--1 pany's staff remarked: "His Majesty ; has a remarkably good recording voice, ' and the records are the best recordings I of a speech that have ever been made." Arrangements are being made to i j send the record all over the world. , 1 A' special correspondent of the "Daily Telegraph" writes:— As'the hour of the King's broadcast ' ' approached, Past.'London's vivid life j 1 was stilled.. All selling ceased in Petti- ' coat Lane, the famous, $iinday street 1 market. Crowds gathered in the White- • : chapel Roadi , In the East End Mission 1 • Hall, Commercial Road, I joined a . ; crowd of dockers'and: lascars, old women and their grandchildren. As : the speech came' through the cosmo- ' politan audience " listened in a deep ] and moving --silence-.--■■•■■ln a great | Jewish settlement near, every room ( and hall with! a loud-speaker was filled with-people-of'all ages. Many ' of the older- people were in tears as ( the King referred to his,father. 1 . THE GRENADIER GUARDS. j Two days later; the King, as Colonel-in-Chief of the Grenadier Guards, in- < spected the second ; battalion of the \ regiment at Chelsea Barracks, and | said good-bye before it sails for Egypt. ( At 11 a.m. there was a f crash of cheering from the gates, a hoarse order ( as the guard presented arms, and the ( King, in the undress uniform, with . peaked cap, strode on the parade i ground with Major-General B. N. Sergisson-Brooke, G.O.C. London Com- T mand. . ■■"'; • ■ '.. • r While the band played the National ■ Anthem the King stood with his white- t gloved hand at the' salute. After the - final notes of "God Save the King" ' the commanding' officer, Lieut-Colonel J F. A. M. Browning, D.5.0., advanced l and reported the battalion present to j his Majesty, and the inspection began, l while a band played' light music. c After a visit "to the officers' mess, the King made a short1 speech to the men t in their messroom. . By v bis special > orders this speech remains private. It c was an intimate good-luck message t from the ColOneWn-Chief to the men J of the regiment in which the King has i : been an officer for more than twenty ( ; years, It was the first regiment in c which he served' as an officer. ( NEW ORGAN FOR CORONATION. ' It is announced that Westminster Abbey is to have a new organ installed in time for the Coronation. The present famous organ has been in use for 206 years. ■ King r George and ; Queen Mary were aware of the need :to replace it, and each, gave a subscription towards a new instrument. : The Dean of Westminster has. asked t ' the Lord Mayor of London for a con- j • tribution to the fund. It is hoped that , the whole of. the required amount i '■ will be subscribed by those closely c , interested in the work, and that no c ■■ appeal to the public will be necessary. 3 i Among those who will advise on the c I specifications of the new organ are Sir . Walter Alcock, organist of Salisbury Cathedral, Dr..Ernest Bullock, organist ' of Westminster Abbey, and Sir Ed- i ward Bairstow, organist of York t Minster. : •* HISTORIC CITY CHURCH. t "Peterborough," of the' "Daily Tele- 1 graph," gives interesting information . about the church of All Hallows, Bark- I ing, which is closely identified with c two of medieval England's most mar- " tial Rings. He writes: c Richard I built the Lady Chapel, c though the story that Coeur-de-Lion's C heart is buried beneath the high altar o is,. I believe, legendary. ' t

Edward I used to visit All Hallows

five times a year in virtue of his having dreamt that if he did so he would be victorious over the Welsh and the Scots. Kichard 111 rebuilt the chapel.

Little of the earlier medieval architecture remains. The building is mainly of the fifteenth century.

Its narrow, escape in the Great Fire has been described by Pepys. His diary for September 5, 1666, runs: "About tyao in the morning my wife calls me up and tells me of new cries of lire, it being come to Barking Church, which is at the bottom of our. lane. The fire, however, after burning part of the porch, 'was there quenched.'"