SMILING PRINCE

Evening Star, Issue 18716, 19 August 1924, Page 6

SMILING PRINCE

BELOVED BY LONDON. it is probable lliat in the history of the Royal family of England (.hero lias never been a.n heir to the Throne so popular a,s the present Prince of Wales (writes the London correspondent of the Sydney ‘Daily Telegraph’). Whenever the Londoners know that the Prince will be at any particular spot about a certain time they gather in hundreds, just to stand and cheer him as ho passes. 'JJhcy never fail to receive a niorry wave of his hand and hie charming smile, and they go away delighted—or wait for an hour or two, perhaps, for him to como out again. “ The Smiling Prince,” they call him. The Prime is constantly among the people. lie somehow gives thorn the inip ,v si that he loves them, and that, i"i .Mi, reason. In' sincerely values their ” .oresidons of goodwill towards him. Ho dues not seek their adulation, but he receives it gladly, in the spirit in which it is offered. Whenever he comes among the people they cling around him in demonstrative masses; but the more difficulty he finds in moving, and the more demonstrative they are, the happier lie seems, 'The manner in which he meets old men and women and crippled soldiers leaves no doubt of his sincerity. He insist? on hearing all of the lalo of the quavering veteran who fought in the Crimea or Indian Mutiny. His eyes fill with tears when he grips the hand of the straight-backed young man, permanently blinded in tho Great War. It is this quick sympathy and understanding which forms so remarkable a bond between the young Prince and tho masses. DAREDEVIL ESCAPADES, Emotional, exquisitely decreed, remarkably good-looking, small in stature —there is yet nothing namby-pamby about the Heir-apparent. Everyone knows, as a matter of fact, that his dare-devil escapades keep his unhappy personal attendants, who are responsible for his safety, always on the jump. Ho is an early riser, being out for a gallop before most of London is awake; he plays games strenuously, and, as his innumerable falls testify, ho loves a wild and dangerous steeplechase. Ho is an excellent and enthusiastic dancer, and he is by no means insensible to feminine charm. Yet he has, so far, escaped mafrirnony. ’They s<ay ho takes n. certain devilish glee in defeating the careful matrimonial plans which have been drawn, with him as the central figure. The Prince, it appears, hates pageants. When he must take port in n. public ceremonial he docs so with dignity and credit; but whenever he can dodge, ho dodges. The people tell, with amusement, of one recent ceremony. The King and Queen and the Duke and Duchess of York drove in state through lanes of people. The Prince, who also had to bo on the platform, slipped coyly through a back gate in a closed carriage. Hut the crowds caught him, flushed and smiling, for all that, and he got more cheers than all the rest pul together, lie made a splendid speech. The Prince, by the way, is naturally an Orator. His voice and delivery are as good as tho matter of his speeches, and, more and more frequently, it is said, lie speaks without notes or preparation.

AMUSEMENTS.