THE ROYAL VISITOR

Evening Star, Issue 21718, 12 May 1934, Page 2

THE ROYAL VISITOR

MAN OF MANY PARTS LONDON, April 30. In Tidworth camp, where he commands a squadron of Lancers, there is no happier man than the Duke of Gloucester. The news that he was to take the place of Prince George for the Australian visit (which he received on Thursday night) gave him immense joy, because, with the exception of his unofficial trip through Canada when returning from Japan, he has not seen the great dominions, and he has always been looking forward to an opportunity to see the great spaces and open-air life of Australia and New Zealand. To use the phrase of a member of his staff, tlie Duke is “ really bucked about it,” but he fakes his soldiering so seriously that he has not had a moment since he came to London to discuss the arrangements. His programme will be virtually the same as that arranged for • Prince George, but the Duke will go into the details this week. HIS INTERESTS—AFTER SOLDIERING. No member of the Royal Family could be more accurately described as “ belonging to the services.” From the moment when he transferred from the 60th to the 10th Hussars, because it would bring him into contact with horses, the Duke has lived a soldier’s life. He had a spell of mechanised training with the armoured cars, but lie is now back among his beloved horses. Indeed, he is so much occupied with the army that he has not had the same opportunities as his brothers have had for the public services ]>c has had to render in his spare time. Among these services the most outstanding is his intense interest in. boys’ clubs, a form of social service designed to provide for boys in tho industrial areas places where they can pleasantly and profitably spend their evenings. The Duke frequently visits the boys as the active "president of the organisation. In that capacity he recently made a three days’ tour of Manchester district.

His intense devotion to soldiering also explains why he is not so prominent in sporting relaxations as bis brothers, with the exception of point-to-point races, in which lie rides his own four hunters. His latest race was on Saturday in Derbyshire, but he was unplaced. He has his own colours—royal blue, with two red hoops. His eye for a good horse is seldom wrong, and when no sees one he always says bo “ would like to have a mount for a try out.” Horses and the open-air life will he his chief delights in Australia, where he will certainly more than hold his own with both gun and rifle. PREVIOUS TRIPS ABROAD. The Duke made quite a reputation as a marksman during his two visits to Kenya for big-game hunting, and his trip to Somaliland, which he visited on the homeward journey from-the-corona-tion of the Emperor of Abyssinia. This was his chief overseas mission, apart from his visit as the King’s emissary ' to present the Garter to the Emperor of Japan. Other interests which will appeal to him in Australia are suggested by tho fact that he has been president of the Royal Agricultural Society, the Royal Veterinary College, and the Hunters Improvement Society, which fosters the breeding of light horses. He is also a dog fancier, and.owns four greyhounds, two Scotch terriers, a bull mastiff, and a Labrador. A few years ago the Duke and Prince George jointly owned an aeroplane. The Duke was fond of flying, but he was unable to follow it as keenly as is necessary. He is an excellent swimmer, and will not be unfamiliar with yachting in Australian harbours, because he is a frequent visitor to Cowes. He never misses an Eton-Harrow match at Lord’s, and ho is glad to seek respite from his duties with a game of golf when the opportunity offers. He- is a good dancer, and,takes .a* more than knowledgable interest, in art. The Duke will he accompanied by Major Ronald Stanyforth, formerly his equerry, vrlvo is an ardent cricketer. THE DUKE AND THE COOK IN ABYSSINIA. An amusing story of the Duke’s visit to Abyssinia is told by the special correspondent of the ‘ Daily Express ’ who accompanied him, The Duke was housed in an old palace in-doubtful comfort. On the first morning after his arrival a German woman in charge of the domestic arrangements had a tempestuous row in the kitchen with the Abyssinian servants. The trouble was carried to tlie dining room, where the Duke was ’ waiting patiently for his breakfast, and in a spate of Teutonic passion the woman resigned. The Duke tried to calm her, but she packed her bag and left. The Duke called for his car, and without breakfast went into the bush to shoot something for dinner. _ The correspondent adds that in the capital, Addisababa, at the heartthumping altitude of 7,000 ft, the Duke spent dav after day in tho full uniform of the ttussars, under a tropical sun that blistered the skins and frayed the nerves of his party, and watched a march past by Abyssinian warriors. Ho also attended many polyglot receptions, and made himself agreeable to thousands who_wanted to shake hands and talk to him.