BRITAIN’S YOUNGEST PRINCE

Evening Star, Issue 21889, 28 November 1934, Page 5

BRITAIN’S YOUNGEST PRINCE

SHARES TASKS OF HEIR TO THRONE INTEREST IK FLYING [By the Hon. Mrs Francis Lascelles.] The relationship existing between brothers will break down the biggest barriers. Not even the dignity with which Royalty must necessarily surround itself can survive when brother Princes meet, and, in private, H.11.H. Prince George is known to the Prince of Wales as “ Babe,” despite his thirty-one years. The nickname, of course, owes itself to the fact that Prince George is the youngest surviving member of the British .Royal Family. Had H.R.H. Prince John survived (he died in 1919), no doubt Prince George would never have been referred to as “ Babe.” Yet it is safe to say that he himself does not mind the Prince of Wales’s subtle allusion to his smaller age. The “ pet ” name may be regarded as serving, indeed, a useful purpose in one way. Actually the British Royal Family includes the two Princes named George.

To indicate the other would bo an impossible task for most people, this fact being little known. But the Duke of York bears the name of Albert George, although it is, of course, the youngest son of the Xing and Queen, who has becojne popularly known as the Prince George. The nickname he has been given typifies the relationship existing between himself and the Prince of Wales. Prince George is the closest pal of the bento the British Throne. Were these two Princes more alike in age, it would be reasonable to regard them almost as Royal twins, so similar are their activities and tastes. Nothing pleases either of them better than to spend an hour or two together “ off duty ” despite the fact that their official duties often place them together. It is quite likely that Prince George’s frequent association with the Prince of Wales is partly attributable to the fact that both have remained bachelors for some years. Although H.R.H. the Duke of York more closely approaches the Prince of Wales in age (less than eighteen months separating them in this respect), the Duke’s marriage added duties that made less easy such a friendship as now exists between the Prince of Wales and Prince George. It has been said, too, that the Prince of Wales, knowing the difficulties which arise in being a Prince—perpetually in the public eye and with a duty to perform towards the nation—decided to

“ adopt ” iiis young brother, with the idea of teaching him the ropes. Credence is given to this suggestion by the number of public engagements in which they figure together to-day. A further reason for the very close friendship existing between these two Princes was also put forward by a member of the Royal Household not long ago. “The fact is,” he said, “that the many official tasks devolving upon Royalty render very difficult the leading of an ordinary family life, and Prince George and the Prince of Wales are therefore drawn more closely together than would perhaps 'otherwise be the case. They obtain, by joining forces, some substitute for the ordinary family friendship that their position denies them.” . , Prince George once pointed out tnat by following this plan of double Royal visits the strain experienced by himself and his brother is reduced. There can be little doubt that the feeling of support, and the knowledge that the duties are being shared by someone of equal standing, does lighten tasks that must bo hard. When the Royal co-operators are brothers, duties can be shared to an extent that would be impossible were not the bond so close. Prince George, indeed, takes a bigger share of the work than is commonly realised. Although congratulations upon the success of a Royal tour usually go to the Prince of Wales, he has not infrequently been constrained to remark that no less a part of the success has been due to his brother, when the tours have been of a dual type. . One great purpose shared by Prince George and his brother lies in the direction of flying. Like the Prince of Wales, he is strongly of the opinion that British businessmen make insufficient use of and he strives to show the value of flying by practical demonstration of its usefulness. Prince George, no less than the Prince of Wales, makes frequent use of this modern mode of travel. In employing the .aeroplane to enable him to carry out a programme that would be impossible otherwise, he not only shows how flying can be of service, but is proving that the risks are no

greater than in road or rail travel, it' is inconceivable that a member of the Royal Family, who .most certainly realises that his life is not his own, would travel by air if an unusual amount of risk attached itself to such travel. Prince George owns a plane of his own and has his own pilot, whom he sometimes “ lends ” to the Prince of Wales. He enters his machine in air races under his own name, as a means of further giving publicity to the value and importance of Hying. Prince George’s interest and faith in _ flying were displayed admirably during a speech he made when he opened the new Handley Page aerodrome at Radlett, Herts, in 1930, and since that time his efforts to promote British aeronautics have been continuous. Rivalry has existed between himself and the Prince of Wales in several King’s Cup air races. Prince George was among the first to congratulate the pilot when the Prince of Wales’s machine took second prize in the 1932 race. Some misconception exists around the question of Prince George’s chances of ascending to the British Throne. His chances of doing so are very small, for, in addition to his being preceded by the Prince of Wales, the Duke of York, and the Duke of Gloucester, the little Princess Elizabeth has a higher claim. But Prince George does stand ahead of his sister, Princess Mary, and if by chance ho did become King there is no doubt that he would make a trusted and respected ruler. “ Brought up,” as it were, by the Prince of Wales (or at least guided by him since he entered into public lifel, the “ Babe ” Prince has already earned for himself the respect of the nation and Empire.