KING EDWARD VIII. AT HOME

Evening Star, Issue 22249, 29 January 1936, Page 5

KING EDWARD VIII. AT HOME

MUCH-LOVED BACHELOR QUARTERS SIMPLICITY AND GADGETS [Eussa St. John - , in the ‘Weekly Scotsman.’] The London homo of the “most popular man in the world, 1 ’ the Prince of Wales, is generally believed to be St. James’s Palace, that historic if hardly artistic pile in Pall Mall, but this is not strictly accurate. The Prince only' occupies that modest wing of the Palace which faces Ambassadors’ Court ami backs on Cleveland row, and the name of this wing is York House. York House, St. James, is the official address of the Prince of Wales, and it also happens to be bis mnch-loved bachelor home. Even tire splendour and magnificence of the nearby Marlborough House which stands empty waiting for' him, has failed to induce the Prince to leave St. James. To those acquainted with the agelong history of the place, the attachment to St. James’s Palace of the King’s oldest son is a matter for rejoicing. Centuries before Buckingham Palace was built St. James’s Palace was intimately associated with British history and the Royal House. AVhen the Royal Palace in Whitehall was burnt down in 1697 St. James’s Palace became the official Royal residence of British sovereigns, and so it remained until 1837, when Queen Victoria transferred her home and Court to Buckingham Palace. MODEST AND PLAIN. But to this day the British Court is still designated “The Court of St. James’s,” a title which is not likely ever to ho altered. As befits history and tradition, St. James’s Palace is never wholly neglected by the reigning, sovereigns. Levees are still held there, and the King drives to the old home of his ancestors in full State on these occasions. The Prince of Wales is not generally credited with any great love or respect for history or tradition, but people can rest assured that he knows all, that, there is to be known about the palace of which his London home is a part—and lie loves every brick of it. Visitors to York House for the first time—especially those from abroad—find it difficult not to appear startled at its modesty and plainness—not to say dingincss! The entrance hall is very small and plain, and the “ recoptoin room,” which holds about seven or eight people at a pinch, is like the “waiting” room of a country-railway station, as one visitor frank]}' described it. A MEMORY AIDER. Separated only by a wall from this apartment is the Prince’s dining room, but few of the visitors who await an audience arc aware of this fact. Beyond the reception room are about half •a dozen apartments which are occupied by secretaries, equerries, ‘clerks, and typists, all busily engaged from morning to night dealing with the vast correspondence concerning the private and public affairs of their Royal master. In these offices all modern business methods are adopted. An elaborate and complete card, index system is in use, which reveals at a glance all the chief events and personages in the career of the Prince, with adequate notes' added and also photographs. His Royal Highness lias a really -wonderful memory "for people and places, and this is duo to a large extent to

his frequent examination of this card index, . The number of letters which are daily delivered to the Prince from all parts of the country and the world is almost as great as that received by the King. But for exceptional cases, all letters to St. James are answered the same day —promptitude which gives the Prince legitimate pride in his staff. The private apartments of the heir to the greatest throne in the world by tbeir plainness and simplicity stagger nearly everyone who sees them. Those, who expect to see an elaborately furnished suite “ fit for a Prince ” will view instead three apartments’ and a bathroom which, for-size and furnishings. are excelled by many a £lO a week bachelor in London. Comfort and homeliness is the keynote of the two sitting rooms and one bedroom on the second floor of York House, which the Prince calls home. One sitting room is reserved for his personal use and the reception of privileged visitors and intimate, friends, while the other lie uses more or less as an office for letter writing, perusal of documents, and receiving official visitors. \ BARRACK-LIKE. In neither of the sitting rooms are there any valuable furniture or curios, while not one sporting trophy , is displayed anywhere in the apartments. Writing tables, easy .chairs, bookstands, and settees are the main items of furniture, while framed photographs of relatives and friends and one or two small sporting prints constitute about the only pictorial decoration in them. The bedroom is almost barrack-like, its make-up, containing, as it does, little more than a bed and a bedroom siiite of pinin' design, with a matting pattern-of carpet on the floor. The bathroom would be scorned by every thonsand-dollar-a-week film star of Hollywood, but the Prince would not exchange it for any other one in the world—and lie has taken his bath in many gorgeous ones in every part of the globe during his extensive travels. If ho is -plain and simple in his home tastes and surroundings that is not to say that the Prince is behind the times in anything that conduces to his efficiency and comfort, INVENTIVE. It is not generally known that he is of a very inventive turn of mind, and ho has gadgets of his own invention installed in York House, which not only save time and trouble, but give him justifiable pride. At- bis writing table he has an automatic “ arm ” which takes out notepaper and envelopes from the compartments at the pressing of a button, and he has also there a self-moving calendar and dairy of personal engagements combined. The Prince has- also invented a new kind of wall safe, which nobody but himself knows how to open. Life in York House is a strenuous one indeed, although no one casually passing its placid and rather sleepylooking exterior would guess it. The Prince is notoriously no “ early-to-bed man,” but he is nevertheless an earlyrising one. Before his clerical staff has arrived at the “ office ” the Prince has finished his breakfast, which with its grape and other fruit is more American in character than English. Before breakfast the Prince frequently goes to the Bath Club for a swim or a game of squash rackets, which explains his glowing cheeks when lie sits down at about 10 o’clock to deal with “ business.” ‘At home His Royal Highness is a business man to his fingertips. .“ The Prince is buzzing around today ” is a saying which never fails to stir up the office staff at St. James Palace. The number of personal letters and telegrams which the Prince writes

with, his own hand every day is considerable for a busy man like himself. He is not good at dictating, and prefers to “ dash it off ” himself. Unlike his mother ho is rather shy of visiting the domestic quarters of his residence, but the Queen when she calls to see her son does the job for him—and so does the Princess Royal. Dinner parties at the York .House are small, select, and invariably pleasant functions. The Prince likes good crockery, cutlery, glass, and linen, and his table at dinner is one of the most artistic in London. He prefers, when host, to sit in the middle of the table side rather than at the head, although he sits there occasionally. The evening meal is one that the Prince enjoys most—for it is the one for which he has the best appetite! On the whole, thq Prince is a very sparing eater, but, contrary to his manner in other directions, he takes his time over food. A SPECIAL GUARD. A special military guard is always on guard outside the Prince’s residence, and when he drives out and in—or walks, as he does sometimes in the evening—he always has a pleasant smile and salutation for the soldiers at the gates, once he begins to recognise them. One special private detective—and a second one, if need be—always accompanies the Prince on all his journeys in town and elsewhere, and he is not left alone until he passes through the glass lobby which leads to the offices. His Royal Highness finds it hard to accustom himself to this protection now that he is a mature adult, but he submits to it with as good a grace as he can, and is courtesy itself to the protectors. _ No matter where he goes, the Prince is always, glad to get back to his modest wing in St. James’s Palace. As he says himself, he knows the place “ inside and out and upside' down.” Everything he likes in domestic life is there ; everything he dislikes is absent. _ Loud-chiming clocks and ringing bells, creaking doors and windows and musty carpets and curtains are what the Prince detests at heart—yet he has to put up with them in the course of his public.duties and engagements. At York House all is different. The rather highly-strung and sensitive Prince gets there the quiet and soothing _ atmosphere that he needs, and all his personal staff are entirely familiar with his habits and likes and aversions—and they act accordingly. The catholic taste in friends and acquaintances which King Edward VII. had always, has descended to his eldest grandson, and if a list could be published of the luncheon and dinner guests of the Prince of Wales, at York House during the past 10 or 12 years, it would astonish the public by its variety of names. THE VISITORS. Sportsmen in every field, especially' in boxing and golf, officers in three services—Navy, Army, _ and Air—leading lights in the theatrical world, overseas friends .and social workers, all have broken bread at the Prince’s table in London, and to them all it has been an unforgettable experience. The Prince is extremely proud of his little home, and one way for anyone to annoy him is to suggest that a more spacious one might be advisable. Simplicity with perfect taste, an atmosphere curiously monastic, the house has yet an air of simple cheerfulness and dignity easier to sense than to describe. It may be that it is not impressive and magnificent enough for the heir tothe Throne, but no one can deny that it is a comfortable home, and adequately expresses the modest, unassuming personality of the man who lives in it. By midnight all the indoor staff-are in bed except the valet on duty, who awaits the Prince’s arrival home if he

happens to have a late engagement' that evening. A bowl of soup or a .cup of. hot. chocolate is the Prince’s favour* ite night-cap before he turns in. And nowhere in the tvorld does the heir to the British Throne sleep sounder than at York House—for nowhere he, feel more at home.