MONARCHS AS BALLET DANGERS.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLII, Issue 128, 1 June 1908, Page 2

MONARCHS AS BALLET DANGERS.

| One is not surprised to learn that i Prince Edward of Wales is one of the -most promising of all the dancing pupils at the Royal Naval College, Osborne, for skill in dancing seems to run in the Royal blood of Eng- ' land. King Edward in his younger days was as graceful and nimble-footed as you would iind in England, as many of his partners, now stately dowagers, love to recall; and so, with scarcely an exception, are all members of his family. Henry VIII's dancing, from the

pavon to " conrato high," was the envy and despair of his courtiers, but he was prouder of his performance in the ballet. , '

Queen Elizabeth had no rival in the stately pavon unless it was her favourite partner, Sir Christopher Hatton, and Queen Mary's grace and agility in the ballet sent more than one poet into rhymed raptures. Charles 11, however, seems to have been the king of royal dancers. He never knew when to stop, for when every one of his courtiers were dropping from fatigue he would call for a round of country dances. " Indeed," says Pepys, "he dances rarely."—Westminster Gazette.