The Daily Round of the Prince of Wales

Manawatu Times, Volume LIV, Issue 6626, 13 August 1931, Page 9

The Daily Round of the Prince of Wales

BUSIEST MAN IN LONDON. The daily round of the Prince of Wales was described by tho London Star on the occasion of his recent birthday. The writer said : The Prince, so his friends declare, is the busiest man in London, and even or. his birthday he takes no holiday. His birthday, indeed, like that of the King, involves a great deal of extra work, for there are hundreds of official congratulations and messages which must be answered, Ambassadors ana Ministers who must be received, as well as private friends and members ox the Eoyal Pamily. Here is a typical example ot the Prince's daily programme when he is in London : 7.30 Rise. 8.15. —Breakfast. 8.30. Beading newspapers, etc. 9.o.—Keceivo early visitors and deal with correspondence. 20,0. —Conference with secretaries concerning future engagements, invitations, requests, etc. 11.30. —Receive more callers, distinguished foreigners, public iigures, men of the moment. 230, —Luncheon —a brief, simple meal. , . n In the afternoon the Prince usually ha s some function of a private or semipublic nature to perform in connection with one or the other of the scores of offices which he holds —a meeting of the trustees of the National Gallery, a meeting in collection with _ Trinity House, a private talk of an informal kind with British Legion officials about the well-being of those ex-service men in whom he takeg so deep an interest. If tho Prince is free, there is usually some speech to prepare for a future function, for when he delivers one of his public speeches, it is no formal conventional utterance of a. stereotyped message prepared for him by his secretaries. Nearly always he composes his speech himself, devoting hours of careful thought to the task, Frequently, too, ho acts as hi s own typist, using an ordinary portable machine at the desk in his study. . , _ L . Every moment of tho Prince s time is organised and accounted for, and even on rare occasions ■when he is able to snatch a few hours "off" for his favourite relaxation of golf, he plays almost "by the clock,” allowing himself only a given time on the links before he must hurry back to London by car to change perhaps for some public dinner, or, perhaps. to prepare for the entertainment of his guests at one of his own dinner parties at York House. . Golf is the main relaxation and pleasure of tho Heir Apparent, but it is often a matter of considerable difficulty to arrange time for a match. Quite recently, flying back from a country engagement, he broke the journey and landed his aeroplane m a field, to leap out and play a round in a White’s Club tournament. Two hours later, defeated but happy, the Prince clambered back into the Cockpit and flew off to Hendon, to preside a couple of hours afterwards at a big city dinner .