Royalties Are Only Human Beings

Manawatu Times, Volume 63, Issue 39, 16 February 1938, Page 14

Royalties Are Only Human Beings

TWO of the three Kings who have been doing their Christmas shopping in London recently were already wellknown in England. Leopold 111. of Belgium was for several years at Eton; George 11. of Greece spent a fair slice of his exile sit a Dover Street hotel; Boris HI. of Bulgaria has visited England less frequently, although he represented his father, the notorious “Foxy” Ferdinand, at the Coronation of King George V. Although reputed to be a model boy, Leopold had normal high spirits as a child. His tutor, Major (afterwards General) Maton, was instructed by King Albert to “try to make a good citizen of him,” and, when on one* occasion the French diplomat, M. Klobukowsk, rose to receive the young Prince, he was met with the priggish reply: “Please remain seated, Monsieur le Ministre; Leopold must not think too much of himself.” Still the housekeeper of the priest who looked after his religious education used to tell how he stole her cakes and marked his height on her kitchen door. At the outbreak of the war Leopold was sent to England, where he was the guest of Lord Curzon. But Belgium needed every soldier she could lay hands on and Leopold, at his own request, went back at the age of thirteen to be enrolled as a private. A sentry-box marked “Leopold,” outside the Royal Palace in Brussels, commemorates the event to-day. When Antwerp fell, Private Prince Leopold was relieved of his duties to go to Eton, where he was at Mr. Lubbock’s house and fagged for the Duke of Gloucester. The Allied advance in 1918 found him at the Front again, but, as soon as the Armistice was signed he insisted on returning to Eton in order to play football for his house.

of Queen Alexandra and a nephew of the ex-Kaiser. Shortly before the war he was attached to the Prussian Guard and, during the Balkan campaigns of 1912, served in the Greek infantry as orderly officer to his father, then Duke of Sparta. The Monkey’s Bite. Although Diadoch or Crown Prince, he was passed over on his father’s deposition, in favour of his younger brother, Alexander. This was the outcome of French objections to his military training in Berlin. Constantine was recalled after Alexander had suffered a unique fate for Royalty by dying from the bite of a pet monkey. George again became Diadoch and succeeded to the throne after the Turkish victories in Asia Minor had led to his father’s second abdication. The Revolutionary Committee which then ruled the country, gave the new King a thin time. He was treated as a nonentity and never even consulted. It used to be said that the King and the Prime Minister were the only people in Greece who were not allowed to know what was happening. A year later the King was “advised” to leave and with his wife, Princess Elizabeth of Rumania, whom he later divorced, settled down in the home of a Bucharest merchant. Restoration became a possibility after the Venizelos-Plastinos revolt had shown up the weakness of the Republic. The King had, however, by then become accustomed to English ways and thought twice about returning to Athens. He

Royal Traveller. King Albert was a great believer in the formative influence of foreign travel and, before ascending to the throne, Leopold had visited the United States, Brazil, Egypt, the Sudan, the Congo, Scandinavia, the Netherlands, East Indies, Siam, Indo-China and Hong Kong. Besides keeping an eye on the economic and agricultural development of these countries, he also took an interest in game preservation and gathered together specimens of butterflies and insects for his private collection. The day after his twenty-fifth birthday Leopold married Princess Astrid of Sweden. They were a devoted couple and were often seen dancing together in Brussels or pushing the perambulator at Le Zoute. But two years ago Queen Astrid was killed in a motor accident on the shores of Lake Lucerne, while the King was driving. The shock to the King was inconceivable and the penance which he undertook in walking behind the hearse ended in his collapse. Within a year public affairs were claiming his full attention again, as was shown by his important pronouncement on Belgian neutrality. Slim and fair, with a sad expression on his handsome face, he often comes to England incognito. In private life he is fond of mountaineering, ski-ing and golf. King George of the Hellenes spent 12 years of exile largely in England. Popular in society, the King was frequently to be seen at the Savoy or the Bath Club, where he was well-known for his vivacity, keen sense of humour and abundant supply of anecdotes. George, who was the eldest son of King Constantine, is a great-great-grandson of Qy* lo Victoria, a nephew

A frock for festive dances. Made of white tulle, the skirt full and the bodice slim, it is edged round the hem with little purple pansies showing diamente “eyes.”

Anecdotes from England and Europe

did not want to go back at the invitation of a single party, but only after a plebiscite had been held and guarantees given that the Constitution would be respected. He did go back, and it was not long before the Metaxas coup d’etat showed him the value of promises and put him completely under the thumb of one party. Disillusioned, he gave Metaxas a perfunctory blessing and retired to his Palace at Corfu, where he entertained Edward VIII. on his Dalmatian tour. Ruler and Polyglot. Although King Boris was educated entirely in Bulgaria, he speaks six languages, including English, and so can rival the pre-war Balkan statesman who could be volubly unintelligible in five European tongues. oris was brought up a soldier and served in the first Balkan War as a captain. During the Great War he served on the staff at G.H.Q., but also had opportunities of showing his great personal courage. Once, in a storm, he almost walked into a British outpost; another time he rescued a wounded soldier under fire. Boris started his reign in a cloud of misfortune. The war was lost and the Treaty of Neuilly had to be signed. Shortly afterwards the Prime Minister, M. Stambolisky, was assassinated and a Communist revolt suppressed with great ruthlessness. Finally there was the bomb outrage in a Sofia cathedral. At this time the King’s car was once ambushed and his chauffeur killed; but Boris himself drove the car to safety. Boris is warm-hearted, generous and informal in his manner. He married seven years ago Princess Giovanna of Savoy, the third daughter of the King of Italy, and the couple are very popular, even in a country where political assassination has reached its zenith. His recent efforts to tackle the 1.M.R.0. the deadly International Macedonian Revolutionary Organisation —and to improve relations with Jugoslavia, have made good progress. Most boys would like to drive engines when they grow up. But you either have to make engine-driving your career—or be a King. Boris adopted the second method and, whenever a new railway line is opened in Bulgaria, he likes to drive the first train over it. Once an explosion occurred in the engine of the Royal train. The King climbed into the engine, carried the injured driver to his own saloon, dressed his wounds and himself drove the train the rest of the way.