THE KING'S PREVIOUS ILLNESS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 12003, 27 June 1902, Page 6

THE KING'S PREVIOUS ILLNESS.

AN ANXIOUS TIME IN 1871.

A little over 30 years ago the King (then Prince of Wales) had a very serious illness, his life for a time being almost despaired of. It was a time of great anxiety to the nation, and when Princess Alice and her husband left the kite Queen in the late autumn of 1871 they went to visit the Prince aud Princess of Wales at Sandringham. their country home in Norfolk. The Prinoo of Wales was not well, but no serious illness was suspected. Still, as the days passed on, instead of growing better, he- grew worse, until, on November 23, the doctors declared that he was suffering from an attack of typhoid fever. Day by clay the fever gathered strength; clay by day the Princess of Wales and Princess Alice took their turns of watching by his bedside. Growing anxious about _ her son, Queen Victoria left Windsorfand journeyed to Sandringham to satisfy herself about the Prince. All was going well; the fever was running high, but the Prince had plenty of strength. Nevertheless, he lay unconscious most of the time, and was delirious at intervals.

The first of December came, and it brought a gleam of sunshine. The Prince returned to consciousness. " This is the Princess' birthday." he whispered to those near him. The following day the late Queen left Sandringham. During the next week there was no special change in the patient's condition. The night of the Bth came, and with it a change for the worse. The bulletins spoke of a relapse, of alarming weakness, of increased fever. Queen Victoria returned at once to the bedside of her son, and it was she who told his children, all gathered together at Sandringham, of their father's dangerous condition. The excitement throughout the country was -Intense. Crowds of eager people gathered round newspaper stalls and notice boards, waiting for the latest news of the Prince's condition. Morning after morning crowds stood for hours outside Marlborough House, wheee the latest bulletins from Sandringham were posted up; every word was weighed, and every symptom discussed by rich and poor alike. There not around alone, Watched sister, brother, wife. And she who grave him life. White as if wrought in stone; Unheard, invisible, by the bed of death, Stood eager millions by; And as the hour drew nigh, Dreading- to see him die. Held their breath. Sunday, December 10, was a day of great suspense. The Prince lay between life and death. "The Prince still lives, and we may still therefore hope"—this was the news on Monday morning. It was, indeed, no better, but still it was no worse. More long days of anxiety followed; high fever, with alarming weakness and exhaustion, still prevailed. And those watching by the bedside, together with the eager millions afar on. were waiting only for the end of the long struggle. The 14th drew near. It was the day on which the Prince Consort had died, 10 years before. People shook their heads ominously. Was Queen Victoria to lose her son, too, on this fatal day? It passed, and the Prince still lived. Slowly the fever passed away, and ho returned to life. By the 16th he was declared to be out of imminent danger, and a few days later he was so much better that Queen Victoria left Sandringham. On Christmas Eve one bulletin only was posted up at Marlborough House, and on Christmas Day the Princess of Wales, with Priucess Alice, distributed the usual gifts to the labourers on the estate, bearing the glad message from the Prince that ho hoped soon to be among them again. In the spring a great, national thanksgiving service was held in St. Paul's. The enthusiasm of the crowds lining the way was intense, and Queen Victoria looked happier that day than she had done for years past. When, pale as yet, and fever-worn, the Prince, Who scarce had. plucked his nickering life again From half-way down the shadow of the grave, Passed through the people and their love. And London rolled one tide of joy through all Her trebled millions and loud leagues of man.

THE KING AND CANCER. HIS ILLNESS LAST YEAR, AN AMERICAN NEWSPAPER REPORT. For some considerable time past alarming statements have been made in the American papers about the health of the King. On October 12 last the London correspondent of the New York World telegraphed as follows:—■ r . "Alarming reports respecting King Edward's physical condition continue to circulate in Court circles where there are means of obtaining accurate knowledge. " That these reports have some substantial foundation is evidenced by the prohibitive rates now demanded by insurance companies on the King's life, and the heavy advance in premiums against loss in connection with the outlays for the Coronation. " The Norwich Union Insurance Company, of which Lord Rotlischild is the chairman, was the first to advance the rates. The other companies quickly followed suit, for it is known how close the Rothschild family stands to Royalty, and how exhaustive are its sources of information. " The World's London Bureau has had inquiries made at Ballater, the nearest village to Balmoral, where the King is staying, and learus that something like a panic prevailed at Balmoral last week because of the King's condition. Not only was the late Queen's physician, Sir .Tames Reid, summoned hurriedly from his holiday in Perthshire, but two local doctors were called to consult with Sir Francis Baking, who was in attendance. "The bulletin announcing that he was troubled with lumbago is regarded as a mere blind. That it was absurd was shown three days later, when the King went shooting in the woods, the very last place a rheumatio patient would be permitted to go. "Even the shooting expedition was a feint, as it simply consisted in his driving to a lodge in the woods, where he lunched, and returned early in the afternoon. The King was closely muffled up on this expedition. "He has aged greatly, presenting now au extraordinary contrast, to the Queen, whose preservation' is so complete that she might pass for his daughter. " Sir Felix Semon, a throat specialist, who was summoned to Copenhagen when the King was there, has been at Balmoral too. He has just gone to Berlin, it is said, to consult Professors Bergmann and Virchow, who attended Emperor Frederick, who died cf cancer of the throat. "The surgeons are still doubtful as to whether the King's t'/roat affection is simply gouty. Ho is intensely anxious himself, arid this worry is wearing down his constitution.

" In reporting tho King's reply to tho welcome from his dependents at Balmoral the other day, the Court newsman stated (of course, at the King's direction) that ' His Majesty spoke in a clear voice,' an observation so unusual as to cause much remark."