THE LATE KING EDWARD.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 15141, 4 November 1912, Page 9

THE LATE KING EDWARD.

SIDELIGHTS ON CHARACTER.

MR. EDWARD LEGGES BOOK

[FROM OUR OWN jL-'OMtESPONOBNT.

Sydney - . October 30. Cablegrams in Australian newspapers give Cablegrams in Australian newspapers give several interesting stories from » bio- ; graphy just published of the late King Edward by Mr. Edward Lcgge, whoa© book in entitled.. "King Edward in His True Colours." An interesting little incident is related regarding Sir W. H. RusselL the famous journalist, who accompanied King Edward to India. Lord lloeebery recommended Ilussell for a, knight and Queen Victoria conferred the honour at Buckingham Palace. Russell >a,id, " Whon I hopped in the King remarked. Don't kneel. Billy ; just, .stoop.' " Sir Dighton Probyn, an officer of Her Majesty's household, handed the ribbon of .'Jio Order, and King Edward slipped it. over Russell's hoacL It is suited that King Edward's relations with the German Emperor wore always inharmonious, Edward's conception of good breeding continually caused him to flout the exuberant loquacity of his German nephew-. Wilhelm used to chatter with scant reticence before other people concerning the gentlemen whom his uncle had chosen ;us personal friends. King Edward was annoyed, and he showed his annoyance. King Edward never forgot. After the baccarat case, when he was drawn into a scandal at the. home of the

Wilsons, the well-known Yorkshire shipping family, ho was disappointed at the coolness of tho Morning Post, and pleased with a. chivalrous article which appeared in the Daily Telegraph. One paper, which accorded him a Roman burial, was consigned to tho»fbmes, and tho writer of the article publicly snubbed. In the letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury, King Edward said, " I have a horror of gambling, and I should always do my utmost to discourage others. I consider that it is one of the greatest curses that the country could be afflicted with.". King Edward, says Mr. Legge. had a greater variety of hate and caps than any other sovereign. His hate for ordinarywear numbered 30, and his military helmets and hats covered a larger range than those of the Kaiser. He did not like straw hats.

A writer at Marienbad, where the King went nearly every year, was pestered by an American notoriety-hunter for something that Edward had" touched. The astute writer gave him a fishbone off the King's plate, for which ho received three dollars. Then he collected all the other fishbones in the restaurant and sold them to other Americans, clearing 48do1s. over tho business. Other seekers of souvenirs were indefatigable. They paid fancy prices for tho King's cigar butts, and scrambled for the water in wliich he bad washed his hands. Edward stalled that he had scarcely time to read novels. " But," he added. "I do sometimes. It. seems to me that a writer's talent manifests itself not in dealing with psychological problems, but rather in tho fine, descriptive passages. Nothing is so difficult to describe as a landscape. When I am in the theatres I prefer pieces which make mo laugh." Mr. Legge maintains that His Majesty was a great diplomatist, a leader of public opinion, a democratic monarch, and skilled in worldly lore.