PROTECTION OF ROYALTY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18297, 13 January 1923, Page 2 (Supplement)

PROTECTION OF ROYALTY.

EVER-WATCHFUL EYES. -' SffiTECTIVES' GREAT task* • BOME " UNTOWARD, INCIDENTS." Br. A COIfRT HKXOBIANj . .How necessary it is that there should ■; be eyes on the.. King arid "the members of his family, to guard them [ against lunatics, cranks, and dangerous miscreants, may be realised by a conKSeration of "incidents" which are: now ft matter of court history'. Queen Victoria was universally beloved, but she was subjected during her reign to five attacks, one, at least, of which might have proved fatal. .''}: Edward Oxford, a •weak-minded man with a craze for notoriety, shot at her . while she was driving along Constitution Bill; she was, also, once struck in the fsice with a cane by a lunatic, while a pistol was discharged point-blank at her while driving away from Windsor Castle. In that instance the faithful John Brown's prompt action' in seizing, the miscreiant prevented another shot being fired. On two other occasions lunatics attempted the life of the Queen, King Edward, when Prince of Wales, was shot at by a Belgian anarchist named Gipido, the outrage taking place in Brusrah station, while His Highness was seated in the-Royal-.train. There have been other "incidents" to which reference will be made in the course of this article. It is a curious fact that weak-minded'; people Beam to find an irresistible fascination about a King's Palace. That is why ceaseless Watch must be maintained outside the Palace in which the King may be in residence. This, of course, is quite different from the "shadows" who accompany His Majesty on his walks, rides, ceremonial visits, and. when he goes into a foreign country, etc* s The Royal Guards. Y '-. The genesis of the splendid corps of picked detectives who are charged with the responsible duty of safeguarding the King and his family may be found in an attempt made in the year 1789 upon the aif e> of the agcid King George TIT, while strolling in tho Park at Windsor. His Majesty had just recovered from . one of his fits of mental darkness, sod wa3 gently proiaenading with one of 'his equerries. The outrage was the work of a lunatic, who attacked the King with a stick, fortunately inflicting but little injury. % An the result of this it was decided jfchafc whenever the Monarch took the ..sir in the Park he must bo accompanied "at a respectful distance" by two '"Bow Street runners of irreproachable character." These "runners," familiarly /"' known as "Robin Redbreasts" because of their:scarlet waistcoats, were the : first detectives in England. The custom of having detectives for a personal guard was continued;" for many yea?a, until the attack upon the Queen by Edward Oxford led to a reorganisation of ./-The Royal' Guards." - In 1857 it wsa decided to train a body of men to be drawn from tha Metropolitan Ponce, these detectives to supersede the existing guard. Finally the duties were taken over by Scotland Yard men—that is, by detectives'trained by the Criminal Investigation Department. The duty of guarding' the King and Royal family is therefore "entirely in ,the hands of Scotland Yard. Every morning the King's movements are known to the Chief Conunissioner, ; and it is his duty to see that adequate steps are taken by his men to prevent any untoward "inci- ' dents.'* ■ ~;:.-. -■;■; The Lunatic and tho Qu&ea. ■ .Despite ceaseless vigilance, however, ■*' incidents" have occurred that might vary well have had unpleasant results. '.;... Buckingham Palace, naturally, i requires especially careful guarding—firstly, because being in the, metropolis, it .is the magnet that draws all sorts and conditions of people, and then the fact that it is surrounded by a wall, which, though high, is not an insurmountable obstacle Jo an active person, whils the grounds afford ; excellent "cover." necessitates constant watchfulness. On two occasions, at least,lntruders have been found in the grounds—-harmless individuals, in both ens S3, who : were suffering ■ from a grievance that they imagined could be removed by Royalty. .'■••.■'■■"■- - > ■ Queen Victoria, in 1887, was walking in the corridor of the Palace one night when she encountered an intruder. ■■■:':, He.';was well-dressed and stated that.he had ape. tition to present fei Her Majesty. Help was summoned and he was handed over to the police on, duty/ while the strictest inquiries were made aa id* how he could possibly have entered. The explanation appears to have bean that he had some knowledge of the movement? of the ser|yants and had therefore walked straight in at the Buckingham Palace Road entrance, .the custodian - mistaking him for a Royal footman. Medical examination revealed that the man was affected in '. his mind. ~,;. ~ Characteristic Courtesy, Another incident."ok this nature, though less startling occurred soon "after y the King came to the Throne. In this "■--'- case a man was captured by; the detectives in the thick shrubbery fringing the park-like grounds :on the south aide of the Palace, He could; give no coherent reason why he was there, but as nothing was known against him and his health -■.._.' was bad he was sent to Marylebone Infirmary. ■- Finally, in the early part, of 1922, His Majesty was "molested"to use the Slice tejm, by. a wqman while he was iving Lord Rosebery's house in Berkeley Square. The word " molest " sounds very disturbing, but what actually happened '. was that as the King was passing to his waiting motor, a woman stepped rapidly forward, evaded the "shadows" who were lurking close by, and commenced a conversation. Hi 3 Majesty realised that the woman was labouring undsr great agitation, and with his usual courtesy, listened to her story. He then gave orders that her allegations should be inquired into and drove off. It is understood that she made a complaint regarding pension administration. Such incidents as these show how necessary it is to" protect" His Majesty, for the woman might have been a dangerous lunatic with murderous intent. The Watch Abroard. When the King sets out from his Palace lie is surrounded by invisible guards for. the great art of the Royal detective is that these men must not be obtrusively in attendance. Usually they number four, although during the height of the Irish trouble the number was increased. On special . occasions— .for instance as the Belfast visit, when the King braved a great riskthe usual force of "royals" was augmented by a swarm of other "Yard" # men. . " But it ie when Royalty goes abroad that the' work of the guards grows more onerous. For then there is always the lurking possibility of soma fanatical hater of Royalty finding an opportunity to make an attempt on a quite harmless "tyrant." " On these occasions the Monarch is accompanied by the superintendent of the " royal" detectives, and usually six other -picked men go as well. Supposing, for instance, King George'' is visiting Paris. On arriving on French soil the British chief detective is met by the head of the French police for the district, and by mutual co-operation the work of guard- ,;_- ing the illustrious visitor is carried on. Not for one moment is the vigilance" relaxed, while before the visit the French police will have quietly ascertained the - :.thereabouts of any notorious agitators

with anti-monarchical views, and if neces;! sary; put % them under lock «nd ; key: ;.i''*9Jg their own .'^©nefit.'- . -, . King Edward's Fearlessness ~ When the anarchist scare was at its height in France, ; the visits of -King Edward, when Prince of Wales, threw a most onerous duty upon the ; ; French police surveillance, and liked to go about police surveillence, and liked to go about just as he pleased. This was well-known to Queen Victoria, and many agitated telegrams passed from London to the British Ambassador in Paris commanding him that "The Prince be impressed with th© necessity of taking every possible care," etc. / ': - "-_} On one occasion the British and French detectives "lost" the Prince for a whole evening. There was consternation, while Paris was combed by anxious police emissaries. Finally the Prince returned to his hotel well pleased with himself. He had been in company with JLord Kandolph Churchill and had won a bet by wagering that ho would disguise himself so that the "shadows" would not know him. Unfortunately a garbled account of the incident got into a Boulevard journal and was copied into an English paper. The Queen hoard of it, and than there was trouble. When the Kaiser Was Seated*

It is rather amusing to contrast the sang-froid of King Georgo and our British Princes with the nervousness displayed by some illustrious Royalties when they have been in our midst. , Naturally, every protection is given to crowned heads when they come on a State or private visit. In the case of ft ceremonial visit a military guard is provided in addition to the usual cohort of " invisibles," while the visiting Royalty will bring in addition his ■ own Staff _of private guards. Perhaps the most difficult and worrying Monarch to guard is King Alfonso of Spain. He is perfectly Indifferent to danger, loves to give the detectives the slip, and often, runs oK and completely, vanishes. On the other hand police circles have many an interesting story of the Kaiser visits to England, particularly the notorious stay at Highcliffe, near Bournemouth, when the " War Lord/ was there "for the benefit of health, but indulged in little "spying." The Kaiser had a delusion that his visit to the South of England meant that the neighbourhood would be swarming with evil men anxious to harm him. At the time he was at loggerheads with the German Socialists, and he was afraid that en attempt might be made upon his life. He astounded the Chief of Policy charged with the duty of guarding hun while staying in Hampshire, by demanding that "a military cordon should be drawn round iho Castle for a radius of five miles" etc. It is hardly necessary to say thai the All-Highest did not get his ** cordon " neither did anything untoward mar his visit. ■■''.. . _ , .' Monarchs who have vmted England have been amazed to see King Edward, King -George, the present Prince ol Wales, etc., going about with but one op two detectives in attendance. When the late Tsar came to Balmoral on his last visit some strange scenes were witnessed on Deeside. Myriads of Ochrana (Russian secret service) police swarmed in pairs, while practically every person in the locality was under a ceaseless watch. A harmless press photographer was arrested and "put out of the way " for a j few hours. It is calculated that the Tsar'a visit of a few hours necessitated the movement of nearly a thousand, Russian secret service men. The British detectives on duty were swamped. Of course, nothing happened to the Tsar, who, however, was always afraid of some "incident." .;-■■_•.. ..••';' Shadowing the Prince. Guarding the Prince of Wales is a delicate :« and difficult task performed with exquisite tact. When the Prince is in town he/likes to " dodge " about, as he puts it. He does not take kindly to the idea fef being shadowed. But it is,, neces-sary—-how necessary may be judged from the fact that the police are well aware that -".there is more than one half-crazy woman about who is under the delusion that she is to marry the Prince. To prevent " molestation " is the object of the detectives, and, therefore, whether visiting privately or , publicly the "shadows" are lurking in the vicinity ready to interpose if any " unauthorised person" should show a disposition to intercept Qur Young Man. During recent world tours of the Prince, the guard was of necessity much augumonted, and / a pretty anxious time it had. > The Prince is always absolutely careless of danger, and has been heard to say more than once, that to have detectives '..-'■" hanging around " is "all rot!" Nevertheless, the life of the Apparent is so precious that those responsible for his safety cannot ord to run any risks.

'letters From "Cranks." The correspondence sent to the; King, the Queen, and the other members of the Royal family in a lesser \ degree, reveals how many cranks there are in existence who might easily pass from " crankiness " to real lunacy with all its sinister possibilities. . - ; It 3s the duty of the detective staff to take-up any letters sent to Buckingham Palace, etc, stating grievances and urging that the " King must do something at once," or that "The Queen ought to Took into the matter," and/so forth. Some of these missives are truly extraordinary. People write about personal grievances, ask for money for a deserving case," beg the King to come somewhere " and gee things for himself," and hint'at all sorts of terrible scandals that are usually without the slightest foundation. -V Alt parcels sent to the Palace must be opened by. the : " detective department," for instances have been' known where bombs and infernal machines have beenconsigned' through the . post to ' exalted people. A great many presents are sent by kindly people; these, too, must be examined. v Even threatening letters are not unknown. Sometimes they are sent by people with a queer sense of humour. During the recent Irish disturbances, veiled hints of kidnapping and ""warnings from well-wishers " were not unknown. Such missiles must be gone through, and one can well understand that the staff of nearly fifty men, who are engaged in guarding the King, have a trying and Very responsible task. Ever-Watchful eyes! Yes, they are always on the Monarch and his family!