The Monarch and the Man

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22725, 11 May 1937, Page 2 (Supplement)

The Monarch and the Man

By Sir Philip GiKbs- —Copyright

WHAT manner of man is this who, by an act of destiny—the strangest in our history—will. be crowned King of Great Britain and Ireland, the Dominions beyond the sea, Einperor of India? What character lies behind the grave reserve of his outward expression? What is he like "off parade," as it were, in ordinary social life? I have seen him many times on public occasions and have heard him make many speeches during which I tried to read the riddle of his personality, or to get a glimpse of his individuality—not so expressive, not so dramatic in appeal as that of his eldest brother, who was King Edward VIII. One thing Was easy He was shy, and owing to a slight inhibition when he was speaking publicly, so that now and again he paused a perceptible time to get self-control, it was obvious that he was doing something which needed willpower and courage. He had all my sympathy as I hate public, speaking and suffer incredibly beforehand. Frank, Gay and Youthful But 1 had the good fortune to spend a whole day with him once, and in a day one may size up any kind of man, unless he is in hiding from his fellow beings. The Duke of York, as he then was, was not in hiding, and I was astonished by his easy way of conversation and by his open-heartedness. It shows how one can go wrong, I thought. I had no notion that he was like that —so un-stilf, so humorous, and, on that day at least, so boyish. 1 went with him to a boys' camp at Southwold. This is his particular pet hobby, and a little scheme of his own in the way of social service,'and he has run it for many years at his own expense. The idea is to get a number of public school boys, from Eton and Harrow and the rest, to spend a camping holiday each year with boys from industrial classes and districts, getting them all mixed up in games -and all the activities and' amusements of camp life. "You will be surprised," he told me, "how well it ?vorks. There is absolutely no class consciousness, and they learn a lot from each other. Anyhow, they have a jolly good time." I could hardly believe that, I confess. It didn't ?eem to me possible that Eton could mix with the Mile End Road or Harrow with Bermondsey. Needless to say, I did not express any doubt to the Duke himself. One doesn't try to spoil a man's dream. Admiration for Edward

1 accompanied him on a tour of inspection. But it wasn't at all formal, and he stopped frequently to talk to some of the boys who were perfectly at their ease, I noticed. What is more surprising, perhaps, is that he was equally at ease with them: for many men, I know, find it difficult to take up the right attitude with boys between fifteen and seventeen. But the Duke of York was quite wonderful with them all through that long day he spent with them. Romping with the Boys

We went back by train to London and the Duke collected a small group of us round him in his saloon car, and asked many questions and took his part in a general discussion on the financial state of the country and other sub jects. He was very well informed, very anxious to get at facts, and had a shrewd, quiet judgment of his own. I was sincerely impressed by his intelligence, and still more impressed by his charm of manner, his good humour, his simplicity. He had perfect dignity, but without self-consciousness or any touch of pomposity. He was a natural, human, comradely young man who took life seriously, but not without an easy laugh whenever there was a chance of laughter. From that time onwards I have had a warm place in my heart for him. He looks delicate, and is, I fapcy, not robust. As a boy he was not very strong after an attack of appendicitis, and during the war his career in the Navy—he served in the Grand Fleet and was present at the Battle of Jutland —as well as his adventures as a pilot in the Air Force, were interrupted by ill-health. At least he was not considered strong enough for continual active service, and was appointed to the headquarters staff, much to his own disappointment. But ho won his wings and proved his courage. In that respect he shares the quality of his elder brother and of his father before him. As a Student I have seen these two brothers playing squash together, and it was interesting to study their form and style. The elder brother —afterwards Edward Vlll.—was very fast, very nimble, dynamic in energy, but the Duke of York played a first-class game, I thought. He looked very thin and wiry and boy-like. He had the quick eye of a man who is a fine shot and beyond ordinary form at tennis in which he has played at Wimbledon. It was after the war that he took up tennis quite seriously, when he became an undergraduate at Cambridge. That period of his life was the most important, perhaps, in his development of character. He had been a sailor and a flying man. He had seen something of the horror of war and its human agony. He had listened to the talk of young officers like himself who did not guard their tongues because he was a Prince. He had been conscious of the terrific drama and ordeal of that time, and of the responsibilities and burdens which were borne steadfastly and without limelight by his own father. All that was an astonishing preface to life and thought and as a man of sensitive nature, partly because of his shyness, it had a powerful effect, no doubt, upon his mind. \ 1 Caught by a Proctor's " Bull-dog " But at Cambridge he was able to read, to think, to talk things out, to get at principles and philosophy. He read well and seriously, I am told, in history and economics. He had the real student mind, and showed a zest for hard facts, making innumerable notes, and not shirking the midnight oil. But he was no prig and entered into the life of his fellow undergraduates and broke the rules of his college now and then, with the same risks of the consequences and the same penalties when found out.

He went down to bathe with a crowd of them, and without any awe or reverence they played all manner of tricks with him in the water, splashing him with great zest, and afterwards rubbing him down with their towels. It was quite clear to me that he was enjoying himself vastly and not allowing all this from a sense of duty or "good form." There was a surprise waiting for him at the corner of one of the little streets of huts in which the boys were housed. A stuffed figure was hanging by the neck from a lantern. "Someone hanged?" asked the Duke. "Not a fellow I'm fond of, I hope." It was the effigy of an imaginary figure, who had failed to live up to the code of the camp. "A warning to all dirty dogs." The Duke of York laughed heartily. "I shall have to be careful," he said. "If J hjeak any of the rules—"

The rules were severe. One of them related to speeches made by the Duke's visitors at lunch. They were allowed, I think, three minutes for their oratory, and it had to be amusing. Any pomposity, any fellow however distinguished, who trespassed over the allotted time, Avas quickly brought down to his seat. One of the Hasrow masters who goes by the genial name of Boss-eye (his real name is Boissier), was entrusted with a pistol, and at a given signal off it went with a most alarming report. Down went the speaker, as though he had been shot in the heart. I was put up to tell a story. They gave me the three minutes. Then down I went. The Duke himself made a very amusing speech full of the gossip of the camp, which pleased the boys mightily. Democracy of Youth

And at dinner, instead of taking his place at the high table, "he slipped away from his seat and dined with a group of boys at one of the lower tables. Among them was a Harrow boy and an Eton boy and some young fellows from the East End of London. They all got on famously. A young humorist with a rich Cockney accent kept the table in a laugh continually. The Duke had a great time it seemed. I had to withdraw my scepticism about the mixing of classes." All these boys had established perfect comradeship. The team spirit prevailed, the boys being divided into groups who competed against each other in all forms of sport, and an Eton boy, or any other, became terribly keen for his group to do well and coached on the others with excited zeal for honour and glory. What did it matter about class? Young Bill from Bermondsey was the hero if he could run faster or pull harder than his fellows. "Don't you think it's good?" asked the Duke when he started for the journey back to London after a sing-song.

He was good enough to ask me Into his own car, and :during the journey he chatted on all sorts of subjects. He was very much interested in Australia, I remember. He was also keen on industrial problems, and wanted to get more done fo;r young boys just over school age. Then he began talking with obvious admiration about his elder brother, the Prince of Wales at that time.

"My brother," he told me, "is going to make a speech to-morrow lasting for something like en hour. I can't think how he does it. To me it would be a tremendous ordeal. But he has a gift that way, don't you think V His / shyness was revealed to me again. I noticed that whenever the car halted and there was a chance of his being recognised he drew back in his seat, and, once, pulled down the blind slightly. "1 never get used to it," he told me. But 1 am sure that by this time he has overcome that particular nervousness if habit makes any difference. When we arrived at the camp he was received by rousing cheers from all the boys, and

"Magnificent," I said with utter sincerity. His eyes brightened. "I'm frightfully keen on this," he said, "though it's a very expensive hobby for the limits of my own purse, which has many bther calls, t should hate to close it down." It's not closed down yet.

, It was in 1020-1921 that he was in residence as an undergraduate at Trinity College, Cambridge, and now some of his contemporaries are telling stories of him in those days before he dreamed of ascending the Throne. He once tried, in vain, to give the slip to a Proctor's "bull-dog" who saw to his horror an under-

ILLUMINATING CHARACTER STUDY OF KING GEORGE VI.

graduate committing the frightful crime ol smoking a pipe when leaving the Union Society in his cap and gown. "Your name and college," demanded the 'bull-dog" fiercely. He was a bit abashed when he heard that the name of the criminal was Prince Albert. He went to collect the fine of 6s Bd, however, and is pleased to remember that the Prince offered him a drink and was highly amused by the incident. The King looks back to those days as a good time when he studied hard, played hard and made many friends. Those friends, and others he met along his road of life —which has carried him far around the Empire—he keeps, being very loyal in friendship, as I have heard from some of them. < It is fortunate for the nation and for himself that he fell in love with Lady Elizabeth BowesLyon, who is now the Queen. She is the youngest daughter of the Earl and Countess of Strathmore, whose family is still in possession of the ancient castle of Glamis, and has its roots far back in Scottish history. She had been bridet jaid to Princess Mary, her great friend, and it was at Glamis that the future King became deeply attached to her. t They were married in Westminster Abbey on April 26, 1923, and lived for a time in White Lodge, Richmond Park, afterwards moving to 145 Piccadilly. Princess Elizabeth was born on April 21, 1926. Everybody who sees the Queen —and millions have seen her—is enchanted. Her photographs never do her full justice, because she has the most beautiful colouring, and when her eyes are lit up by a smile, as they always are when she receives anyone, or passes among the people she has a charming expression which is very radiant. I once stood near her when she was wearing a little hat with tiny blue flowers, and as she passed, she spoke a few words. "1 had no idea," said a friend of mine who had received this gift of her smile, "that she was so exquisite. I shall never forget this moment She belongs to Shakespeare's England." A Happy Father With Princess Elizabeth and Princess Mar garet Rose, the King is a happy father and a good comrade. He is devoted to his home life and is a lover of simplicity. What more is there to say about him? Only the future will test his quality for kingship. It is no secret that he suffered intensely during the crisis which led to the abdication of King Edward, for whom he had a brotherly affection and a warm admiration. No one more than he did admired his brother's keen spirit, gaiety, dash and restless energy. When he stood before the Privy Council after his accession to the Throne his face was dead white, and he spoke in broken words of the painful ordeal which had just passed. One likes him the better for that grief at his brother's renunciation. There is no shade of doubt that he will win the perfect loyalty and affection of the British people. He has the steadiness of his father. He has a true nobility of character, as one can read in his face, being simple in heart, pitiful of suffering and devoted to duty. In my opinion King George will bear the burden of the Crown with dignity, courage and wisdom. We may be sure of him in times of crisis. He will never step out of his frame to any rash adventure, but he will use his influence firmly to uphold all that is best in our tradition and code. So let us give him all our loyalty and pray that his reign may be in peaceful and prosperous times. Gentlemen, the King 1