A Princess Heir Presumptive

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22725, 11 May 1937, Page 7 (Supplement)

A Princess Heir Presumptive

By Monica Rayner

ON the first floor of the south wing of Kensington Palace, looking to-day just as it did 100 years ago, is a bedroom where, on June 20, 1837, a princess was awakened to go downstairs because the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Lord Chamberlain desired her presence on urgent business of State. She had become Queen of England. We all know the story.

Now we again have a young princess as Heir Presumptive to the Throne, and there is something in the circumstance which appeals irresistibly to our sense of romance and to our sympathies. The chance was a remote one that the baby who was born at 17 Bruton Street, on April 21, 1926, would ever stand quite so near to the Throne, but the long arm of the unexpected has stretched out to her and to-day, after her parents, she is the most important personage in the Empire. A favourite legend with our grandmothers was that the young princess who became the great Queen Victoria was brought into touch with the realities of her position by a judicious course of history lessons, so that she was gradually taken through the genealogical tables and so forth until she realised who she was and what she would probably become. It was added that she then solemnly declared, "I will be good." Whether she said this or not

THE TRAINING OF ELIZABETH

—and Queen Victoria herself could remember nothing about it—it is quite certain that the rather priggish observation would not be a bit characteristic of Princess Elizabeth. But if Princess Elizabeth has never been the perfect angel which Princets Victoria had to be, she has at any rate to submit to just as rigorous a discipline in the interests of the position she holds. The most exacting exercise which Victoria went through was to go round the country with her mother, during the summer months, receiving addresses from Mayors, a practice which, incidentally, accounted for her haughtiness and aloofness when she grew up. Princess Elizabeth's purgatory is to stand up at her lessons, not at all of them, but through many at which she would much rather sit. This she has to do to accustom her to all the standing which falls to the lot of royalty. It was decided at the outset that Princess Elizabeth could not very well go to school. Her mother had never been to school. She received the scholastic part of her education from governesses, and the other part of it riding or roaming about the countryside. Besides, there are so many things Princess Elizabeth has to learn which no school could teach. Elizabeth's baby lessons were taken under Nurse Knight. Then a governess was added to the household and the princess' schooling took on a serious aspect. In the schoolroom

overlooking the Green Park at 145 Piccadilly she set to work at 9.30 o'clock every morning. Maps appeared on the walls. The curriculum lengthened to include English, history, geography, dictation, scripture and French. Presently came the Latin grammar. Arithmetio was not at first a strong point, but the princess got the better of this bogey. Lessons last from 9.30 to lunch time, with a break at 11 o'clock. The afternoon the princess has to herself, but she has "homework" to do in'the evening. She will, of course, be spared that cramming which is so often necessary for school children who have to pass examinations, and she is exempted also from dabbling in certain subjects which other girls! have to ) take as a matter of course. On the other hand, she will have to master other things which do not come within an' ordinary education. She will have to be proficient in three languages, make a thorough study of constitutional history, and acquire a thorough knowledge of the Empire. She hag to practice deportment, which she does mainly " through the medium of dancing lessons, learn all the intricacies of court etiquette, train her memory for faces, and, in short* acquire the whole technique of royalty. This is one aspect of Princess Elizabeth's life. In her mother's view the princess has two distinct responsibilities, the one to-her position as a princess, the other to herself as an individual; and though these two sides of* her development may be treated separately they depend on each other to some extent. The princess must not be allowed to submerge the child; and the character of the child must be so moulded that in due course it will redound to the success of the princess. - W The Princess and the Child As a baby she was sturdy, chubby, mischievous. Riding her pony in the grounds of Sandringham, visiting her grandmother at Windsor Castle, she grew up the sort of child of whom any mother might be proud. The! background of her life may have been the rich tapestry of Stater—the ancient glories Glamis, the majesty of Windsor, the dignity-* of Buckingham Palace, but she has remained quite unspoiled. She has her mother's charm and a gaiety which is all her own. In the last two years she has become Very much quieter. Her tomboy moods have be-; come less frequent. The little revelations of self-will no longer disturb anybody. Instead there is a ready "certainly" whenever she is requested to do anything. . Princess Margaret Rose has been de-, scribed as a " bundle of mischief, bubbling with gaiety and laughter." Already differences of character between the two sisters are beginning to show themselves. Those differences are developed by the free educational ideas of their mother. She does not wish her children to be forced, contrary to their true nature, into one common mould. They must remain natural, and if they are to remain natural, tHey mus£. be given full opportunity to develop their individual qualities. That iB the guiding principle* in the Royal nursery. v f Everywhere there- is respect for health and freedom. In the summer the windows are all wide open. In winter, too, care is taken that the children should get plenty of fresh air. They run about in easily-fitting clothes with lowheeled shoes. Usually they are to be. seen, hatless. In the matter of diet the laws of commonsense prevail. Eggs, milk, vegetables and fruit figure largely in the children's meals. The splendid doll's house, presented to Princess Elizabeth by the people of Wales, has taught her many of the solid domestic virtues. "Y Brothyn Bach" (The Little House) is no mere toy, but a real little cottage of six rooms complete in every detail. It is the children's responsibility. No servant is allowed to help in their house-keeping. They, themselves; clean and dust it, wash and iron the curtains, and in it are learning to cook. Such is the parental wisdom of the King ana Queen.