A ROYAL MATCH

New Zealand Times, Volume LII, Issue 12039, 17 January 1925, Page 4

A ROYAL MATCH

Is the Prinoe of Wales engaged -*k last? An. jSnglish. newspaper ; says”he is, and .jthat Jhe ..announcement, wjjl be made- when, his fathqr-inilaw-elect, the Earl of Athlone, ■ up the GovernorGeneralship ( of the -South Africa. Union. The' ’explanation of the delay is /not sufficient to give certainty -to the story of the, engagement.. In such-a matter there is np need for. secrecy. When .the heir fo .the-throne beeomee engaged; to he married- the fpot should be annonneed promptly and by authority.'' Moreover, this is not the -first story of the: kind' concerning the -same relation; ship. Assuming, .in- spite of the ele-ment-ref improbability,- that this news-, papbr story,.ref thj Prinpe’s .engagement; is true, we can say, -without hesitation,, that the best thing-about itis that theRoyal Family, breaking the world-wide tradition of centuries of .Royal marriages, 'has consented, to the Prince’s decision to choose- hjs mate in his C-wn country. ' Foreign marriages of Princes have long ceased to cause political entanglements, as was seen in the war’ pf 1864 of the penman -Powers' against and later in the Great Wap. On. the . first; occasion, - Britain did, .not - interfere! though, the XJanikb King’s daughter was the wife of the Prince of -Wales; arid on the second. Britain; djd interfere, though , the Ures ,of England was the first of file Gertqan Emperor (.through the marriage of ;bisi aunt to the 6on of the Prussian King,: who died Emperor of Germany, and was succeeded in due .course on,the imperial throne by his grandson, .William II;, -King: George’s '.first:, copgin. there are no complications to fear, there are. other reasons why foreign -Royal marriages are undesirable.- • -But, of course, it is possible for the love match ofan English Royal Prince and. a foreign Princess to be .happy, ;as, for example, in the -case of .Edward VII. and Queen Alexandra. ‘That is. go exception which does, not .weaken -the general rule that i/ is, better to .find a bride, among the King’s subjects, for. the King’s son. Therefore, this marriage story,- if trije, is very satisfactory ’-to 'the ’Empire. The near-blood relationship of the parties is not-soi satisfactory. And we can only ihope Itjhat it may not be found in any way detrimental in . the future. For the mo. ment, however, we must not forget that there is in- the . story an element of grave improbability. .