THE SKETCHER. GUARDING THE QUEEN.

Otago Witness, Issue 1639, 21 April 1883, Page 25

THE SKETCHER. GUARDING THE QUEEN.

The many political assassinations that have taken place oi laio years have thrown upon the police of all countries an immense amount of difficult and delicate work in 11 ' guarding mouarohs, princes, and ministers. In England wo have bocome familiarised with the idea that o r leading statesmen must ba escorted by detectives wherever thay go ; and popular as the Queen is, we know that elaborate prec&u'tions are taken to protect her every time she appears in public. Jb'ew, however, can be aware of how much anxiety, activity, trouble, and consequent expense, are involved in that word " protecting." Looking only at the pecuniary side of the question, the fine which a madman or fanatic inflicts upon a country when he attempts,- even without success, to take the life of a ruler, is considerable. The services of detectives have to be paid for ; and to do their work properly, these official* must not be stinted of money for telegrams, railway and cab fares, and casual expenses. Sometimes they have to assume disguises, and to pay heavily for secret information as to the alleged criminal design 1 ; and though this information is otten wortnießS, the police cannot afford to disregard any item of intelligence bearing upon the safety of the great personages whom they have to guard, i'lius, the contents of every letter sent, whether anonymously or not, to Scotland Yard are carefully considered. The mischievous uiinple. tons who concoct untruthful letters for fun and the foolish buaybodies who write to disclose "suspicious circumstances" that have come under the notice, may all rest satisfied that they cause worry and waste of valuable time, if nothing worse. As the police have sometimes received warnings of great importance through unsigned missives bearing no guarantee of good faith, they make it a rule to investigate all facts not palpably absurd which are revealed to them ; and doubtless 'by so doing they have often been enabled to prevent crimes. Many an intending criminal must have been baulked in his schemes by the timely discovery that his movements were being watched.

To guard a royal residence— that iB, to keep an eye cm suspicious characters who may prowl about it, or seek admittance—requires vigilance, but is easy work compared with the task of protecting the sovereign whea she appears in public. Every time thß Queen leaves one of her residences, even for an'/afternoou drive, the event is notified some houra beforehand to the police by the equerry on "duty* who announces what itinerary Her will probably follow. At certain points afi along the route, policemen have to be stationed, and detectives are placed at all the Bj)ots where the royal carriages are likely to stop. Round Balmoral and Osbormei the roads can be watched without difficulty* but not so round Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace. Wherever crowds can cphgre'gate, the difficulties of the police are multiplied. A superintendent is deputed on ordinary occasions to patrol the line of the royal progress ; but when there is a state pageant, this duty is performed by tho Chief Commissioner in person. He has to see that not only the policemen in uniform, but the detectives— unsuspected by the crowds among whom they stand— are all at their posts. A regular code of private signals exists by which a detective can make his presence known to his chiefs and receive short instructions from them, without? exciting the attention of bystandere. Tho whole detective force of Scotland Yard however, would be insufficient to keep proper surveillance over miles of streets, as, for instance, when the Queen went to open Epping Forest; so, on such occasions as these, hundreds of policemen "off duty " are pressed into special service, and turn out in plain clothes. •T-hon,' again 1 , there are men who, in consider^ tiou of havi.ig good places from which to view tho procession, act as amateur detectives. Every detective and policeman has a few personal friends who will gladly undertake a duty of this kind, and very often women are among the number. Their instructions are invariably to keep their eyes and ears open ; and not to cheer when the procession passes. In . this English detectives differ from those of foreign countries, who are frequently enjoined to start the cheering among the crowds ; but the authorities of Scotland Yard have discovered that a detective who is bawling with all hia might becomes useless for the purposes of espionage. It is precisely when tho cheering is loudest that danger is most to be apprehended for the noise and the swaying of a multitude excite the nerves of a lunatic or criminal who is bent on mischief; therefore the police who are watching the crowd in the moment of greatest enthusiasm should remain perfectly cool. J

Thay have akn to protepi tho sovereign against otheib busidt-s the evilly disposed, for there are always people who want to thrust petitions or bouquets into the Queen's carriage, or else to shake hands with Her Majesty. Happily, these eccentric individuals generally betray their purpose by their restlessness. The man with a petition keeps feeling his pocket, to assure himself that the precious thing is safe ; and as the royal carriages approach, hp half draws out the paper ; but by this time a detective has observed Mb movements, and strong hand laid suddenly on his arm paralysed him at the opportune moment. It is often lucky for would-be petitioners that they should be pulled back before they can accomplish their purpose : for if that purpose were misunderstood by a loyal mob, they might expose themselves to Borne very rouffh handling The Queen is indeed very well guarded by the affection of her subjeots and generally speaking, she has rather to fear an' noyances from silly people thai* criminal attempts from vicious ones. This shows what terribly difficult work the police of soma foreign countries must have to perform in guarding sovereigns who are unpqpular. Occasionally the English police have a taste of this work, when some of theßo unpopular potentates visit this country aud have to ba guarded against subjects of their own livinjr heie in exile. When Napoleon 111 visited England in 1855, the government of tho day suffered agonies of anxiety lest' harm should bofall him ; and these alarms were renewed in 1874, when the late Czar Alexander II came to London. On both these occasions, money was poured out like water to insure a proper protection of the illustrious guests ; and the police did their work so well, that although there wero serious reasons for believing that malevolent refugees wero brewing mischief, both Emperors left the country without havine heard so much as a rude word. The police however, may be pardoned for having felt tho most pleasurable relief when the visits of these much throafenod monarchs came to an end. When the Chief Commissioner, Sir Richard Mayne, received the telegram announcing that Napoleon 111 had safely landed in Franco, he ' I'puia.rked with quiet satisfaction: "Now Ishall be able to get a good night's rest " Many of the difficulties of the police ha guarding royal personages coma from these illustrious TOrso^s. themselves, . Ptfmfes who are brave do not like to have their foot!

steps dogged in private life ; and will sometimes grow impatient and angry when they find out that they have been watched for their own good. They have to be watched, nevertheless, whether they like it or not. It would never do for a royal prince to be kidnapped and detained as a hostage by political or other desperadoes ; and so care is taken that whereever a royal prince may go, he shall always have his invisible escort of police. The Prince of Wales is guarded nearly as vigilantly as tho Queen. If he travels by rail, surveillance is kept by the police all down the line ; if his Royal Highness hunts, rides, drives, or takes a stroll on foot through any part of the West End, a detective is sure to be close at hand. So it is with other members of the royal family in these agitated times ; and irksome as the supervision must be, it has to be submitted to with good grace became of its absolute necessity. The police, however, are sadly worried at times by those foreign princes who come to visit our own royal family, and who delight in slipping out of palaces for rambles through the atreets without giving any notice of their intention. Some detective or other is always held responsible by his chiefs, and severely reprimanded when such a thing happens ; for the police force on guard at the palaces is supposed to be in a condition to provide for all contingencies of the sort. It will be seen from all this that the office of court detective is by no means a sinecure ; and one_ may_ add that it is of all posts that in which faithful, zealous, efficient Rervice obtains the least honour and reward. Not that royal persons are ungrateful to those who guard them properly ; but ' because the men who guard best are naturally those who make the least fuss. It is the duty of a court detective not only to shield princes from dansrer, but to conceal from them, so far as possible, that they have been in danger. Thug a man whose sagacity and diligence may over and over agaiu have saved princes from annoyance or hurt, will often be less appreciated than the more demonstrative servant who, perhaps once in his life, has had the good luck to arrest the arm of an assassin after — not before — the pistol was fired. — Chambers' Journal.