AN AMBASSADOR of Empire.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18584, 19 December 1934, Page 7

AN AMBASSADOR of Empire.

: : deal with the neighboring Wellington Club, showing a great aptitude for the game. The Duke has a strong dislike of publicity or fuss when “off duty,” and he goes to great lengths to avoid public recognition or attention in his private life. “I am glad I am not the Prince of Wales,” he remarked once to a friend as he emerged from a West End cinema unrecognised by the crowd or the attendants. The result is that the Duke of Gloucester leads a very happy bachelor existence which is sometimes envied by the Prince of Wales. The Duke is no lover of the conventional social round. He does not care for fashionable restaurants and night clubs, and is very rarely seen in any of them. When in London he prefers to dine in his own suite in Buckingham Palace, and his guests are always few in number, and invariably intimate friends. Invitations to dine out he rarely accepts, but he is fond of joining in a homely bachelor gathering at one or other of his friends’ clubs or houses. He does not care for card games, although, as a guest, he invariably takes a hand when asked by his host. The Duke is not quite so grave in temperament as his appearance sometimes suggests, and he is a great frequenter qf theatres and cinemas. He likes lively,musical shows with a liberal display of animation and humor, and he lias a very retentive memory for melodies and jokes that appeal to him. While the Duke cannot be said to be the “mixer” that.the Prince of Wales is, he has, nevertheless, his own intimate circle'of friends with whom he is quite at home. Captain Brook and Lord Burghley have long enjoyed his close friendship. Both of them are now married, and the Duke honored Captain Brook by consenting to act as best man at bis wedding last year. The Duke of Gloucester is the fifth Royal visitor to New Zealand. The first was the Duke of Edinburgh, second son of Queen Victoria, who came in 1869, not only as representative pf Her Majesty to the infant colony, but also as captain of H.M.S.S Galatea; the second was the Duke’s father, then Duke of York, who with the Duchess, came in the Ophir in 1901; the third was the Prince of Wales who, in H.M.S. Renown, visited New Zealand in 1920; and the fourth was the Duke of York, who with the Duchess visited New Zealand in the Renown in 1927.. The Duke of Gloucester will be Ihe first Royal visitor to Gisborne. The Dukedom of Gloucester was held by members of the Royal Family for nearly five centuries, until 1834, when it became extinct, The first record of the use of Gloucester as a title was in the twelfth century, Robert, (died 1147), who won the Battle of Lincoln for his sister Matilda against Stephen, being created Earl of Gloucester. The title remained in the Royal Family until 1218, when Gilbert, de Clare was recognised as Earl of Gloucester. For a century thereafter it continued in the Clare family. After the death of the ninth Earl Clare on the field of Bannockburn, the title was claimed by various relatives of the Clares,; the last recorded holder being Thomas le Despenser, a descendant of the Clares, who, however, held it for two years before finally he was degraded and beheaded in 1400. •• The Dukedom dates from 1385, when Thomas of Woodstock, youngest son of Edward 111, was made Duke of Gloucester by Richard 11. He afterwards was virtually ruler of England for several years, but was put to death at Calais, by order of Richard on a charge of treason. In 1447 the title was revived in favor of the brother of Edward IV, who became King, as Richard 11. In .1659 Henry, a brother of Charles 11, was formally created Duke of Gloucester although he had actually borne .that tifife' since his birth 20 years previously. This prince shared the exile of the Stuarts, but finally returned to London. ’When he died wijtli,A out issue, the title lapsed for son of Princess was known as j of Gloucester, here is no record tters patent havieen issued, and when he died, in 1700 the title again became extinct. For a