STORIES OF THE DUKE

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18584, 19 December 1934, Page 9

STORIES OF THE DUKE

'JTIE Duke of (tMoneestcr has a dry, f erisp sense of humor, which, when . the occasion warrants, may ;he touched with a slight irony. While to fire blunders of ignorance he" is unfailingly lenient,: to deliberate impertinence he can deal swift rebuke. . While he Was at 'Cambridge, an ;undo;'graduate, who had adopted a Bolshevik pose, asked him point-blank , what he was doing. “Wot)” answered Prince Henry, “I came for the same purpose as the dost) of you.” “I came t.o learn,” was the rudo reply. 1 “Indeed,” said Prince Hc.iry quietly, “f hope the teaching of manners in included in the curriculum.” Corrective ol Vanity. ;■ lioyal Highness went twice to isoe a news Ahn in which he figured, land when Prince George asked the

'reason for his second visit, ho ansiweml that ho was taking a lesson in deportment! “Everyone ought to see himself on the films, ’ ’he said. “It is the best corrective of personal vanity [ know. Plea For The Orphans, The Duke was presiding at a dinner in aid of' an orphanage, ancl a number of the orphans had been brought into the gallery of the dining hall to listen

to .his speech. Very silent, am! miraculously well-behaved, rhe children sat aloft- watching the dinner proceed. The Duke looked up at them again and again, and at last beckoned to an attendant and suggested that the orphans might be better able to appreciate his speech if they were given a little refreshment before he began. He Hoped Not! The Duke was with a distinguished foreign ‘diplomat watching the start of an athletic event in which it was plain that the foreign team was the better. His companion began to discuss the probable result. “Well.” he remarked', “t hope, sir, that the best team will' win.” The Duke’s eye twinkled: “I hope they Won’t,” he answered. Does Not Envy His Brother. “The Prince of Wales is indeed a fortunate young man,” a brother officer once remarked on an occasion when the heir to the Throne had received a more than usually enthusiastic manifestation of his future sublets’ affection. “lie is,” said the Duke, “but I am one of the l'ew people who do nol envy him.” “It’s Only Grandpa.” King Edward often* played with his gsrttiidcnTniren, and' how completely the ..Monarch became lmiWersea 1 in- the grandchildren! is illustrated by art' anecdote concerning PHiice f ten ry when lie was a small: boy. King Edward was in the nursery playing a riotous game of circuses when Prince Henry noticed outside the door a seamstress* who used to- attend- at V’orlc Portage to assist with tha mending. “Aren’t you coming in?”' asked Prince Henry. “I was coining in, but I think then? is someone there,” was the answer. “Oh, you can come in," Prince Henry assured her cheerfully. “It’s only grandpa.” Drove a Police Car. At the Tidworth Tattoo- in 1933 a mock car robbery was staged, and a police-car disturbed the bandits, sent out a wireless “H. 0.8.,” and chasedthe supposed criminals. The spectators were thrilled at the 70-mile-an* hour dash round the arena, and cheered when the police-car caught its quarry. They did not know, however, that the driver of the police-car was the Duke of Gloucester, who was taking part with his regiment in the tattoo. Dogs Stop Manoeuvres. His Royal Highness once possessed two dogs from which lie was almost inseparable —an Alsatian and an Irish terrier. During Army manoeuvres these dogs were the cause of a- temporary cessation of hostilities. Tile Duke was with the 10th Royal Hussars, who were carrying out exercises at Howberry Park, Berkshire, and though the dogs had been shut up, they escaped and found the Duke, whom they refused to leave. They interfered with the evolutions to .such an extent that they had to be bundled into 1 a staff car and carried to the “ front ’’—with, it is said, full army rations —until “peace was declared. When the Duke was travelling to Scotland on one occasion he gave up 'his ticket to the inspector, who glanced at the two dogs at his heels. “Dog tickets, sir?” the inspector asked. 'The Prince started. “I am so used to them that I forgot they required tickets,” he said. “I think you will have to fine rhe to make me remember. ’ ’ Wag of the Family. The voting Prince Henry was tile wag of’tile family, a tendency which always scandalised his elder brother. On one occasion, shortly before the death of King Edward, the lour children were allowed as a special treat to sit in the gallery of a banqueting hall, where they could s'eo their Royal grandfather take the head of the table. The occasion was an important- one, and gravely and silently the children watched* the disMiguished company assemble. When at-[-length King Edward appeared flic sight of him was too much for PHnce Henry, who waved a joyful hand and called: “I see you, Grandpa!” Prince Edward’s expression of horror had to be seen to be believed. Economy—a. Gd tube of FAIRY DYE will save pounds.* *