WHAT ROYALTY READ

Putaruru Press, Volume XII, Issue 562, 8 March 1934, Page 1

WHAT ROYALTY READ

WIDE RANGE OF TASTES \ * Prince George has been complaining of the length of modem novels. At a dinner of the National Book Trade . Provident Society he said that a novel " which hinted at a continuation was annoying. He liked the author who could finish his story in one volume. Like many busy people who enjoy reading, he sometimes foundi himself obliged to leave books half read. The King's yemngefctr-son is a conSurmed admirer of Jane Austen’s novels of English life, but he enjoys modem romances as well. An English author whom he reads with pleasure is Mr John Galsworthy. Prince George is perhaps the most bookish of all the King’s sons. When he went to sea he always took a box full of books aboard ship, in order to * lighten the monotony of the voyage its official duties. Though the Prince of Wales is of a restless and eager disposition, and his .normal day is full of public and private engagements, he finds time now and then to spend an hour with some silent friend from the bookshelf.

His Royal Highness does not trouble his head much with history. The present interests him much more than the past. He eagerly reads books of travel and exploration, especially of the adventurous type, andi is also fond of the autobiographies of great men. The Prince of Wales has a great admiration for the sea stories of the late Joseph Conrad, and can read them again and again. Among foreign novelists, he likes the romances of the great French master, Victor Hugo. The Prince has not fallen a victim to •* the modem craze for mystery or defective fiction, though mapy overworked men relax their minds with fliis kind of fiction. The Prince, when he has time for, and novel, prefers to get on with more solid than the modem “thriller.” Neither the Prince of Wales nor his brothers have any use for the flood of “sex” fiction which pours from the printing press. The tastes of the Royal Family are particularly healthy in this regard, ; writes Axbuthnot Maunsell in the : “Johannerburg Star. ” It is perhaps ■a pity that this is not more generally known, for then perhaps more people would follow the Royal example, and refuse to countenance a novel which depends for its success on an appeal to the baser passions. His Majesty the King never forgets that he has been a sailor. His days afloat were among the happiest of his life, and he is never tired of recalling- ' them. For this reason he loves books treating of the sea, ships, and sailors. - Both Queen Mary and the Princess Royal like to choose their books them--1 selves, at a famous bookshop in Picea<Jilly. There the two Royal ladies display a knowledge of the latest trends in literature, which sometimes astonMBhBAc the management of the estab-