GUARDING THE KING'S MAIL.

Rodney and Otamatea Times, Waitemata and Kaipara Gazette, 7 August 1912, Page 3

GUARDING THE KING'S MAIL.

All letters addressed to the King and Queen of England are sent direct to whichever of the royal residences they are occupying from the General Post Office in London in special sealed bags. In the case of Buckingham Palace, this bag1 arrives, as a rule, just as his Majesty is finishing dinner, and is taken charge of by the secretary on duty, who opens it and proceeds to sort out the contents. Such letters as will ultimately demand the attention of King George are placed before him the same night, but it is not often that he deals with them at the moment, save in matters that will not brook delay. He glances through them, makes a few brief notes upon them, and they are then placed under lock and key until he is ready for them the following morning.

He has barely time to deal with these before the royal breakfast is served, and almost simultaneously an even larger bag" of correspondence arrives. Only those who have been called upon to handle them can realise the vastness of the royal post bags, the contents of which often range from a private communication from Kaiser or Czar to a letter from some amiable lunatic who considers that his claim to the British throne is superior to that of King: George. But by the organisation of a well-nigh perfect system, however, this heavy correspondence is dealt with in remarkably quick time. Lord Stamfordham, should he be on duty, opens every communication, and, glancing at it, places the bulk of it in the large crimson leather baskets labelled with the tenor of the epistle.

Thus invitations to undertake public functions of one description oe1 another go into one basket, charitable appeals into another, the official report, of the proceedings of two Houses of Parliament into a smaller basket, letters of a personal or semi-personal character into a fourth, and so on. At the finish there is a small lot. This is composed of letters from the rulers of other States, personal reports from our ambassadors abroad, or communications from Ministers at home. These never for one instant leave the custody of whoever is entrusted with the task of opening them. There is a special box standing on the table with a slit in the top of it wide enough to take any paper. It is fastened with a patent lock, of which only the King, Lord Knollys, and Lord Stamfordham have the keys; so that anything dropped in, even by accident, can only be taken out by one of these three.

These are the first letters that are presented to the King every morning, together with a memorandum reminding him of the duties he has to perform that day. In many cases the King elects to write letters in reply with his own hand, but should this not be convenient, he sends for one of his secretaries and dictates his reply. His Majesty is by no means a quick thinker, and he likes to ponder over every word he elects to place on paper. In this respect he presents a curious contrast to his father, who could reply to the most important letter in a few seconds, and who rarely or ever revised anything when it was once written. Very careful record is kept of every letter written by the King in person, and in due course these are sent down to Windsor to be added to the private archives there.