Long Reigns.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20603, 2 May 1935, Page 7 (Supplement)

Long Reigns.

Sixteen Reach Jubilee. DIAMOND CEREMONY TWICE. BASING the belief on the long reign of Victoria, with the brief years of Edward VII. ae the exception, it would be easy to form the conclusion that British monarch 3 have commonly teigned'for long years. As a matter of fact, of all the 59 Kings and Queens of England since' Egbert came to the throne in 802, only 18 have reached their silver jubilee. Diamond jubilees have been achieved only twice, by Queen Victoria, whose marathon reign covered 04 years, and George 111., who just made the 60th year before be died. His Majesty King George V. is the sixteenth ruler of England to reach his silver jubilee, and he is the third George to do so. jperbaps bis name has something to do with it, for the average reign of the four Georges who preceded him is 29 years, second only to the average of the

eight Ilenrvs, which is a little more than 31 years. The Years of George lIL George 111., with his remarkable reign that saw the American War of Independence, the establishment of the British claim to Australia and New Zealand, and the French Revolution, helped along the average, even though the Prince of Wales was Regent during the last years. On the other hand, George IV. occupied the tnrone only for ten years. The longest stayer among the Henrys was Henry 111., who remained for 56 years because tie had tne mlsTortune to come to the throne as a child. Second place goes to Henry VIII., whose private life altered the religion of England, with 38 years; and Henrys 1., 11., and VI. all achieved many more than 25 years. Those two great Queens, Victoria and Elizabeth, one representing the longest and the other the fifth longest reign in English history, are laws unto themselves. If there should come a time when another Elizabeth ascends the throne, she would have to rule for 45 years to emulate her remarkable namesake. Charles is not a name that is popular for Kings, yet Charles 11. reigned for 25 years, and Charles I. for only one year less. If our own Prince of Wales comes to the throne he will be Edward VIII., but, actually, including the three Edwards before * the Norman Conquest—Edward the Elder, Edward the Martyr, and

Edward the Confessor—he has ten namesakes, whose reigns averaged more than 19 years. Only two of them rei°ned 25 years. Edward 1., whose rei°n began in 1272, remained for 35° years. Edward 111., ascending at the age of 15, died a very unhappy monarch 50 years later, after many victories and defeats. The average for the Edwards might be much more impressive, had not Edward V. only occupied the throne for two months. Kings With Short Reigns. None of the three Richards retained the throne for 25 years, and their reigns averaged little more than 11 years. Xhe f° ur Williams show an even smaller average with 10 years, although the Conqueror, the first of the name, ruled for 21 years. The two Jameses just made up the 25 years between them, but of these James I. contributed 22. Only three of the kings who reigned •before the Norman Conquest managed to retain their crowns for a quarter of a century. Egbert remained for 37 rears, and his grandson, Alfred, properly surnamed the Great, was king for 30 years. Ethelred the Unready lived up to his hame, for he was even unready to die and leave a throne that was already virtually swept from his grasp, and ha is officially credited with 37 years am the throne. SKILLED WITH THE NEEDLE. Her Majesty the Queen’s particular interest in needlework in all its branches is well known. It is chiefly owing to her enthusiasm for tapestry work, and the specialised knowledge she invariably displays of stitchery and period designs at the needlecraft exhibitions she so often visits, that fine needlework has had such a phenomenal revival throughout England. In the Middle Ages and Tudor times Englishwomen were celebrated all over Europe for their beautiful tapestries and embroideries. Queen Mary is leading the women of this country to a new standard of perfection in the use of their needles. No English Queen, since Catherine of Aragon taught her subjects to work some of the finest Church embroideries of her age, has done so much to encourage both paid and amateur needlewomen to improve their designs and make the best of their materials and craft.