THE DUKE OF GLOUCESTER

Waikato Times, Volume 116, Issue 19451, 15 December 1934, Page 3

THE DUKE OF GLOUCESTER

PRINCE HENRY’S TITLES. ENGLAND, IRELAND, SCOTLAND ONLY HELD BY ROYALTY. On his twenty-eighth birthday, Prince Henry was created Duke of Gloucester, Earl of Ulster and Baron Culloden. The occasion was an extremely interesting one, for the Gloucester dukedom has been a Royal title since Richard 11. bestowed it upon his uncle, Thomas of Woodstock. It has never been conferred outside the 'Royal Family. The Duke of Gloucester’s titles are representative respectively of England, Ireland, and Scotland. This is in accordance with custom. When King Geonge in 1892 was created Duke of York, he was given also the titles of Earl of Inverness and Baron Klllarney, which are now borne by his second son.

PRINCE AT CAMBRIDGE.

LIVED LIIKIE OTHER STUDENTS. In 1919, it was arranged:'that Prince Henry should .go to Cambridge as an undergraduate of Trinity, 'hut first he went to Portsmouth to hid farewell to the Prince of Wales, Who was setting out on (the first of Oris Empire tours. • , At Cambridge Prince Henry lived in exactly the same manner as other undergraduates. He attended lectures, took part in the social life of his house, and engaged in -sports with the zest he showed at Eton. He was as popular with his companions as the Prince of Wales had been when he was at Oxford. Prince Henry attended the debates of the Cambridge Union Society, and though he did not speak his •comiments on tlie views expressed were often pointed and amusing.

AS A PUBLIC SPEAKER.

COMPOSES OWN SPEECHES. The Duke of Gloucester has ihe raturrfl dislike of the soldier for speaking in public, hut when he set himself to master his nervousness he made rapid progress.' He composes his own speeches, has a facillly for turning a phrase, and, though lacking ■the experience of the Prince of Wales, has developed 'considerable fluency. liis tall figure and soldierly hearing are assets to him on the platform. His voice is a light tout resonant one, and when he gets properly into his stride he yields to few speakers for fluency. But, as he himself admits, there are days when he finds it difficult to give a smooth, unhesitating delivery, and on these days he keeps to his written notes. . The .Duke, composes all his own speeches—except, of course, 'those on technical subjects.; or dealing with figures. As his book on his African hunting-trip showed, he has a literary style of his own, and many of his phrases have a neat turn. When he described infants as “the national treasure,” his hearers, all infant-wel-fare workers, were delighted. A Boy’s Birthright. Again, his ringing declaration, when opening a hoys’ welfare club, that every lad should should have his birthright—“education, recreation, and companionship, whether he be rich or poor”—was a statement which- came straight from the Duke’s heart. In adolescent youths he takes a great social interest, and he is at his best best and happiest when speaking to an audience of lads.

On attaining his majority in 1921 his Royal Highness began to attend pub.l:lc functions, and at first he was a very •nervous young man —although, as a soldier, he tried to conceal it. “Freedom” ceremonies were what he dreaded most, tout after emerging successfully from the ordeal of receiving the Freedom of the City of London in the historic Guildhall, the succeeding functions did not daunt him so much. When 'Speaking, the Duke Is inclined to look over the heads of his audience,, but he misses nothing. A slight noise or interruption will oause him to falter and 'lose the thread of his speech, but he is rapidly overcoming this handicap. Advice to Nervous Speaker. When Mr Winston Churchill told him of the advice of Lord Salisbury to any nervous young speaker, the Duke gave one of 'his rare loud and hearty laughs. “ Lord Salisbury told me,” Mr Churchill related, “to look at my audience for a full minute or so, take a deep breath, and. say lo myself, 1 I never saw such a lot of fools in all my life.’ All nervousness would then vanish." ' “ I must remember that tip,” said the. Duke. The Duke takes great care in the preparation of his speeches, and he believes that the subject matter of a ■speech is, if anything, more important than Hie manner of its delivery. One of the first public dinners Prince Henry attended after 'attaining Ills majority was the festival dinner of the West End Hospital for Nervous Diseases, while the first public appeal he made was on behalf of 'the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital.

PRESBYTERIAN GREETING

WISE GUIDANCE OF AFFAIRS. On behalf of the Presbyterian Church In New Zealand, the Moderator (Dr. J. Dickie) will present the following address to the Duke of Gloucester during the visit oil' his Royal Highness to Dunedin:— “ May it please your Royal Highness,— “ The ministers, members, and a'dherenls of the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand desire, along with other Christian denominations, to extend to your Royal Highness a cordial welcome to the shores of this Dominion and to express the earnest hope that your visit to ill esc southern lands and seas, so far from Ihe heart of flic Umpire, may prove to you an unalloyed pleasure and a memory to enrich Lire thought of many failure years. “ We also embrace this favourable opportunity to express through you to his Gracious Majesty the King and to her Gracious Majesty live Queen our continued profound loyally to the ancient throne of Britain and our deep devotion to Ills Majesty’s person, who, along with his noble consort, has given the people endless cause,'for thankfulness that Ihe, -Royal Palace steadfastly sets before this -country and the -world a tufty 'Christian example. (Continued m next column.).

INTEREST IN CHILDREN.

NATION'S GREATEST CARE. Here are some characteristic extracts .from speeches delivered by the Duke of Gloucester: —• At the Mansion House, London, in an appeal for funds to develop the social service movement, especially in distressed areas:—• Nowadays in many cases a boy’s leisure hours are unfortunately 'his longest, and it is of obvious importance to the community how, during the critical years after leaving school, Inis leisure Is spent. A nation’s greatest care must be the welfare of its boyhood. A sense of tolerance, friendship, and understanding I believe to be of the greatest importance in the modern world. Promoting Greater Friendship. At a civil lunch at Manchester: —• The boy develops his own personality whilst learning to subordinate it to the welfare of the whole community. We are seeking to promote greater friendship between man and man, whatever his birth, whatever his creed, whatever his race. If you think only of material ends, if you see in the boy nothing more than the future workman you cannot ignore these years (from 14 to 18), for they are vital to his strength, his health, and his efficiency. Still less can you ignore them if you wish for him a higher destiny. Strength of Mind andi Body. An appeal for 'the 'Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital:—* Don’t let it be said that we of this generation have failed to give a chance to those who will succeed us. If the children of to-day are ito be entertained with the great heritage of Empire they must be equipped with every strength of mind and body. Nothing -can be more worth while than transforming the crippled, twisted, deformed body of a ohild Into the straight and perfect body while h Nature herself Intended. Leit jne remind you, too, because 'I know you are all economists, that.it is far cheaper to cure these children now than to leave them few’ their lives l — tills is the only alternative —always dependent upon others for their moans of livelihood, always a brake upon the wheels of progress. •I can conceive of no greater tragedy than that of the crippled child who can be cured now, being neglected or ignored so that he needlessly becomes another hopeless cripple, a wasted life, a burden to the community.

DRY SENSE OF HUMOUR.

SOME AMUSING ■ STORIES. The Duke of Gloucester has a dry, crisp sense of humour, which, when the occasion warrants, may be touched with a slight irony. While to the blunders of Ignorance he is unfailingly lenient, to deliberate impertinence he can deal swift rebuke. While he was at Cambridge an undergraduate, who had adopted a Bolshevik pose, asked him point-blank what he was doing. “ Well,” answered Prinoe Henry, “ I oame for the same purpose as the rest of you." “ I came to learn," was the rude reply. “ Indeed,” said Prince Henry quietly. “ I hope the teaching of manners is included in the curriculum." Corrective of Vanity. His Royal Highness went twice to see a news film in which he figured, and when Prince George asked the reason for his second visit, he answered that lie was taking a lesson in deportment 1 “ Everyone ought to see himself on the films," he said. “It is the best corrective of personal vanity I know.” Plea for the Orphans. The Duke was presiding at a dinner in aid of an orphanage, and a number of the orphans had been brought into the gallery of the dining hall to listen to his speech. Very silent and miraculously well-behaved, the children sat, aloft watching the dinner proceed. Tlie 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. “ It's Only Grandpa." King Edward often played with his grandchildren, and how completely the Monarch became immersed in the grandfather is illustrated by an anecdote conlcerning Prince Henry 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 York Cottage to assist with the mending. “Aren’t you coming in?" asked Prince Henry. “ 1 was coming in, but I think thero is someone there," was the answer. “ Oh, you can .come in,” Prince Henry assured her -cheerfully. "It's only Grandpa!”