A Duke of London.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXVII, Issue IX, 31 August 1901, Page 392

A Duke of London.

King Edward will probably see fit one of these days to raise his little grandson, the Heir Presumptive, to the dignity of a dukedom. Though there are many place-names which the young Prince Edward of York might then assume, the number of appropriate ones is comparatively limited. Edinburgh had for her duke the second of our late Queen's sons, while the King’s sole remaining brother is Duke of Connaught, and the Duke of Cornwall may in due course assume the title of Prince of Wales. Thus the four countries of Great Britain have all been represented; and though many, in view of the wave of Imperialism which has been sweeping over the Empire, would doubtless like to see the young Prince take some Colonial name, such a step would scarcely l>e practical in view or the fact that one dominion would thus be honoured above the rest, and a not altogether unnatural spirit of jealousy thereby engendered. Inimical as such a spirit would assuredly be to the well-being of the Empire, the suggestion at once becomes impossible, and we must therefore look for a name nearer home. The one that seems to us by far the most appropriate in the circumstances is that Prince Edward of York should take the title of Duke of London. The metropolis of the world has never been honoured by having a Duke named after it, and what time could be more fitting than the commencement of the new century for conferring such a title on the Heir Apparent in the second generation? It would be at once a graceful compliment to the heart of the Empire, and a means of intimately associating the personality of one of our coming Kings with the capital of his realm; nor could any petty feelings of umbrage be aroused at such a creation. Moreover, London is not only a city, but a county, too.