TOPICS OF THE DAY.
A Modern Romantic.
The "Citizen King," tho "Socialist King," and the "Giant King"—these are,all terms applied to Christian X. of Denmark. But tho ideal that he sets before himself is rather the "King of Romance." Even his height assists thus ambition. The ideal king of storybooks, like the first King of the Hebrews, must stand head and shoulders 'bove the average subject. King Christian is the tallest officer in his own army, and tho tallest prince in Europe; standing at six foot four, he is only four inches below that aspiring monarch Peter the Great, who was six foot eight. In lighter moments the people of Copenhagen jest that when their King gets cold feet in December, he only begins to sneeze in May, as it takes the worst cold six months to reach, the head. Then the king of romance is great at sports. He must encourage every trial of skill, or excel in any pursuit to which he bends his majestic attention. King Christian as a yachtsman has won his "skipper's" certificate. Ho has learned the art of flying. He is the only living sovereign who never misses an important football match in his capital, and the captains of winning teams have the honour of receiving their'prizes from the King's hand. When King Christian speaks, his great voico carries a kingly message to assembled multitudes. K. P. Nors, writing in tho "London Magazine," declares his everyday conversation to be
"full of good-humoured puns and slang expressions that reach the hearts of his hearers" ; and when delivering speeches or returning thanks on behalf of himself or the Queen, "ho invariably refers to the latter as 'my wife,' well knowing that pompous terms are "apt to fall flat in small communities, and only tend to produce a glacial atmosphere between, the speaker and his audience." Above all, King Christian observes the romance custom of receiving personally the complaints or petitions of his subjects. Every Monday his palace doors are open to all comers, who, if they' have any sort of reasonable business, are entitled to an informal private interview with tho King. For about four hours every Monday, Denmark's monarch thus hears petitions or tales of woe, and, like a modern King Arthur, himself deals out redress. Cash assistance, however, is recorded by the experienced keeper of tho Privy Purse, and an applicant who relies on kingly forgetfulness so far as to come with tho same harrowing talo of misery a second timo, finds his bold deceit quickly unmasked by aid of Privy Purse diary. So in many ways the King of Denmark has succeeded in translating to modern times debonair good-followship that charms in legendary kings. His sons are Boy Scouts. His Queen rides tho democratic bicycle. Ho himsolf joins with dolight in tho social gatherings ot his people. Tho tallest monarch in Europe has the deepest knowledge of "all the little things that really matter in everyday life."
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Press, Volume L, Issue 149814, 30 May 1914, Page 10
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494TOPICS OF THE DAY. Press, Volume L, Issue 149814, 30 May 1914, Page 10
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