OUR HARD-WORKED KING.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 86, 4 January 1908, Page 15

OUR HARD-WORKED KING.

. Few people realise how'hard is the work that falls to the lot of a monarch,' and certainly 'to. no monarch in a higher degree than to King Edward VII, In an article ill the November number of "Pearson's Magazine" he is described as tho hardest-worked man in his dominions, and this description is upheld by facts:—

"If you follow tho daily work of a king it quickly seems that he is tho one man who, S radically, nover has a day's holiday. A ay. off is a rare thing indeed in'tho diary of a king. He is never really free (whether on, a so-callcd holiday or at home) from kingly obligations. "Let us take an actual year in the life of the king, taking in the twelve months from August, 1906, to August, 1907, for that purpose. Follow the king round tho clock of this year, and, amazeu at the mountain of work crammed by His Majesty into the twolve months, you will wonder how it can ho possible for one man to accomplish so much.

"A man at-the head of even a gigantic business concern, be it noted, has only one r.iain line of work, oven though many worrying little roads of detail work go oft from it. But tho King's work is along countless lines. He cannot work by routine alone; unexpected things, unforeseen difficulties constantly spring up to demand the most serious care and thought. ."Even for the busiest king ever known,-190S-7 was an exceptional year, of course — a year of wonderful activity on His Majesty's part both at lioinu and abroad, a year of many Royal visitors to Britain (each visit imposing much extra offort on tho part of Britain's Representative)—a year packed full with travelling on land and: sea. "In that year His Majesty has met no fewer than ten ruling powers, including the Emperors of Germany and Austria, tho Kings of Spain, Denmark, Norway, and Siam, tho President of France, and the President of Liberia. Five of these called on liim, and he called on three. In foreign lands and on tho sea he has achieved nearly six thousand miles of travelling. In the British Isles he \as travelled, hv rail, yncht, and motor-ear, 7,500 miles—both these figures are arrived at V careful compilation of tho distances of his many journeys."