KING'S ALTER ECO.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 812, 9 May 1910, Page 2

KING'S ALTER ECO.

When the Prince of Wales succeeds to i the Throne he will be able to take up the S business of State with a far greater deof. facility than did his father al p the time of his accession (wrote the Mar- | anise :de Foutenoy in the New Tort e'Tribune" eome little time ago). I For whereas the lai« Queen Victoria 5 kept her eldest eon aloof from all matjj tors'!of State,'retaining the reins of eovj erament in her own hands with snch a S degree of oxernsiveness as to almost savi our of jealousy, King Edward has for 1 several. years been associating his heir--3 pparent with the duties of sovereignty. gThus the Prince of Wales visits BackS ingham Palace every morning: after I breakfast when in town, and remains 8 there for two or three hours, occupying 'i a room adjoining that of Mβ father, the S* doors being open between them, and ats tends to matters of routine and of de- | tail, relieving the monarch of a;, lnrgc SI amount of work and trouble. Moreover, fin all - important matters, frequently in % interviews with the Ministers, the King B calls his eon' into consultation. So that the Prince knows exactly where the King stands in every pending issue, and is thoroughly initiated into all his ! Father's views and policies. > It is thanks to this that the King is J able to be away from London so much. I When he came to the Throne he knew virtually nothing of the routine busi- > ness of his. mother's government. He had ; never been taken into her confidence, and during the first few weeks of his reign I was obliged constantly to consult his youngest sister, Princess Henry of Battenberg, who had been her mother's conistaht companion and associate, and who ; knew far more about her methods of : carrying on the duties of sovereignty than himself. In fact, the confusion was \ very great, especially in view of the sud--5 den accumulation of arrears of business ■ during the few days of the late Queen's I fatal iliess. I Indeed, the only matters with which i the Kins was acquainted were the broad i outlines of the foreign policy of the Government, and this knowledge was entirely due to the fact that Mr. Gladstone, when a Premier, had taken upon himself, without the approval of the late Qu«en, to 1 five orders that copies of all the invpor- ' tint dispatches reaching the Foreign Office from abroad, as well as copies of i the replies thereto, should be transmitted to the then Prince of Wales for hie Information. Queen Victoria did not care .to go to the length of putting a stop to the practice, which was kept nj> by the subsequent Administrations. King Edward waa always grateful to Mr. Gladstone for this action on hia part, and never neglected an opportunity of showing his consideration and warm friendship for the Grand Old Mas.