HOW KING'S LIFE HAS FITTED HIM FOR KINGSHIP

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 94, 7 May 1937, Page 21 (Supplement)

HOW KING'S LIFE HAS FITTED HIM FOR KINGSHIP

Knowledge of the Peoples of the Empire TUTORED BY HIS BENEFICENT FATHER Sturdy character, humanity, a sen*z of the high responsibilities of his ofhce, and a keen interest in the industrial welfare of his fellow-men, are among the characteristics which distinguish King George VI., who on May 12 will be crowned King and Emperor . By temperament, training and tradition there is no one among the sons of King George V. more fitted for the responsible position which has fallen to kim. Hc is heir to exacting traditions, but his personal qualities, in many of which he resembles his late father, make him indeed worthy of the role of Kingship, a role in which he must be the nation's and the Empire' s exemplar .

i If the child is father to the man, | tken the key to our knowledge of ] King George's character and achievel.ments must be sougtht in those early | formative years when his life was being | moulded for the high destinies awaiting i him. For his was no haphazard up- ] bringingj left to the chance influences j of circumstance or caprice. j We know now that when King George V and Queen Mary (as Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York) returned from their Australian tour in Novemher, 1901, they immediately drew up, under the guidance of King Eldward VII., a scheme for training the Princ© of Wales and Priuce Albert (a« he was then called) for the important duties that awaited them in after life. The younger prince— Albert Frederick Arthur George, to give him his full de sigUation — was tben just about six years old, having been born at Sandringham on December 14, 1895; and if we desire a true iusight into the personality of our new King we must glance for a moment at the ensuing educational development of the shy boy who was later (a'most on his 41it. birthday) to be called to the highest position in the Empire.

Happy Family; The iirst three ck Idren of King George V. were born withiu three years — Prince Albert, our pi'esent Monarch, slightly less than eigbteen months after Prince Edward (the Duke of Windsor), and sixteen months before Princess Mary (the Princess Royal). They shared the same nursery and participated in the same iufant studies under the cjapable Mme. Bricka, and enjoyed their rlhklish games as a group, thus forming in the very earliest years a habit of viewing life as an experiente to be sbared« with other s and to be regarded from a communal rather than an individual angle. In what might be called the preparatory school stage, we find the two young prinpesses in the hands of a sagacious and sympathetic tutor, Mr HP. Hansellj an Oxford man, who had the assistance of specialists," such as Mlle. Dussau and Mons. Hua, for foreign languages, on which great insistence was laid ; and there can be little doubt that the keenness and application which His Majesty subsequently displayed in the Nava] Colleges— and in later life as well — were due to the love of knowledge and desire for improvement that these teachers implanted in their ' royal pupils, It was in this early period too that the characteristic aptitude for outdoor life and sport was formed. The princes developed a considerable skill in swimming and squash raequets at the Bath Club; they learned how to drill and carry themgelves smartly under officient military instructors; they acquired proficiency in the riding school and on the huriting field; they played football with the village club at Sandringham, and cricket with team,s from Eton and Windsor on the Royal Household ground at Frogmore; they were initiated into the mysteries of ballroom dancing; and they attended for a tinie a singing class conducted by that unique musical scholar, the lato Cecil Sharp.

Into Wider World. Then came the first important step into a bigger world. It had been decided that, jufet as his father before him had done, Prince Albert should embrace the Navy as a profession; so in 1909, when he was not quite fourteen years of age, he was sent to the Royal Naval College at Osborne as the beginning of an intensfve course of training that lasted well into the War years. It says much for his tcnacity of purposo and love for the servjce that, in spite oi severe physical handicaps, be went right through his i'our years at tlie two Naval Colleges (Osborne and Dart- j nioor) withoufc oompJaint aud with uoj special privileges of any kiud whatsoever. Passing out of Dartmoor in December, 1912, with a reputation that stood / high among tutors as well as class- 1 mates, he was seiit with 60 other cadefs to tlio Cumherlnnd for sea expericnce ; and it was on this warship that he had his firsfc contact with the overseas domains over wliich he now rulet^

At the close of tht Cumberland cruis he was gazetted midshipman and posted to the Collingwood, and almost immediately after he joined her in August, 1913, the ship was ordered on s two-raionths cruise in the Mediterranean. He stayed with Lord Kitchenei when they were in Egyptian waters anc also visited Malta. It is interesting tc note that, out of deference to an express desire on his part not to be accorded any special recognition, he was referred to as "Mr. Johnston" in the gnn-room and the ward-room; and the general opinion cf his brother midshipmen is summed up in these words of one of them : "He was never one tc push himself forward, but he would fight to the last ditch for a pah" Courage Under Fire, When war broke out in 1914, the King was still serving in the Collingwood; but barely a month had elapsed when he had to fat'e one of the biggest crises in his life. Ever sinee his admission to Osborne he had been suffering intermit-tently from gastric trouble, which had ham.pered his studies greatly and deprived his young life of much pleasure and reereation. Now, in the' time of his country's need, this complaint took a most violent form aud compelled his removal first to a hospital ship and then to a nursing home, where he was operated on for appendi-cit-is. After he had made repeated attempts to get back to active 6ervice, the Naval Medical Board qllowed him to rejoin his ship in February, 1915 ; but it was not long before the old trouble manifested itself again, .and] after ffghting a losixig battle for nine months he had to loave his ship at the end of the year. Luckily for him, he rejoined in May, 1916, a few weeks befor© the Battle of Jutland; and although Ihe Collingwood was not heavily engaged he achieved one of his main ambitions — to share in the dangers of active service with his comrades in the Navy. He served right through the action in the fore-turret of the Collingwood and was mentioned in despatches. for coolness and courage under fire. Not long after Jutland, the King's gastric -trouble reappeared, and -recurred at frequent intervals, till at last in November, 1917, he was operated on again — this time for duodenal ulcer. The operation was successful, but' Ihe serious weakening in constitution which resulted from It practieally ter. m'inated His Majesty's naval career, though he had been appointed to act-ing-Lieutenant's rank on the Malaya before he finally quitted the sea. This did not mean, however, that he was lost to the Navy for the rest of the War. As soon as he was fit.for duty he found scope for service in the Roval Air Service ; and ,when that splendid body was amalgamated with. the Royal Flying Corps to form an independeui air arm, he became a captain in the Royal Air Force and was serving on the staff of General Trenchard in France when the Armistice was signed

His Speech Defect. It is perhaps appropriate at this point to mention the other great physical handicap against which our Monarch has had to contend from his vei^y childhood — defective speech. His early years were clouded by this disability, which tended to make him nervous and unsure cf himself. But it is a lastiug tribute to his character that, in spifco of continuous failure on the part of numerous specialists, doctors and experts with one kind of system or another to rid him, of this misf ortune, . he rel'used to consider himself beaten. What ;s more he' never allowed this defect to prevent him from carry ing out any puo lio duties that were assignpd to him At last, in October, 1926, during the preparations for his memorable visit to the Antipodes, he met Mr Lionel Logu'J. the young Australian jspecialist who put him on the road to a complete cure and to-day His Majesty can give utterance to his thoughts with fiuency and directness — a fact which receiv-'d the public testimony of the Ai'chbishop of Cante'rbury in a broadcast address soon after the Accession,

The King's Maturity. We come now to the King's maturity. One should mention the feeling that grows on one during a study of the relevant facts — the eonsciousness of a wise, beneiicent mind at the sifie of the maturing Prince, advising him, directing him and setting him a noble exainple in the fulfilment of duty. One realises as never before what a unique power for good the late King George.Y. must have been, not only in national affairs but within the intimate circle of his family. The first aet of public significance on which Prince Albert embarked after the War is noteworthy. He went back to his studies — as hundreds of War veterans did. Although twenty-four years of age, he went up to Trinity College, Cambridge, with his younger brother, Prince Henry (now Duke of Gloucester). He did not read for a degree, but he took a deep interest in history, economics and civics, cycling to lectures like any other undergraduate, and on one occasion being fined by the Proctor for smoking in.the street while wearing his cap and gown. Soon after he left' Cambridge he was created Duke of York aud took his seat for the first time in the House of Lords on June 23, 1920. Love and Marriage. The next great act in this period of preparation for respousibility was his marriage on Aprlr 25, 1923, to Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, a daughter of the Earl and Countess of Strathmore, oue of the oldest families of the Scottisli aristocracy. Rumour has if, that tlie friendship between the King and Queen had been formed when they were children and that the romance had onidured long before the engagement was

formally announced in the January before their marriage. This most successful uniori, blessed with offspring (the Princesses Elizabeth aud Margaret Rose) who have endeared themselves to all Their Majesties' subjects, was and continues to be extraordinarily popular all over the Empire. Queen Elizabeth has become to millions j. symbol of radiant womanhood. Her happy disposition, charm of manner and unafFected ways have .lent a gracious touch to the numerous functions in which she has participated with His Majesty. The phase of wider horizons may be said to begin with the Duke of York's visit to Ulster in July, 1924, accompanied by the Duchess. In December of the same year-, they started on their great tour through East Africa, visitmg Kenya Coloby, Uganda and the Sudan, and. arriving home in April, 1925. No sooner was he back than he took over the presidency of tlie second term of the Empiro Exhibition at Wembley, which he opened on May 12, '1925.

In The Dominion. This contact with the economic and social life of the peoples of the Empire was a fitting prelude to the epochal tour he made in the Renown to the Dominions of Australia and New Zealand, again in the company of Queen Elizabeth, sailing from Portsniouth on January 6, 1927, and returning in the following June. c The Renown cireumnavigated the globe, for they went out via Jamaica and the Panama Canal and returned via the Suez and Malta. The high spot of this grand tour was the opening of -the new Federal Parliament House at Canberra on May 9, 1927, whither the King had come 15,000 miles as the representative of his father, who twenty-six years earlier (exactly to -the month and day) had declared the first Federal Parliament open. That the tour was of inestimable value to the British •Commonwealth at large is evident from the eiitlnisiasm with which they were received whei'ever they went and from the golden opinions they won from all who were privileged , to meet them. The King took his mis-

sion so seriously that he kept a diarjr throughout the tour, -in which he recorded everything of importance that had occurred during the day, the people he had. met and every conversation of value that he had engaged in. Ten years of unceasing activity have supervened since His Majesty's tour of Australia and New Zealand, and one finds it almost impossible to keep paea with the'never-ending stream of muL tifarious duties that he has cheerfullu assumed and . effectively performed^ Ybuth in Industry. But the final word must be reserved for the two branches of his later acti-* vities which may be said to represent most clearly his attitude towards the problems of to-day. These are Mb deep concern for industrial welfar© and his abiding interest in youth. So much has been written and said abont thesa' aspects of his, public life that it hard* ly. seems necesssry to repeat what has become part of the everyday knowledge of «his eubjocts the world over, ' At a time when dictators»are drilling and xegimenting youth in the interests of national hate and destruction, surely it is a matter for profound thankful-' ness that in His Majesty King Georga YT. the peoples of the British EmpirO have a ruler who has shown a nobler conception of responsibility towards the young. As Major Attlee, "the Leader of thei Opposition in the Honse of Commons, said when supporting the Prime Min*f ister's Motion in which the thsroks of Parliament were expressed for tht' King's Accession Message: — '"We know that he has taken a keen and an active interest in- social ques-i tions. For many years he has been working with boys on their holidayi in their camps. I know well from experience how working with boys leads one on to considering the social and economic conditions in which they live, and he, too, has gone on to studying the conditions of work, and has taken & most active part in promoting welfare among all those who work. We join in offering him assuTances of our support on his accession to the Throne.'*