INSURING ROYALTY.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVII, Issue 4942, 22 February 1926, Page 3

INSURING ROYALTY.

A QUEER GAMBLE. A NOT UNCOMMON PROCEDURE. Many strange insurances are, and have been, taken out) in connection with the lives 'of the King a,nd the Royal family. In the days of the Georges people used io insure heavily on the life of the King. Shop these insurances deteriorated almost to the nature of bets, and became a regular gamble or lottery. For instance, when it wa,s rumoured "t|hat the King Was. ill men crowded to insure oin) his, life.

In the reign of George 111- the: matter had become such a public scandal that an Act (commonly known, as the Gambling Act) was passed—for as it quaintly puts it, “insuring hath become a, mischievous kind of game.” It laid down the great principle that one cannot take out an insurance -unless one has an "insurable interest.” This 'means that one must stand to lose materially by the’ death of the person or the postponement of the event insured upon. This Act, however,’ does not apply to marine insurance, for which one need not prove an insurable interest.

To-day there are certain old-fash-ioned leases which are made but for the life-time of the King (or perhaps for the duration of the lives of two or three Sovereigns). A person holding a houee under such a lease can easily prove he will, suffer by the King’s death. It is quite common tor such pensqns, to take out a policy on the life of the monarch. All the great companies have granted such insurances,—which I am told are especially frequent in Devon and Cornwall. > Servants frequently take out policies, on the lives of 'their royal masters ; as do persons with pensions dependent on ‘the duration of the King’s life.

It is a. strange and little known fact tha,t many shops—especially Coyrt dressmakers’; milliners, and large stores—insure heavily on the lives of the King and Queen. For the shop has to follow the public demand and sell mourning goods. Their coloured stock lies, idle, and by the time the mourning its over will be out of fashion and therefore wasted. Many of the older shops will have been thus insured on the life- of .Queen Alexandra. This' class of insurance comes under .the heading of accident, and is knoWn as a contingent insurance. In this case one-does not insure on the life of the person concerned—but one insures against loss consequent on his or her death. Most of these shop insurances are taken out at Lloyd’s. One of the best known Of Lloyd’s brokers, told me of the insurance taken out by a well-known jazz band conductor on behalf of his, band against loss caused by cancelling of engagements due ,to the death of royalty. And, as the broker said, “the members of the band had probably insured on Mr X’s life.” It is quite common in this, connection to find persons insuring for financial reasons on the life of some prominent figure. Thus, for instance, there were numbers of insurances.taken out on the life of Cecil Rhodes by persons who owned a large amount of shares in his company. For the price of shares fajling because of his death would occasion them loss. Several companies, told me of a strange coincidence relating .to the recent attempted assassination of Mussolini. The plot must have leaked out somewhere, for just before the attempt there were a, remarkable number of people attempting to take out policies on his life.—Mr M. V. F. Lander, in the “Daily News.”