KING OF PORTUGAL.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 509, 20 November 1909, Page 4

KING OF PORTUGAL.

The young King of Portugal seems to be one of the unbappiest monarchs iri Europe, He is in his nineteenth year, a time of life when all the world should appear bright and hopeful; but he lives in daily terror of being hurled from his shaky throne. His mother is his constant companion, and she, poor woman, is afraid to leave the side of the only son that has been spared to her. The King himself scarcely dares to leave his dominions, in case his people should try to overthrow his Government and prevent his return, and he cannot receive visits from his relatives among the other reigning houses, as these royal functions cost money, and he has no money to spend on entertaining. For his present visit to England extraordinary precautions have been taken tor his safety. The King is said to be tall, strong and handsome, and if the things that count in novels counted in real life he would be considered a very eligible young man. Most of his spare time is devoted to study and to manly exercises, especially on horseback. He is good tempered, and is said to be quite free from affectation. From his childhood he has been a dreamer of dreams, and iu these di earns he sees a revival of Portugal’s departed maritime glories. Some people thiuk that the present King, in spite of the shocking tragedy which signalled his accession, and the inauspicious record of the first sixteen months of his reign, may be favoured by destiny, and may live to see Portugal restored, in part at any rate, to some of her former greatness.