A Princess Heir Presumptive

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 431, 12 May 1937, Page 6

A Princess Heir Presumptive

The Training of Elizabeth i . On the first floor of the south wing of Kensington Palace, looking to-day just at it did 100 years ago. it a bedroom where, on June 20, 1837, a princess was awakened to go downstairs because the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Lord Chamberlain desired her presence on urgent business of State. She had become Queen of England. We all know the story. Now we again have a young princess as Heh Presumptive *to the Throne, and there is something irt ths circumstance which appeals irresistibly to our sense of romance and to our sympathies. The chance was a remote one that, the haby who was born at 17 Bruton Street, on April 21, 1926, would ever stand quite 1 so near to the Throne, but the long arm of the unexpected has stretched out to her and to-day, after her parents, she is the most important personage in the Empire. It was decided at the outset that Princess Elizabeth could not very well go to school. Her mother had never been to school. She received the scholastic part, of her education from governesses, and the other part of it riding or roaming about the coun'ryside. Besides, there are so many things Princess Elizabeth has to lefcru which no school could teach. School Every Morning. Elizabeth’s baby lessons were taken under Nurse Knight. Then a governess was added to the household and the princess’s schooling took on a serious aspect. In the scho-olroon;. overlooking the Green Park at ,1-tK Piccadilly she set to work at 9.30 o’clock every morning. Maps appeared on the walls. The curriculum lengthened to include English, history, geography, dictation, scripture and French. Presently came the Latin grammar. Arithmetic was not at first a strong point, but the princess got the better of this bogey. Lessons last from 9,30 to lunch time, with a break at 11 o’clock. The afternoon the princess has to herself, but she has "homework” to do in the evening. She will, of course, be spared that "cramming which is so often necessary for school children who have to pass examinations, and she is exempted also from dabbling in certain subjects which other girls have to take, as a matter of course. On the other hand, she will have to master other things which do not come within an ordinary education. She will have to be proficient in three languages, make a thorough study of constitutional history, and acquire a thorough knowledge of the Empire. She has to practice deportment, which | she does mainly through the medium ■ of dancing lessons, learn all the intrl. i cacies of court etiquette, train her memory for faces, and, in short, acI quire the whole technique of royalty. ; This is one Aspect of Princess Elizabeth’s life. In her mother’s view the princess has two distinct responsibilities, the one to her position as a princess, the other to herself as an individual; and though these two sides of her development may be-

treated separately they depend "on each other to some extent. The princess must not be allowed to submerge the child; and the character of the child must be so moulded that In due course it will redound to the success of the princess. I The Princess and the Child. ‘ As a baby she was sturdy, chubby, i mischievous. Riding her pony in the i grounds of Sandringham, visiting her grandmother at Windsor Castle, she grew up the sort of child of whom any mother might be proud. The background of her life may have been i the rich tapestry of State—the ancient glories of Glamis, the majesty of Windsor, the dignity of Buckingham Palace, but. she ha® remained quite unspoiled. She has her mother’s charm and a gaietj' which is all her own. In the last two years she has become very much quieter. Her tomboy moods have become less frequent. The little- revelations of self-will no longer disturb anybody. Instead there is a ready “certainly” whenever she is requested to do anything. Pi incess Margaret Rose has been described as a “bundle of mischief bubbling wi h gaiety and laughter." Already differences of character between the two sisters are beginning to show themselves. Those differ! ences are developed by the free educational ideas of their true nature, into one common mould. They must remain natural, and if they are to remain natural, they must be given full opportunity to develop their individual qualities. That is the guiding principle in the Royal nursery.