LEARNING TO BE KINGS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 81, 1 May 1909, Page 3

LEARNING TO BE KINGS.

HOW BUDDING MONARCHS ARE BEING EDUCATED. The other day Prince Edward of Waleß returned to Osborne to spend his last term at the famous Naval College. This summer the second heir to tne throne will complete his fifteenth year, and hia education will assume greater importance as he verges on manhood. A Prince of the Blood comes of age at eighteen, but he docs not finish his education for many years after that. The task of training a direct heir to the throne is by no means an easy one, for there are a hundred and one things to be considered. Etiquette is a stuni-bling-block, and favoritism, or signs of it, must be avoided rigidly if nobody is to be offended. Thus, King Edward, when he was a youth, went to Oxford, Cambridge, Glasgow, and Edinburgh in turn. If he had chosen one University and graduated there the others would have been offendsd.. THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF RANK. A future king soon learns that his rank carries great responsibilities, for which he must prepare early in life. Prince Edward will have to "cram" more than the ordinary public schoolboy. He was sent to Osborne because tradition decrees that the direct heir must first bo a sailor—the Navy being the senior Service. The present Prince of Wales was a sailor until the death of his elder brother made him direct heir to the throne. Then he had to leave. His eldest son, following precedent, will also go into the Army eventually; and his second son —Prince Albert—will he a sailor. Prince Edward must also know languages thoroughly—especially French ana German—and this means continuous study for several years. Then, the etiquette of Courts and the working of States will have to be tackled. By the time he has mastered them, Prince Edward Trill be envying the less important oo), who is not expected to acquire the wisdom of a statesman before he is twenty. Surprising as it seems, the Prince and Princese of Wales can exercise no recognised authority over Prince Edward. As he is direct line of succession, the King takes complete charge of him from the day he is born, and nobody out the king can select his teachers, order his career, and find him a wife. EDUCATING KAISERS.

In Germany, the Kaiser's eldest son is still pursuing his education, although he himself has an heir, who is now a fine boy of three years. Prince William is being initiated into the mysteries of government, and he is taking his place in the great departments of State, having started in the capacity of an ordinary clerk, so that he might see bow the actual work is done. He will, no doubt, apply many of his father's principles when training his own son. Despite internal troubles, the Royal Family of Russia never doubts that it will continue to hold the throne against all oomers. The heir to the crown is not six yet, but his education has begun, and he is already the colonel of a regiment. The lady -who acted as governess to'his sisters has described how eves the toys 'with which the Prince plays were selected for educational purposes. They :like to knock military glory and Royal pomp Into the heads of these infants, so that the very first idea a Prince gets is his absolute right to rule. The Tsarevitch has a large idea of his 'own importance. In the years to come, the-baby who is now heir to the throne of Spain may have cause to congratulate himself on the fact that his mother was art English princess. The Queen has done much to ' rid the Royal nursery of the stupid etiquette which ruled the palace in the old days, and his education will be conducted on up-to-date lines. The time is certainly coming when kings will have to depend npon their personalities for their power, and not on their armies. King Edward is, of course, related to all the princely babies of Europe, for his near relatives are either ruling or will one day rule the Continent. No doubt he is consulted often by parents who wish to obtain the guidance of the most influential man of his time. Prince Olaf of Norway is his grandson, and the baby who will be King of Xorway in the years to come is the son of his niece. Norway and Sweden, once united, and now di- ' vided, will eventually be governed by very near relatives of King Edward VII. Prince Olaf appears to be having a jolly time of it, but he will have to study earnestly soon, although the comparative smallness of his kingdom will make his educational course less arduous. The elder son of (Princess Margaret of Connaught is at present the second direct heir to the throne, and, as his grandfather, the reigning monarch, is in the prime of life, it must he many years before he is called upon to wear the crown. All the same, the Prince will be carefully prepared. "UNEASY LIES THE " The youngest monarch in the world rules the greatest number of persons. He is the Emperor of China, a young gentleman of six, who, according to the latest reports, spends his time crying for his mother. But bis person is now too sacred to be touched by his own mother, and the child is allowed to cry himself to sleep. There could scarcely be a less enviable position to-day, and no healthy boy would care to exchange positions with his Majesty of China. The boy who is heir to the throne of Turkey will have an easier time of it ' now that the present Sultan has placed bis Parliament on a firm basis. 'When the present Shah celebrated' the first anniversary of the murder of his father and his brother, eighty thousand persons marched in procession to the graves of their murderers and placed Imsts on them in honor of the criminals. How true that "Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown"!—" Answers."