KING EDWARD'S FRIENDS

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 160, 23 November 1912, Page 1 (Supplement)

KING EDWARD'S FRIENDS

SIDELIGHTS ON ROYAL LIFE. The following was cabled from London to the Sydney Sun recently: — There are many interesting stories in the biography just published of the late King. Mr. Edward Legge is the author, and lie entitles his book. "King Edward VII. in His True Colors." Mr. Legge says that until King Edward's last illness his appetite was the envy of young diplomatists. The King was made of rock, and it was impossible for him to remain unoccupied. In the selection of his friends he displayed considerable acumen. The finances of the Royal Household were muddled, and he engaged Lord Esher, Lord Earquhar, and Sir Ernest Cassell, three of his closest acquaintances, to place them 111 order. They established au amortisation scheme, and after a few years of energetic treatment solvency was the result. Ail interesting little incident is related regarding Sir W". U. Russell, the famous journalist, who accompanied King Edward to India. Lord Rosebtry recommended Russell for a knighthood, and Victoria conferred the honor at I'lUckingham I'alace. Russell said: "When I hopped in the King remarked: 'Don't kneel. Hilly; just stoop.'" Sir Dighton Prolnn. an oilieer of her Majesty's Household, handed the ribbon of the Order, and King Edward slipped ii over Russell's head. ' I X11AI! \ 111N I (11' s RELATION'S. Mr. I.egge contends that. King Edward's relations with the Herman Knipcror were ahvavs inharmonious. On one occasion the Emperor arrived in England. anil his suite was so numerous that Windsor Ca-tle was unequal to the demands made upon it to house them. Some of the start' were accordingly sent, to Frngmorc. anil they wrote home say-

ing that the hospitality extended to them was not good enough. This gossip reached the King's cars. Edward's conception and good breeding continually caused him to flout the exuberant loquacity of his German nephew. Wilhelm used to chattel' with scant reticence before other people concerning the gentlemen whom his uncle had chosen as his personal friends. King Edward was annoyed, and he showed his annoyance. He read the newspapers every day, and even wlieh he was ill at the last, and could not sleep, his memory was still good. THE BACCARAT CASE. He never forgot. After the baccarat case, when he Was drawn into a scandal at the home of the Wilsons, the wellknown Yorkshire shipping family, he was disappointed -at the coolness of the Morning Post, and pleased with the chivalrous article which appeared in the Daily Telegraph. One paper, which accorded him a Roman burial, was consigned to the flames, and the writer of the article publicly snubbed. In a letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury King Edward said: "I have a horror of gambling, and I should always do my utmost to discourage others. I consider that it is one of the greatest curses that the country could be afflicted with." EOXl) OF TIIKATRKS. The King was passionately lond of tlieatrs, and was a regular lirst-night.er. He had a predilection for the Comcdie "Erancaise in 'l'aris. and loved to smoke a ■ •ijKir and drink a glass of beer with the directors in their private room. lie was a hearl.v spectator of farces, even when they were of a rather pointed character. Very few journalists or authors were welcomed at Marlborough House. In addition lo Mr. Uussell. Lord liunihain (proprietor of the Daily Telegraph). Marie t'orelli, Mr. Hall (of the Daily Craphic). and the late Mr. Mellon Prior, the famous war correspondent and artist, I were constant visitors. So was the late Mr. Hcnrv I.a boiich'Te. who dispensed ,

with such predicates as "Your Royal Highness" or "Your Majesty," and was content to address Edward simply as "Sir." At a Prime Minister's dinner on one occasion the late King circled the room and bade adieu to the guests, but missed one of them. When he reached the door he turned and walked back to the solitary guest by the iireplace and wished him a friendly ••Good-night." King Edward, says Mr. Legge, had a greater variety of hats and caps than any other sovereign. His hats for ordinary wear numbered 30, and his military helmets and hats covered a larger range than those of the Kaiser. He did not like straw hats. FISHBONES AS SOUVENIRS. A waiter at Marieubad, where the King went nearly every year, was pestered by an American notoriety hunter for something that Edward had touched. The astute waiter gave him a fishbone oil the King's plate, for which he received 3 dol. Then he collected all the other fishbones in the restaurant, and sold them to other Americans, clearing 4Sdol. over the business. Other seekers ot' souvenirs were indefatigable. They paid fancy prices for the King's cigar butts, and scrambled for the water in which he had washed his hands, tie once told a good stow against himself, in which a girl l:i year-, of age was said to have seen the King and his suite, and to have reinai'k"d to her mother that "it was very handy. He.didn't die till wc!d seen him." King Kdward stated that lie had scarcely time to rend novels. "Hut." he :'ilded. "I do sometimes. It seems to me that a, writer's talent manifests itself not in dealing with psychological problems, lull ralher ill the line descriptive passages. Nothing is so dillicult to describe as a landscape. "When I am in the theatres I. prefer pieces which make me laugh." Mr. Legge maintains that his Majesty was a great diplomatist, a. leader of public opinion, a democratic monarch, and skilled in worldly lore.