Duke Of Kent a Most Popular Member Of The Royal Family

Taranaki Daily News, 27 August 1942, Page 3

Duke Of Kent a Most Popular Member Of The Royal Family

Many fine qualities in a man designated for service. At a time when so many prominent men in the United Nations are using the air for travel upon important missions, the death of the Duke of Kent emphasises the danger which each and every one runs, a peril which extends to all the men who take to the air as their daily portion in war. The Duke ot Kent was one ot the most popular members of the Royal Family, and also a man well informed in publtc affairs and widely travelled. In the course of his life in the Navy and later in his career he had visited many parts of the world, although he had never been to Australia and New Zealand. Last year he flew to Canada in a bomber and inspected air training ce'ntres. Born on December 20, 1902, the Duke of Kent was the fourth surviving son of Queen Mary and the late King George V. He entered the Royal Navy, after passing out of Dartmouth Naval College, in 1921, and served in the Mediterfanean Fleet, on the China Station and in the Atlantic Flpet until his retirement from the Navy for health reasons in March. 1929. He became a Knight of the Garter on his 21st birthday and G.C.V.O. in 1924, in which year he was made a Freeman of the City of London, and the London Gazette of Octotber 9, 1934, announced that the King had directed letters patent to be passed under the Great Seal of the Realm granting him the dignities of Baron Downpatrick, Earl of St. Andrews and Duke of Kent, by the last of which he had since been known. Popular In The Navy. Prince George Edward Alexander Edmund, to give the Duke his full name, received his earliest education from Mademoiselle Dessan, that cultured and accomplished French lady from whom Princess Mary received much of her education. In the nursery at that time — this was before the Great War — there was a German maid as well, and Prince George early got a knowledge of languages. Like his brother, the King, he entered the Royal Navy as a cadet from Osborne in 1916, and passed out of Dartmouth as a midshipman in January, 1921. He was most popular there, being called either "George" or "P.G." He had another attribute which made for popularity. He had a genius for smuggling friends in for \ midnight parties. I He served on the H.M.S. Iron Duke and I H.M.S. Queen Elizabeth, became a ' sublieutenant in 1924 and a lieutenant in 1926. Visit To Hollywood. The Duke's travels began early in his life, for on the Mediterranean station he became acquainted with Vigo, Gibraltar and Malta, and he had the opportunity privately of visiting Egypt. Then, in June of 1924, he sailed for the China Station in H.M.S. Hawkins, and spent 18 months there. On returning to the • Hongkong hotel one night with other naval offlcers, he found it in flames. The East Surrey Regiment and the naval unit fought the fire throughout the night, and the Duke assisted. While on the West Indian station 1d H.M.S. Durban, the Duke not only saw much of the islands, but something of the United States. The ship visited Vancouver and a number of the young officers, including the Duke, accepted an invitation to Hollywood, where they attended a party given by Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford. The Duke's health, however, had never been good, and it was . announced in

March, 1929, that he wouid be retirmg from the Navy. He then entered the Foreign Office, the first member of the Royal Family to become a civil servant. Ul-health again interfered with his work, and he had to abandon it for a time. His interest in the domestic affairs of the nation led him to enter the Home Oflice, and there he became an inspector of factories A good snot and a keen rider, the Duke of Kent, like his brothers, took a course in flying, and spent some time in solo fiights. He was also a capable pianist and had a good deal of taste in music. Apart from serious music, however, he was able to amuse himself with the more popular type. On one occasion he was at a party when the gramophona went wrong. While it was being repaired he sat down to the piano and played jazz for half an hour for the benefit of the guests. " He was fond of dancing, and danced well. It has been said that the Duke did not like making speeches, but he faced tnis duty quite well. Moreover, he had a pleasing voice and a charm Ing smile. Perhaps the fact which brought him romantically before the world was his marriage. Princess Marina is the youngest of the three daughters of Prince N?ch olas of Greece. Prince George met hei first in 1929, and then in 193. he went to Yugoslavia to spend a holiday with Prince Paul of Yugoslavia, husband of Marina's eldest sister. Within five days of his arrival at the picturesque summer resident on Bohinisko Lake he had asked her to be his wife, and she had consented. It came as a surprise not only to the general public, but to his owa equerry and to most members of the Royal Family. They were married the same year in November. The wedding was celebrated at Westminister Abbey on November 29, 1934, before an assembly representative of the Empire and a large contingent of Koyal guests from abroad. The whole nation was in effect wedding guests, as the service was successfully broadcast to all the Dominions. Since then they had been out of England several times, to Yugoslavia. to Bavaria and to the West Indies. When in July, 1935, he learned that the publio desired to make him a wedding present, he suggested that it should take the form of a donation to the St. George's Hospital. The sum of £33,482 was raised. Though he had not travelled as extensively as his brothers, he was by no means completely untravelled. He had been to South Africa, and to South America, and but for the strenuousness of the latter tour would have come to New Zealand in 1934 in the place of the Duke of Gloucester. He accompanied his elder brother, the Duke of Windsor, to South America in 1931, when the latter was Prince of Wales, while three years later he made a most successful tour of South Africa. So successful was it that the Zulus asked that he should be made the next Governor-General of the Unton If it had not been for the war, however, he would have been Governor-General of Australia, for his appointment was announced in 1939 but was held over when war broke out. The Duke and Duchess have three children, a son, Prince Edward, born on October 9, 1935, a daughter, Princess Alexandra, born on December 25, 1936, and another son, Prince George, born on July 4, American Independence Day, this year. President Roosevelt is one of the godparents of Prince Michael, this being the first time in history a citizen of the United States has stood sponsor for a member of the British Royal Family. In 1940, under the name of "Sister Kay," the Duchess of Kent trained as a V.A.D. at the University College Hospital, London. During her training she m'acie beds, washed dishes and helpied with surgical cases, as well as taking duty in the casualty clearing station. She carried on during air-raid alarms and among those she tended were many raid victims.