Marriage of King's Nephew Opposed by Earl of Harewood

Taranaki Daily News, 2 September 1942, Page 5

Marriage of King's Nephew Opposed by Earl of Harewood

The following cabled message from London appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald:— The Hon. Gerald David Lascelles, yonger son of the Earl of Harewood and the Princess Royal, and nephew of the King, has become engaged to Miss June Morris, an 18-year-old Jewess, of Leeds. Mr. Lascelles, in an interview with the London Daily Mirror, said: "We are engaged as far as we are concerned. but it is not official. Families can be most difficult. I do not think there will be a wedding before the end of the war." Miss Morris showed the Daily Mirror a letter from the Earl of Harewood saying that he could not countenance a marriage before his son was 21 years of age. "I am doubtful if even then it would be possible," he said. "A marriage under the existing laws would be' null." Miss Morris said that the King's consent would be necessary, and, if that was impossible, they would. after the war, marry abroad, as the Duke of Windsor had done.

The First Meeting. "I fell in love with Gerald when 1 met him in a bus," she continued, "but I did not know who he was. Later I was introduced to him at a dance. "Gerald asked my father's consent five weeks ago, and then proposed to me. My father agreed, and we would marry to-morrow if we could get consent all round. We are engaged, and do not care who knows it. We just want people to leave us alone. "The Earl of Harewood called to see my people on August 22. He was charming, but told my father that we could not marry until we were of age, and then it would only 'be considered.' He said that Gerald would be leaving the district this week to go into the army. It is all very difficult but Gerald and I are crazy about each other." Miss Morris' father is a lieutenant in the Royal Army Pays Corps. The Daily Mirror published the story in its first edition, but not in subsequent editions. Mr. Lascelles, who became 18 years of age on ' August 22, has been working in a munitions factory in the north-east of England at a wage of nearly £2 a week. He began working in April. His brother, Lord Lascelles. who is 19 years of age. is in the Grenadier Gimrrls^