ROYAL WIFE IN WARTIME

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21188, 10 August 1940, Page 16 (Supplement)

ROYAL WIFE IN WARTIME

Our Queen Is Playing Her Part TF you were ever to be present at some function which the King and Queen are attending, you would be wise to watch the King closely as he rises and begins his address. When he has been speaking for a few minutes he will 'pause for the briefest moment and his eyes will turn towards the Queen, close beside him and listening to his words intently. As though by instinct, her Majesty’s blue eyes will lift to her husband’s at the same time and gently, proudly, she will smile back. Then the King will continue his speech again, and his voice will be deeper and firmer, filled with the renewed confidence the Queen’s loving approval has conferred. So you will realise how deep and true is the bond between this royal married pair, and how our Queen inspires and helps the King in all the little things of their daily life. On the day that war broke out they had a double portrait hastily taken for national publication, and, quite naturally and unconsciously, the Queen made it characteristically expressive of their complete union. As the King took up his position before the camera she moved beside him and slipped her hand through his arm, so that they looked out at the world together with mutual resolve and courage. Two people who were as one, comrades in the finest sense. Two Parts to Play Our Queen has a double part to play in life, for she must take her place as the First Lady in the Land with the King in public, and she must also be a wife, like any other, in the private domestic seclusion beside their own hearth. Some women would fail before such a heavy task, but our Queen Elizabeth has a keen sense of duty, which she learnt in her own parental home, and she is imbued with the love that “accomplisheth all things.” That is why she always looks so sincerely happy and why her radiant smile is frequently in evidence. When she was first called to the Throne she set about what she described to a close friend as “my new job of being a Queen” with the determination that her royal husband should be proud of his consort. She strove to help him in any and every way she possibly could, and so in these wartime days which have brought the King such additional heavy responsibilities it is the Queen to whom he turns for counsel and who shares the strain of his long working hours with him. Just as any other wife would, she makes a practice of discussing his affairs of the day at breakfast and seeing how can be of service to him. Sitting at the blackwood table in the sunny Chinese-style dining-room, the King and Queen talk matters over together. Perhaps the King has promised to inspect troops that afternoon. The Queen, who has been reading up the history of the regiment concerned, tells the King about it so that he is saved the trouble of studying it himself. As soon as the meal is over she will accompany the King to the library and listen while he reads his speech to her. Maybe she can suggest some small alteration or addition that will b& an improvement. Keeping the Court Diary Frequently the King goes away for several days to visit the Fighting Forces in distant places. During his absence the Queen deals with all his personal correspondence herself, and in the big blue-bound diary she writes up every night she enters a detailed account of the day’s happenings. When the King returns she reads her diary aloud to him, and so he is completely conversant with current affairs at Court. As often as possible the Queen accompanies her husband on public tours, happy to help him express the nation’s appreciation to the men and women who are working to win the war. These are only a few of the innumerable ways in which the Queen assists the King in his regal capacity, yet always content for him to receive the credit, without asking any added limelight for her efforts. In their home life she studies and serves him to just the same extent—and, indeed, the King has frankly said that the good health he enjoys is flue to the way in which the Queen studies his needs. It is the Queen who keeps the King’s personal relationships fresh and green by writing many private letters for him’ Regularly her Majesty pens affectionate little notes to those members of the royal family whom the war has scattered—for instance, to Queen Mary living quietly in the West of England. She writes them as from the King and herself jointly, with mquiries and messages that are always “from us both.” War has robbed the King and Queen of many of their incidental pleasures. Extra duties have meant they must give up their occasional theatre visits, and the little private cinema where after dinner they sometimes used to watch one of the latest films. They can no longer spend a carefree Sunday afternoon gardening in the lovely ground of Royal Lodge at Windsor, and petrol rationing precludes the country runs they enjoyed on fine Saturday evenings. Separated From Their Children Most of all, the King and Queen have been separated from their children, and the absence means every bit as much to them as to all the thousands of other lonely parents. Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret are evacuated to greater safety “somewhere in the country,” and only on occasional week-ends can they see their father and mother, and enjoy once more that happy hour after tea when the King reads aloud to his daughters, and the Queen plays the piano for merry chorus singing. But her Majesty still sees to it that the golden bonds of family love are kept brightly glowing both for the King and herself. She often speaks to the Princesses over the telephone, and there are messages from Daddy and sometimes little presents are sent too. Not long ago the Queen bought two big photograph frames for new pictures of the King, so that Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret could each* have one to keep in their country bedrooms. So in every conceivable way our Queen strives constantly to be a loyal helpmeet to her royal husband, and the King deeply appreciates all this tender inspiration and service which she brings to him. They have remained friends and lovers throughout their sixteen years of happy married life, and their joy and pride in each other continues to shine undimmed for all the world to see.