The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1891-12-12
NEARLY A KING.
The Eventful Career Of the Duke
Of Cambridge.


Of Cambridge.
Adrift In tho World After Narrowly Miss
ing Two Thrones-Tho Most Thor
oughly English Member Of
the Royal Family.
Few men have had such narrow es-
cape of being king. whether they
liked it or not, as the duke Of Cam
bridge But it happened so long ago,
says the Chicago Journal, that nobody
thinks of that bluff, burly soldier as
ever having been possible successor to
the throne. Yet it was only the slen-
derest of chances that prevented him
from being George ", by the grace of
God, king of Great Britain and Ireland,
defender of the Faith, and the rest of it.
the duke of Kent left an only child
"a girl-in delicate health. Besides
that girl there only remained, of all the
progeny Of George I'LL, his youngest
son, the duke of Cambridge, who had
made lawful marriage and had one
son and two daughters. If that girl
had died, Or had no children, the sue
cession must have gone to the Cam
bridges AS it was she assembled the
throne as Queen Victoria, married i'm
mediately afterward, had nine chill
dren and now has hosts of grandchil-
dren and half a dozen greatrgrandchil-
dren.
It was in the city of Hanover that
Prince George Frederick, the present
duke of Cambridge, was born on the
Goth of March, 1919, just two months
before the princess Victoria of Kent,
now queen and empress. Even after
his chance of becoming king of Eng
land had vanished, it looked as if he
would surely be king of Hanover; for
the duke of Cumberland had only one
child-a boy, who became totally blind.
That blind boy, however, lived to be
king of Hanover, the last king probably
that Hanover will ever have, for he
sided with Austria in the war of 1866,
and at the peace, Bismarck, while leav-
ing the Austrian territory intact, an
nexed Hanover to Prussia and drove the
king into exile. He Observation-Disclosures
and his son is simple duke Of Cumber-
land once more.
The duke of Cam bridge having thus
narrowly missed two thrones, found
himself at large in the world, without
any prospects to speak of. His father
died poor and his mother had ali she
could do to make both ends meet. One
Of the daughters married the grand
duke of -Strelitz and be-
came very great lady indeed, but the
other, the princess Mary, remained
with her mother and brother in the old
fashioned Uncovered cottage on Kew
Green, a favorite residence of George
Ill, which had been provided for them
by the queens kindness.
There they lived the life of a. typical
genteel English family of limited
means, beloved by all their neighbors.
especially the poor, attending service
regularly at the old church on the
green, teaching the parish children and
growing into the affections and institu-
tions OF the place, as if they belonged
to it as much as the moss Of the walls
of the ancient elms that had waved
over it for centuries.
1t was this early home life that made
the duke of Cambridge what he is--the
most thoroughly English of all the
royal family, though born in foreign
country and altogether foreign on his
mothers side. He came into his title
on the death of his father in 1850, but
long before then he had chosen a dis
tinguished career. He entered the
army in 1887, when only eighteen, with
the rank Of colonel, in accordance with
the system of favoritisn which then
existed, and was made major general
ON succeeding to the dul<edom, but it
was the Crimean war in 1854 that gave
him his opportunity.
He begged to be allowed to be a real
soldier, and by the direct influence OF
the queen he was promoted to ieuten-
ant general and placed i'll command of
a division of the army, consisting Of the
brigade of guards and the brigade OF
Highlanders. There was naturally
good deal of feeling against him, and if
he had made a mess of it or disgraced
himself i'm any way there would have
been a howl of triumph among the
enemies of royalty, and even great
many people who were not enemies of
royalty would not have been sorry to
see favoritism so signally rebuked.
The duke, however, knew very well
what he was about, and his conduct at
the Alma gained for him not only the
enthusiastic confidence of his men, but
also the respect of the oldest officers in
the army, who had laughed at the idea
of a royal duke leading division be-
fore.
In the still more terrible conflict of
Inkerman he led the guards again. and.
his horse being shot under him in the
midst of a hailstorm of bullets, he would
assuredly have been killed but for the
bravery and devotion of a private SOL
der, who defended him from the Rus
sian bayonets until another horse was
brought. ...... ...-. ..
Just at this glorious period in his
career the duke met with misfortune
which all the royal family felt bitterly.
He was seized by camp fever, and the
doctors insisted on his leaving the
Crimea by the first transport. The
duke well knowing what a handle it
Z L