Evening journal., 1892-11-16
TAe palNoe Ar rAE pLAY. I
How I-S Royal Highness Attends the
English Thcatcrs.

it1- FhNC- ~ ne T-Nfs 2 .
Row Tzs Royal Highness Attends the
English Thcaiers.
The royal box i booked in the usual
way If business aml charged to the
Marlborough house account. The price
is nos increased from the'ordinary library
tariff, aud the stories told about nomil
nalqrice or a larger one being paid by
royalty only exist ~ the imagination Of
the papers who invent such tarradiddles.
Sometimes it happens thata box can
not be got at me particular tleater de-
ctded upon. When this = the case it is
put nicely to the-party who has booked
the royal boN II they could see their way
to obhgmg his royal hghness, and the
result is Of course invariably in the af-
frinative The Prince, however Is very
reluctant to have this done, and a3ways
Wishes that the party obliging shall Dc
~ little mconveineced as possible-~so
much 10 that when told that thea box
has been conceded he generally remarks:
why did you disturb anybody ON my
account / could bare oome herO an
other evening. Please see they are
thanked in my nGEne.p In the rare case
Of % refused representation is made to ms
royal highness, and they try for a box
at another theater.
When be goes to a theater It is his ex-
pressed desire to be treated exactly the
same as ono Of the ordinary audienoe.
Little displays Of flowers, bouquets,
satin programmes, et0., 5are all very
nice. but the prinoo does not care for
them, and would much rather DO with
out them. Another thing which annoys
him IS that no should bo drawn atten-
ton to by the performance on his arrival
Of tho national anthem or "God Bless
the Prince OF Wales"
As ho said ON ono occasion, ~Why
should tho amusement of every member
Of this audience DE disturbed for my
sakeg" This was at the Olympia theatr
during the run Of Fun on the Bristol"
AS soon as thei royal box became ocou-
pied everybody was astonished to see the
orchestra suddenly stand up in the mid
die Of the performance and begin play
ing "God Bless the Prince of Wales"
OF course the whole house rose ,en
masse, every eye was directed 70 the
royal box and tlSe applause was deafen-
ing. The prince Immediately left the
box and demalded&n explanation, Mr..
Jarritt arrived and explained that it
was only the overzealousness of a too
patriotic band conductor. This con
uluded tho incident, but It was accepted
rs q precedent, and tho same intimdted
TO tho managers generally. This IS why
YOU often hear people say IN o theater
| toward the close Of tho performance:
"Why, there is the Prime OF Wales over
there in box, and they never played
God 6ave the Queen What a shame!'
The prince always waits until the
final curtain has descended before rising
to leave. This is his invariablo rule. 60
much SO that he has sat out the entire
harleQuinade of Drury lane panto-
mimo. There are three or, four theaterB
only where he ever breaks this rule
! They are those houses which have no
royal entrance, and here the prince an
ticipates tho final curtain by two or
three minutes, 80 that his departure Will
not disturb the carriage traffic Of the re-
mainder Of the audience.
Immediately the prince Is announced
to have visited n theater the booking
rises, barometerlike, 10 a good heat.
This IS In reference 10 tho booking pub
lio, but beyond this when his royal
Mghness likes n play he invariably rec
mnmends It 70 all his friends In many
other ways tho prince Is always think
ing Of the drama. When no sees o bene-
fit announced for some wen known
artist who has often ministered 10 his
amusement, E Some poor player who
has fallen on bad times, he Immediately
puts his name down for stalls or boxes
TO asubstantial amounf.-Lendon Morn.
ina