The Washington herald., 1907-10-13
ROYAL TOYS STORED
Playthings of Kings and
Queens Well Cared For.
INCLUDING A HOBBY HORSE
Rocking Equine a Present to King
of England When He Was Five
Years OId-Queen AIexandra's Fav-
Orite Doll One of the Interesting
Things i'm the Collection.

At Buckingham Palace there is a room
devoted to the storage Of various toys
which kings and queens at one time
played with says Tit-Bits. There may be
seen in this interesting collection OF play
things a wooden rocking horse given to
King Edward by the Prince Consort
when his majesty was FIVE years old. On
the neck of this horse, who was known
once in the royal nursery as Jupiter, may
be seen the name Edward, carved by the
little boy who was born to be king OF
the British Isles
A bright gun metal cannon. eighteen
inches long, mounted on a steel carriage
stands next 10 the horse II was his maj
estys favorite toy, and was presented
10 him by the late Duke of Cambridge
II is a working model Of one of the
early types OF breech loading guns, now,
of course quite out of date. il was ca
pabIe of sending a small bullet through
an inch board at a distance of 100 yards,
and was given TO the king when he was
seven, but bis majesty was not permitted
20 use it until he was ten. a gun range.
$50 yards long, was then chosen at Wind
sor. where the king used often. under
the watchful care of an old artilleryman,
TO make practice with this splendid toy.
One Schooner Model.
Another extremely interesting toy is a
fine model of a schooner. designed and
made by William ". Ii is not a very
big model, being only a little over twelve
inches IN length. but it is absolutely accu-
rate in every detail. Blis model vanished
for \ time from the royal collection OF
toys when it was lent 10 Prince Edward
Of Wales. who used frequently to sail il
on Virginia Water when at Windsor. II
was. however. replaced in the collection
recently
Queen Alexandra's favorite doll is
among the most treasured articles in the
collection The doll is clad altogether in
white and all the garments were made by
her majesty when she was a very little
girl, long before she had any idea she
would one day be England's Queen. The
doll was added 10 the collection by the ex-
press desire Of the King. and was brought
over from her majesty's home in Den
mark a few years ago.
Many of the toys In the collection were
made for the royal owners. For example,
there is a wooden model Of fire engine
made by the Prince Of Wales. a hagstaff
by r. H r. the Duke of COnnaught and
a wheelbarrow constructed by the late
Duke of Edinburgh
The toy most recently placed in the col
lection IS a splendid kite of ingenious
construction made by little Prince Henry
of Wales.
Take Care OF Toys.
The royal children are taught to take
good care OF their toys. and are not per-
mitted to break them when they are tired
Of them. When a toy ceases to please its
royal owner it is sometimes placed in the
collection, but if not considered to be OF
sufficient interest for such a purpose it is
given away. usually 70 the family of some
one connected with the royal household.
Though many of the royal toys have
been carefully stored away for some years
past, no regular collection was made OF
them until King Edward ascended the
throne, when his Majesty conceived the
iAttt VI EcAlENAlA4H lAlNAii st4i NeEttiltf ana
placing them in a special room at Buck
ingham Palace.
There are over 800 toys now in the COL
lection, but many of these are really very
valuable models of beautiful design and
workmanship. and can scarcely be re-
garded as ordinary playthings For ex-
ample. there is an exquisite silver model
Of the first Paris exhibition, which was
presented 10 the Princess Victoria on
her tenth birthday by the late Empress
Frederick. This model is said to be worth
several thousand pounds and is the only
complete model Of the exhibition in exist
ence.
Even more valuable is the model of a
diver, clad in full diving costume. pre-
sented by the German Empress to Prince
Edward Of Wales q few years ago. 1t is
of pure god, and was made by Polish
artist who spent several years in com
pleting this beautiful little work of art.
Such models are ornaments rather than
playthings.