The National tribune., 1910-06-23

She was obliged to see her father,
whom she loved tenderly, treated with
a lack of regard that wounded her to
the quick The Prince of Wales, after
ward King Edward VII, never particu-
larly liked him, and disapproved hearth
ly of his Cousin Mary of Cambridges'
marriage. English society took its cue
from him and Queen Victoria, and tho
they treated his daughter, Princess
May, charmingly, and she was invited
everywhere, her father was looked upon
as a person for whom it was not worth
while to put oneself out, penniless,
foreign nobleman who had been lucky
enough to marry an English Princess
of the blood. a man of no Importance
whatever. In spite of the fact that the
Duke of Teck when young had served
with distinction in the Austrian army
as cavalry leader-and sight for the
gods must he have been on horseback
had won special praise for his gallantry
in the war of 1859. and later as Colonel
of Hussars in 1864, yet Victoria, after
he became an English citizen, would
not accord him any commensurate rank
in the English army, not even a Col
onelcy of Militia. He who had won
laurels as the dashing young cavalry
officer in the battle of Solferino was OBJ
liged to content himself with the honor
ary command of the Corps of Post Of
flee Volunteers, but so well did he per-
form his duties, and so useful did he
make himself in other ways, that he
was finally, after Is years of waiting,
given Colonelcy in the English army.
All this was deeply humiliating to
the proud Princess May. She was made
to feel also the double blight upon her
birth thru her mothers and paternal
grandfather's morganatic marriage. In
credible as it seems, she was loked up
On by many almost as If she had been
an illegitimate child. When just emerg-
ing into womanhood she was obliged
to endure the sting of having a proud
old Tory noble refuse to give his sane
ton to a union between his eldest son
and herself on this account. 1t hurt
her terribly. Then came her betrothal
to Prince Eddie, received with universal
satisfaction thruout the Kingdom, but
attended with many difficulties in the
family circle. Queen Victoria, without
whose consent the engagement was i'm
possible, objected, preferring as wife
for her favorite grandson a Princess
whose title to royalty was perfectly clear,
and possibly actuated just a little bit
by the old feeling of jealousy for her
cousin, the handsome and popular Prin-
cess Polly" hesitating to confer so
great an honor upon her only daughter.
However, she did finally consent, and,
as we all know, the young Duke died
before the marriage took place. Then
came her engagement to Prince George,
again seriously objected to by Queen
Victoria, who looked upon the Princess
as widow, and considered that she
had no right to marry, and also frowned
upon by Alexandra, who resented the
slight to her eldest boys memory. But
the Prince of Wales was determined
n 1ic oh, f1lT .ln 10 k.r
value of public sentiment, and that
such a marriage would increase the
popularity of the royal house with the
people, so he insisted upon carrying his
point, and the two were made man and
wife. This was, perhaps, the most
truly popular marriage ever made by
the reigning house, and was received
with acclamations of joy from one end
of England to the other, which proved
that the Prince of Wales knew perfect
ly well what he was about.
Even after her marriage to Prince
George Mary was not quite without her
trials Relations between her and Alex
andra were somewhat strained, and she
spent a very large portion of her time
during the first year of her married
life with her parents and brothers. No
one had ever supposed the match to
have been love match, and ii certainly
did not look as If there was any very
great amount of affection between the
young couple. George appeared to en-
Joy the society of his mother and sister
Victoria more than he did that of his
wife. King Edward, however, was kind
ness itself. and it is doubtless owing to
his tact that the two were gradually
drawn more together. Altho she was
destined TO be one day England's Queen,
should her life be spared, yet the con-
tinental courts, and especially that of
Germany, could not seem to forget the
mesalliance of her mother and grand
father, and she was not accorded the
lonors due her rank and station, when
travelling with her husband, freely and
spontaneously, but in such way that
she finally restricted her official tours to
those countries and dependencies of
England where she knew she would be
warmly welcomed. In India, Australia
and Canada, which she visited with |
Prince George, she was received with |
the widest enthusiasm, even greater |
than that bestowed upon Ge0gsa- whom