Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-03-10
SPANISH KINGS MODESTY
IS STRIKING ISTIC
Alfonso Talks Entertainingly
to a British Newspaper
Writer.
Has Clever Way of Starting
Subject to Draw Informa-
ton From Visitor.

Daily Mail, is. by special arrangement with that
ciated Press):
The first time saw the King of Spain
he was running up the steps of the RITZ
Hotel, in London, and the cabman to
whom I was paying my fare remarked,
Good old Alfonso" He was certainly
not old, and it is possible that at the
moment he was not being particularly
good but the words expressed faithfully
enough the attitude of mind, sym
pathetic, half proprietary, wholly indul-
gent, of the British public toward the
boyish monarch of a friendly but for
eign land. 1t was enough that he was
coming to England for wife, and that
he was the friend and protege of King
Edward; he was zone of u.s."
The next time I saw him was at his
mothers palace of Miramar. In Seoas-
tan, where he did me the honor to re-
ceive me in private audience The first
touch of autumn was on the roses and
tit must be confessed) the geraniums of
the palace garden, but the sunshine lay
hot and bright on the blue waters of
the shelllike bas. where, under the very
windows of the palace. the great yacht
Giralda was rolling at her mornings.
On the walls of the room where l
waited there was but one picture-an
enlarged photograph Oh d litlle Doy oii
a horse; little boy sitting firm and up
right in his saddle, his face turned to
look you straight in the eyes. with an
expression of keyed-up courage, of anX-
ious boldness. as though to meet what
ever destinies might lie before him. l
thought, as l regarded the picture, that
some good influences must have been at
work molding the little mind that look
ed out through the windows of those
smiling, fearless eyes; and the words of
hn hv n
mind, and gave me the sense that, in a
foreign country and amid the uncus-
tomary environment of royal state, l
was about to meet with a familiar
friend.
Just at first, on being ushered into
his presence. that sense forsook me. The
young man who came forward. with
just a touch of formality, to greet me,
seemed to be denizen of the historical,
rather than the actual, world; and the
arched eyebrows, long Hapsburg chin
and the divided mustache, la Philip
~. under the long Bourbon nose, pro-
duced strangely foreign impression,
which it took few moments of the
easiness of the modern manner and the
well modulated English of the quiet
voice to dispel. But only a few mo-
mentS.
velasquez faded. and the little boy
on the horse and the youth enjoying
himself in London became SO real that
presently l told him about the cabby's
remark. 1t was obvious that it repre-
sented just the kind of feeling the
sportsman in him would wish to in
spire; and the wide. slow smile spread
over his face as we talked of London
and England-especially of King Ed
ward, of whom he spoke with an af-
lection and regret that were very
touching to an Eng1ishman. The love
of life that endeared Edward to his
world found ready echo in the young
heart of Don Alfonso
He was my professor. he said, and
the boy who had never known ia
Their found in the worldly wisdom of
the English king a supplement to the
loving though Stricter, influences of his
own circle. He told me of the dozen
ways in which King Edward. by show
ing ready sympathy with youthful
high spirits, could hold them back from
follles or excuses by a single word or
hint- and al the same time win the
heart of his young fellow-traveler on
the difficult road of royalty
II was his most loyal subject" said
King Alfonso: and very gracefully
said on the part of his Catholic mai
eSty.
Extremely Agreeable Manners.
1 have had other talks with his maj
esty in the same and other surround
ings-among them in those of the Roy
al Palace in Madrid, perhaps the most
magnificent of the inhabited houses of
kings. There the setting is SO elabor-
ate that one could hardly be surprised
to find the man being little obliter-
ated by the monarch. But it was not so
in my experience. When. after being
passed from hand to hand, one ira
versed alone the great chamber under
the glowing canopy of Tiepolo, it was
the same friendly and unaffected gra-
ciousness that waited for one and led
the way to the little anteroom, where
chairs and cigarettes were substituted
for inciinations and formalities. By
dwelling on what he has in common
with you. and seeming to ignore the
rest, he throws a light bridge across
whatever CULTS of training, race, or
estate may separate you from him; and
SO makes it possible for one whose
knowledge of him is as limited as
mine to form some living acquaintance
with the mind and character that lie
beneath the smiling surface
The first thing that strikes one in
King Alfonso, apart from the fact that
able manners, is certain modesty of
mind which l imagine is unusual in
ruling nionarchs. 1t is true he is the
King Of Spain, but you feel als2 that he
with the means of his life's work
rather than as being itself the end:
that he values it much less for the
sa ko q its privileges than for its ol-
Wv S'sf'A "=eTr- Al every StJltuS ora lie
SAYS you realize his own sense that be-
sides aeine; king he is a human being.
in 4 position Of great responsibility to-
ward other hu7nan beings that his lot
is cast in a diIiici:tt time, in which all
true men are called upon, to exert their
whole strength and pull their whole
weight.
these are 0&t easy times in which to
he :. ding lie said uc me; zone has to
know q, great Gc.-. more and work a
great deal kacdcr than in any other
time. And II you fail. your failure
means a great ds,a. more. ] o1;.y ei-t DE
good enough fer the post" he :.+aed,
but anyhow ] lre&n to try nv t,zstl'
I quote his remark because t:a!:are
il represents no mere :.Ee<tqtfor hit
a genuine sense OF his responsibilities
and OF the difficulty of diac;icrging
tha:a Alright. II is no- tat he has an
o!ssSe:G'- as to the greatness ,;r his
position; rather tkac b. has arrived: CT
the con:iE*:ot- s.!cr., :t'1 14ca: Iae:. OF
sense and spirit. taat ii IS Do:a= toe .zs.sv
a tasi. to fulfil ones whole OBLIGATIONS
IL any walk of life. and that thc c,,.5l-
piicaticrS of contributions =uvzre.s-...y
are not exactly things that MAKE ii
easier.
His conversation is, I think. iese an
expression of his ow9 mind traa a
search and angling exploration into the
mind of the person he is talking to-
He wants to know, things, yau feel; to
inform himself; to fish out an! extract
the note of truth from that changing
tune of voices. all modulated 70 on.3
more or less deferential key, with
which it is the royal lot to be surround