New-York tribune., 1919-07-12
The Right Kind
of King
From The Tribune's Paris Bureau

N ERLIN, June 19.--When a group of
D American newspaper men is impressed
by crowned KinP it may be taken to
mean that the King in question has qualities
quite distinct from the accident of his king
ship And after speeding through Belgium
for forty-eight hours in the dusty track of
King Albert of the Belgans the representa-
tves of the press of the United States are
agreed that if you must have kings that is
the kind of king you must have.
President Wilson was coming to pay Bel
GUM his long expected and long-delayed
visit and in the most natural way in the
world the King and Queen of the Bel
gians jumped aboard aeroplane at
Brussels and flew to a seaside resort called
La Panne, landing on the beach among a
crowd of surprised bathers. Royalty took it
as the most casual occurrence, which set the
note for everybody else, there was an ex-
change of smiles and greetings, whereafter
royalty walked to hotel.
Bright and early in the morning royalty
took an automobile and sped to Adinkerkc,
the little station on thes Belgian frontier
where President and Mrs. Wilson to be
greeted. Thither came also Brand Whitlock,
who is Minister to Belgidm; Baron Monchcur,
who was Belgian Minister to Washington
once upon time; the Military Governor,
General Verbiest; the Civil Governor, JAMS
sens de Bisthoyen, and all the local function
aries, including the stationmaster, arrayed
like the lilies. Royalty spent the time of
waiting in chatting with all these-and
number of others who are not official enough
kO nd ooh
that, whether baron or brakeman, royalty
gave each and all the same greeting
This same greeting served for President
and Mrs. Wilson, and it did not appear that
the President found anything lacking in it.
Perhaps this was because it had warmth
without heat, cordiality without gush and SIN
cerity without show-ins short, because it was
the sort of greeting that is known and gen.
orally popular in the United States of
America.
Through all the bleak waste Of the
try that had been burned gray by war pa
thetic little groups stood at doorways
and cheered family, and to them the King
and the Queen smiled and waved hands.
Sometimes we stopped, and at once crowd
gathered. There was charmed circle in
among his subjects and his guests distin-
guished only by his great height, and-let it
be said-by his very good manners. If he
desired to speak to some one among US he
did not as was traditional with kings. sum-
man that person haughtily to him. He moved
through the crowd and spoke to the person
very simply and very pleasantly.
And so we came to Brussels, where the
station was banked about with flowers and
carpets were laid Yet even here the man
who contrived to make the occasion simple
and democratic was the prince by birth and
the crowned head by inheritance. Every
thing was ordered and arranged-well Or
dered and we'll arranged, let it be said
yet this tall young man in the generals
uniform contrived to give it an air of
spontaneity, of homely cordiality.
There Is story going the rounds that
when he goes again to America he wants to
travel in an aeropane. If he does one can
imagine him dropping casually out Of the
clouds on to the beach at Coney Island just
as he descended among the bathers at La
Panne. And nothing at Coney, or anywhere
else in the United States, would disturb his
simplicity his dircctness, his unself-con-
scOuSness.
He has been sentimentalized over for
nearly five years, but when you have
him you are not surprised that this should be
so. And when he goes again to America
there will be one hundred and ten million
Of people to agree with the decision of the
American newspaper men who travelled with
h'm~~tbat II you must have kings that Ia
the kind Of king you must have.