The Washington herald., 1919-11-02
By E. c. C.DRUM-HUNT.

It's all over; the much anticipated
and talked-of visit Of Albert. monarch
OF the heroic Belgians; his royal con-
sort. Queen Elizabeth and their son.
Crown Prince Leopold, the Duke of
Brabant, to Washington, the Capital
Of the United States.
But Washington will be talking
+ about the visit for some time to come
The city has thoroughly enjoyed its
royal guests and is sorry to see them
90. The genuine affection that all
Americans felt for the rulers of the
Beigians since the day the King de-
bed Germeny's monster sovereign, has
been increased double fold by their
visit here. The city had an oppor-
tunity to find out for themselves that
the King Is all he Is said to be; Just
q nice. manly. democratic and thor
oughly human man of brains. ability
and common sense. Even the extreme
thinkers who want to throw mud at
any one bearing the title Of King and
were all prepared to dislike Albert.
found themselves s'rooting" for him
before hts visit was half over. He is
q man who would be beloved and ad-.
mired in any walk in life.
King Albert Is an attractive, likable
man; tall. broad and forceful-loolk1ng.
with q serious, kindly face and yet ap-
pears very young indeed; sometimes
almost boyish. His blond curly hair
tends to disguise his years. He does
not have the assurance or command
ing manner one might unconsciously
expect In q monarch and which Is seen
sometimes in people of lesser rank
who enjoy unaccustomed power or
position At times he seemed POSI-
lively embarrassed and again al
most uncertain about what to do
next. The Duke. a charming. slen-
der young boy. looked very much
embarrassed many times; always
looked bored. stif andS a little
scared.
Poor kid; think Of spending three
days in Washington and only being
able to act natural oncei He spent
hours and hours dining and talking to
old folks or middle-aged people: run
ming around sightseeing and listening
to dry speeches. When he was asked
at the Red Cross headquarters how
he liked American girls, his face
lighted up-he didn't look bored then
and said he hadn't had a chance to
meet any. When he was questioned
about his opinion Of their looks he
was quite tactful and replied that that
was too big a question to answer.
Anyway, he finally revolted. He was
taken sick last Wednesday night dur
ing the dinner which Secretary of
State and Mrs. Lansing gave for his
parents and himself. He had an at
tack of indigestion and went home.
But that attack didn't last long; he is
even suspected of not being sick at
all. Who would blame himf /. for
one. am glad he had the "spunk." At
any rate, he slipped away from all his
retinue and guards, secretaries. aides
and such. and went to St. Marks cafe
for the supper dance. And he was a
wise youth; he picked out Nancy
Lane. the prettiest debutante and
the most prominent socially, to be
his partner. 1t was a nice. jolly
little affair given by Horace H.
Adams. of Dallas. Tex. who is liv-
ing here for the winter. having leased
the house which Mr. and Mrs. Richard
Crane had. The other girl was his
debutante daughter. Leita Adams, and
young Ned Lane completed the COM
Pany.
At first half of the people there did
not recognize the nlce-looking boy in
ii simple uniform of a private in
Jas army. with his overseas cap or
r1Tanted with Il red tasseI matching
the cord around his arm But
gradually. word spread about the
room that the prince was in
their midst. When he departed he
gave q coin to the girl who checks the
zap. and when she saw who was
landing il to her she got so excited
re dropped the coin. Her heart is
just broken because she can't find it;
ci'e wanted to keep 1t the rest of her
days
The poor boy made one such escape,
I'm told. in Boston. and the girl in
that case is also claimed by Washing
ton-Anna HamIin. She kidnapped the
duke for a few hours and took him in
her auto TO the Stadium, having heard
'he was fond Of athletics
He also forgot he was heir sp-
parent to the throne of Belgium for
little while when he was at Mt.
Vernon. l can just see the boy now.
he was so human. The Prince took
advantage Of his parents absorption
in the historic collection of relics
in the old mansion to walk about
through the surrounding woods and
Epent some time feeding peanuts to
the squirrels. He stopped to chat
with several of the civil war vet
Grams who act as guards about the
grounds-his English is Splendid
out finally he let himself go and.
leaving the gravel path. Just ran