Evening star., 1936-01-23
The Bachelor King
"As Kid It Was the Very Devil"
Edward Revealed Later.
BY MICHEL MoK.

Edward VIII Of England, came on the
occasions Of state balls given BY his
parents.
Was 1t the sight Of gold, the glitter.
the uniforms, the ladies' lovely eve
ming gowns? Was It the dreamy, lilt-
ing sound OF the waltz music?
Alas. no. On such nights the
youngster. then Z, together with his
6-year r-old brother BERTHE (now the
Duke of York;, would steal from his
bed, sneak into the bath room, load
UP with soaking wet sponges. creep
along the gallery encircling the ball
room and, with unerring aim. drop
the spongcs on the startled magnifi-
cence below.
After thrice playing this prank, the
boys had to promise, on pain Of dire
punishment, never. never to do such
q thing again. So at the next ball
they dropped no sponges. Instead.
they procured from q source that has
ESCAPED assisiuous research by British
historians \ rather smelly hsh, at
tached 1t to . string, and played"
1t on the heads Of guests sitting out
dances in secluded alcoves.
Queen Mary Remembers.
The lads mother, then the Duchess
of York. now the Queen Dowager
Mary, dealt drastically with her sons
after that malodorus escapade. But 1t
was she who remembered the episode
and recalled 1t fondly In later years.
Aside from such rare breaches OF
etiquette the life of the young heir to
the British throne was almost devoid
of fun. Wherever he happened to be,
there dewy-eycd women hung about
the palace ground railings, doing q
sincere, but none the less embarrassing
vicarious mother act 1t q respectful
distance.
Whenever he took a ride or q walk
in some royal park. little boys thrust
their faces between the bars Of the
fence, staring at the livery OF the
hunkies. the royal carriage. but mostly
at the prince.
There they stood, staring. dreaming.
wondering. Wondering what it must
be like to be . bloomin' prince. And
Davy stared back dreaming. wonder
ing. Wondering what 1t must be like
to be just = bloomin' little boy.
LAS a kid" Edward p. often re-
marked to friends after he had grown
up, 1T was the very devil"
1t was. of course. goldfish bow
existence. 1t had been that way from
birth.
A Prince Of Walls.
He came into the world a very ordi-
nary. squealing infant-"a veritable
Prince of Walls" an English wag
once punned-in the cool Of the eve
ming of June %, 1894.
The place: White Lodge. Rich
mond, where the Duchess of York had
gone for her confinement. In the
offing hovered the late Herbert AS
quith. then home secretary. In the
ofing. too, lurked q large group OF
pressmen-reporters. say vein the
silk hats which ink k-stained wretcheS
were in the habit of wearing on such
occasions in the early 90s.
From London Queen Victoria, then
in the fitty-eighth year Of her reign.
telephoned every half hour. It was
to be the 1irst time in history that
. Queen Of England had lived to see
three generations Of her line and
feast her eyes on the pink visage Of
q great-great-grandchild.
At proper Victorian distance from
the actual scene of the accouchment.
the prospective father. the Duke Of
York Oater King George W paced
the study of the lodge.
On the stroke Of 10 the entire es-
sprang to life. To the
post Office, in person, dashed Mr..
Asquith, dispatched this telegram to
his colleagues of the cabinet:
Her royal highness. the Duchess
of York. was safely delivered of a son
at 10 o'clock"
Next, the reporters took and for
hours held the wires
National rejoicing in London, In
every city. town and village of the
realm, church bells clamored. Union
Jacks were unfurled against the star
studded Summer skies.
Telegram From Queen.
A telegram arrived at the lodge.
It was from Queen Victoria-a long
expressing her utter delight.
Of an hour later the
Prince of Wales (later King Edward
vI1) hustled in, jolly. rotund. his
graying beard smelling vaguely of
patchouli and Havana. After con-
his son. he asked to see
and was shown. his newborn grand
son.
He laughed. He said: HE has
large and vigorous lungs, the beggar."
The next day Queen Victoria ar
rived. pinchcd the infants cheeks.
wept with emotion. called him my
precious little darling"
Parliament passed congratulatory
resolutions. In the House Of Com
mons one dissenting voice was raised.
It was that Of the late Keir Hardie,
dour Socialist member for West Ham.
Said he:
The assumption ID that this newly
born child will b. called upon. some
day. to reign over this empire. But.
up to the present, we have no means
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MATHHE AIICT'InM