Evening star., 1936-01-21


when he became King-all manner o1
fantastic things.
The prince had not been acquainted
long with the A B C's of his own Ian.
guage before tutors introduced him tt
French and German. His CHILDHOOD
was almost as busy as his manhood
has been. with few unoccupied hours
There were these three languages Il
learn, and arithmetic, which he die
not like and never was pressed to con-
tinue after he had attained the soune
understanding of figures and equation:
and grasped the first principles O.
geometry. Most of all the studies ht
liked history, and the lore Of bygont
Kings and Queens.
Trained for Army and Navy.
For his careers both In the army
and navy, he also began to train as
a tiny tot. He played soldier" in the
royal gardens. and when it was seer
he liked the game. real soldier was
called in to drill him and his play
mates Similarly he was first inter.
ested in sailing toy ships about little
ponds. and then taught how to handle
a man-size brig.
AS soon as the Prince of Wales and
his brother Albert were we'll in their
teens they were sent to the Royal Ma
val College at Osborne apd Dart
mouth. Successfully and successfully
the prince became cadet, midship-
man, lieutenant and captain in the
royal navy.
The Princes first real experience OF
military matters was as a corporal in
an officers training corps and "Corpl
Wales" as some of his friends styled
him. Was at once recognized as keen
on his new profession. He next be-
came lieutenant ir the famous Gren-
adler Guards and his relish for SOL
diering increased. He was a junior
officer when the great war began-a
catastrophe which was to change the
course Of his life for several years
quite a. greatly as it changed the lives
of millions of other men.
Sandwiched in between his military
and naval training. and his war ex-
periences. the Prince tasted-the start
of the war allowed him only a short
taste-the joys Of college life within
the storied cloisters of ancient Oxford
Liked Gay Oxford Life.
The charms of Oxford's leisurely
student life appealed to the Princes
playful, joyous, energetic nature more
than books or lectures or conferences
with tutors. The set that he fell in
with Was, naturally, one composed Of
aristocratic youths, most of whom, it
happened, were not only wealthy but
given to gaiety. Stories of their ac-
tivities, magnif1ed as such things al
ways are by each retelling and every
mile they travel. eventually began to
reach the ears of the Queen.
A strict disciplinarian, sometimes
said to be almost puritanical in her
standards. she got upon an Oxford
bound train one day, and, unan-
nounced, came upon her son in his
college. They had talk, reported to
have been quite serious in tone, and
not long afterward the Prince was
transferred away from oxford to new
surroundings and new friends at Cam
bridge. He had been there only a
short while when the war broke out,
and, like great part of. the college
youth of the land, he left the class
roo.n and the playing field for the
drudgery of military life.
The seemingly inexhaustible energy
of the Prince of Wales, whose slight
but well-knit body not infrequently
stands the strain of swimming, polo,
riding to hounds, attending teas and
receptions and formal dinners all In
one day, and then carries him dancing
until dawn the next morning, was well
taxed during the war. He was only
20 years old when the allies clashed
with Germany on the Western front,
and for the next four years and more,
almost all of his days were spent
within the sound of the guns.
Amazed Hard Boiled Sergeants.
Even before he went to France the
vigor and vim of the Prince, his tire
less activity, amazed hard-boiled old
sergeants to whom he was, outside the
range of their voices, simply "his
nibs." He was a junior officer when
war was declared and, coming down
from Cambridge, began drilling and
training troops.
At that time the Prince lived at
Buckingham Palace with his parents,
and had not yet taken over the sepa-
rate establishment at York House, st.
James Palace, which he later occupied.
It rs only few hundred yards from
Buckingham Palace. There was then
unusual about his turning out
at o'clock in the morning, doing q
long practice run in the grounds back
Of the palace, racing across the green
park to the Bath Club, off Piccadilly;
playing a hot game of squash rae
quets, taking plunge bath and swim,
and then returning to Buckingham
Palace In time to dress for the family
breakfast.
He was nearly always in high spir-
It's no matter how busy. and there are
many who think he has long been the
busiest man In the empire. |