Evening star., 1936-01-22
BY MICHEL MOK.
CHAPTER l.

"O THE coronation of the late
King George in Westminster
Abbey on June %, 1911, rode
L his three eldest children in
one carriage of state-the Prince OF
Wales DAVID. II; the Duke of York
(Bertie). 16. and Princess Mary. IA.
As the three were being driven at
a sedate pace through the cheering
London crowds, BERTHE, the sneak. con-
trived to tickle his sister. Bravely she
suppressed giggles. shrieks. BERTHE
kept on. In sudden spasm. Mary
lunged forward. Her coronet dropped
into the seat.
CONSERVATION in the carriage.
BERTHE, remorseful, dived for the golden
trinket. He remained crouched on the
floor Of the vehicle, as invisible to the
patriotic throngs in the streets as
though he had dropped through it,
until the Abbey was reached.
David had fixed him-with his legs.
No Similar Tricks Now.
No such unseemly tricks will be
played at the coronation Of King
Edward VI11-the ceremony that will
officially elevate the strangely appeal
ing boyish man whom the world has
known and loved so long as the
Prince Of Wales. to the job Of ruler
Of the British Empire They will, at
least. not be played by any children
Of his.
To his intimates he always has
been, probably always will be. David
the last of his seven names. The
newspapers have called him the sales
man prince, the farmer prince, the
soldier prince. the rancher prince, the
golfing prince. the dancing prince,
but humanity's attitude toward love.
romance and marriage being what it
is, there's little doubt that the public
from now on will think of him as the
bachelor King.
And he will be England's first
bachelor monarch since King Ed
ward III came unmarried to the
throne, boy of IA, In 1927.
The medieval Edward took unto
himself a wife-or probably had one
thrust upon him-exactly one year
after his coronation. But in view
Of the new Kings determined refusal
to we'd through a score Of marriage.
able years-he's 41-it's quite un-
likely that history will repeat itself in
this particular.
Proposes . Precedent.
Edward himself, who. when in the
mood. can turn an epigram with the
best of them. once expressed his view
of the question in these words:
After all, England had a virgin
queen; why not a bachelor king?"
The bachelor king of England, per-
haps. Certain it is that his ascen-
sion of the throne writes "finis" to
the career of the only honest-to-
goodness Prince Charming this gen
Grafton has known.
Prince Charming he was, Of course.
particularly to the ladies. He was, to
begin with, the most eligible bachelor
in the universe. All the world loves
q lover. but the feminine half loves
an eligible bachelor even more.
The fact that only . handful OF
young women were entitled, by birth,
to aspire to the position Of future
Queen Of England made scant dif-
ference to the millions who were not.
They could banker vicariously. II
futilely.
Little Loves Rumored.
Then, too, the handsome, debonair
prince was q man Of the world, .
ladies' man. For years there was
gossip, here and there and every
where. OF little amours with girls titled
and untitled. For certain type Of
modern girl, this kind of chatter held
keen fascination. One never knew
where the lightning might strike next.
How many lasses Of all stations and
nations have dreamed themselves In
that royal lads arms?
Besides, there was (and still is)
something In his personality-a curl
Gus compound Of af1ability and
dindence, Of nervous energy and
chronic NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. ap-
pealed strongly. More often than not
he looked, as somebody once said. as
though he were In immediate need
Of protection from large majors.
If he hadn't been . prince, II he
had been. for instance, . movie actor,
all this feminine adulation might have
spoiled him for men. But he was too