Early Home Life and Varied Duties
During the years immediately succeeding his marriage the career of the
Prince of Wales was one of initiation into the responsibilities of home
life and the duties of public life. It was a period of moulding
influences and a round of functions--some perfunctory, some pleasant. It
was a time of trial for a very young man placed in a very high position,
and with temptations which might easily have led him into temporary and
even permanent forgetfulness of the responsibilities of the future.
Several causes, apart from his own natural strength of character,
combined to avert such a result. The sympathetic and gracious character
of his wife and the perfection of management and detail which she
introduced into the home life of Sandringham and the more public and
social life of Marlborough House, were factors of importance. The
recollection of his father's teachings and high ideals and the knowledge
of his Royal mother's character and devotion to principle were important
influences. The growth of family ties had its effect, and, finally, the
shock of a sickness in 1871, which brought him to the verge of death and
showed him the loving affection of the nation, completed the process of
education in that difficult and dangerous road which the youthful Heir
to a great Throne must always travel.
Of the Princess of Wales in these years it is hard to speak too highly.
Fond of domestic life, retiring by disposition and character, caring
more for husband and family than for all the glitter and glory of the
world's greatest functions or positions, she yet lived in the blaze of
a continuous publicity without possible or actual criticism and with a
ceaseless and ready charm of manner, a never-failing courtesy to high
and low, an ever-increasing popularity. Amid all the innumerable duties
and difficulties of her position there has never been a visible mistake
committed. The right people have been cultivated and encouraged; the
wrong people treated in a way which could not be resented nor
misunderstood. The right thing has been said so often that it has come
to appear the natural thing. An atmosphere of ideal refinement has
always surrounded her, and its subtle influence has pervaded many a
brilliant home and circle where other influences might easily have
prevailed. In a time when calumny would attack an Archangel, and when
its bitter barbs have been known to reach even the humanly perfect life
of Queen Victoria, no shadow has ever crossed the curtain of her
character. Of her tact--a quality which she possesses in common with the
Prince of Wales--stories are innumerable, and of her quiet,
unostentatious, continuous charity and natural kindliness of heart there
are as many more.
A BUSY MARRIED LIFE
The married life of the Prince and Princess was a busy one. Sandringham
had to be remodelled and various public duties attended to by the
Heir-Apparent. One of the first visitors at their country home was the
Rev. Arthur Penrhyn Stanley, who had been so intimately associated with
the education and early life of the Prince, and who was destined to
always possess the privileges of a personal friend. Of this Easter
Sunday, following the wedding, Dean Stanley wrote in his _Diary_ that
"the Princess came to me in a corner of the drawing-room with Prayer
Book in hand and I went through the common service with her, explaining
the peculiarities and the likenesses and differences from the Danish
service. She was most simple and fascinating. My visit to Sandringham
gave me intense pleasure. I was there for three days. I read the whole
service, preached, then gave the first English Sacrament to this 'angel
in the Palace,' I saw a great deal of her, and can truly say she is as
charming and beautiful a creature as ever passed through a fairy tale."
THE PRINCE IN PUBLIC LIFE
One of the first public appearances of the Prince of Wales after his
marriage was attendance at the Royal Academy Banquet on May 2nd, 1863.
Sir Charles Eastlake, the President, proposed the usual loyal toast, and
in responding the young Prince is said to have spoken in a particularly
clear and pleasing manner. Of the important personal event to which
reference had been made he declared that neither the Princess nor
himself could "ever forget the manner in which our union has been
celebrated throughout the nation." Amongst the other speakers were Lord
Palmerston, Mr. W. M. Thackeray and Sir Roderick Murchison. The first
really important public event in the Prince's life at this period was
the presentation of the freedom of the City of London on June 8th.
Invitations had been issued to a couple of thousand of the most eminent
persons in the public, social and diplomatic life of the country and
exceedingly costly preparations were made for the reception, and for the
ball and banquet which followed. The Prince and Princess of Wales were
accompanied by Prince Alfred, the Duchess of Cambridge, the Duke and
Princess Mary of Cambridge and other Royal personages. The Princess was
clad in white, with a coronet and brooch of diamonds and a necklace of
brilliants--the one her husband's wedding present and the other that of
the City of London. The reply to the address and presentation was very
brief but appropriate and the events which followed were remarkable for
their splendour and air of general joyousness.
A week later the Royal couple attended the Commemoration at Oxford and
the Prince of Wales was presented with the degree of D.C.L. in the
presence of a brilliant assemblage of Professors and visitors, and an
enthusiastic throng of students. The latter gave the Princess a
reception which made her flush with mingled nervousness and pleasure
though it could not affect her natural dignity of bearing. She had not
yet become accustomed to the overwhelming character which British
enthusiasm sometimes assumes and, indeed, is said to have never
absolutely overcome a personal shrinking from the publicity which was
inseparable from her position and popularity. However that may be, the
feeling was never shown to the people and, if a fact, can only be
considered as enhancing the graciousness of manner which has been so
marked a characteristic of her life in England. During this brief visit
to Oxford Their Royal Highnesses distributed prizes to the Rifle
Volunteers, opened a bazaar in aid of the Radcliffe Infirmary, inspected
the exhibits at the Horticultural Show, and went over the Prince's
one-time college residence at Frewen Hall.
A hasty visit to the North of England in August was made to include the
opening ceremony for a new Town Hall at Halifax and here the Royal
couple received a most hearty welcome. Another function was the opening
of the British Orphan Asylum on June 24th by the Prince, who became its
Patron and promoted large subscriptions to its work--one of which from
Mr. Edward Mackensie totalled $60,000. Though this was a very quiet year
in comparison with those of the future, His Royal Highness extended his
patronage, usually accompanied by liberal subscriptions, to eight public
charities, eight hospitals and asylums, five agricultural societies and
eleven learned and scientific societies--including the Society of Arts
of which he became President. His first work in this latter connection
was to promote and obtain a fund for sending a number of British
workmen to the Paris Exhibition with a view to improving their
mechanical and technical knowledge. He also associated himself with the
Mendicity Society by means of which all the innumerable appeals for aid
which came to him from time to time were investigated, sifted, and
reported upon before action was taken. On May 18, 1864 the Prince
presided for the first time at the Royal Literary Fund banquet and thus
commenced a long period of active patronage toward an institution which
has served a most useful purpose in England--the quick and secret
dispensing of aid to literary men who from some cause or other might be
destitute, or in need. Its objects were not local but international and
in his speech on this occasion His Royal Highness pointed how well and
quietly the work had been done.
THE PRINCESS AND HER FAMILY
Early in the year the first-born child of the Royal couple arrived on
the scene. The event had been expected for March 1864 but the infant was
born at Frogmore on January 9th and was christened on March 10th as
Albert Victor Christian Edward. From infancy the Prince was somewhat
delicate and, no doubt for that reason, was always supposed to be his
mother's favourite child. The Princess of Wales was, at this time, not
yet twenty but was devoted to her domestic duties and especially to the
new arrival in their home. She would rather visit the nursery at any
time than attend a State function or ball. Other children came in the
following years. Prince George Frederick Ernest Albert, afterwards
Prince of Wales, was born on June 3, 1865; Princess Louise Victoria
Alexandra Dagmar, afterwards Duchess of Fife, on February 20, 1867;
Princess Victoria Alexandra Olga Mary on July 6, 1868; and Princess Maud
Charlotte Mary Victoria, sometime to be Princess Charles of Denmark, on
November 26, 1869. In 1871 Prince Alexander John Charles Albert was
born, but only lived for one brief day.
As these children came one by one they found a most happy home circle
and a devoted mother. In all their little amusements and games the
Princess took part; in their training and education she took a watchful
share; in their lives as a whole simplicity was made the guiding
principle, as it had been in the Royal family of the past generation.
From all accounts which are open to us she delighted much more in the
nursery than in society. Dr. William Jenner saw the Royal children
whenever necessary but the "coddling" so often seen in modern homes was
unknown at Sandringham. The Prince believed as much in simplicity of
bringing up as did his wife and, by special order, the Household and
servants never used the prefix of "Royal Highness" to the children but
addressed them as Prince Eddy, or Princess Louise, or whatever the name
might be. The little girls, as their father always called them, had
their tea with the nurses and were given few toys and never allowed to
accept presents. No fuss was made over the little accidents inevitable
to childhood and in every way life was kept devoid of state formality,
or anything that would breed a sense of childish self-importance. When
the Prince and Princess were away from home, as they frequently had to
be, letters were daily exchanged with the head nurse. The result of this
general system and of the later plan of making the young Princesses more
and more companions of their mother and the boys, as far as
circumstances would permit, of their father, created and maintained at
Sandringham one of the most pleasant home circles in all England. An
illustration of the spirit in which domestic anniversaries and incidents
were approached may be found in lines composed by the Princess, on one
occasion, for Prince George when the family were commencing to celebrate
the birthday of the husband and father. The thought was admirable even
if the poetry was not quite perfect:
"Day of pleasure, brightly dawning,
Take the gift of this sweet morning,
Our best hopes and wishes blending
Must yield joy that's never ending."
During these years the Prince of Wales was gradually assuming many of
the duties and public tasks which would have devolved upon the Queen, or
in earlier days have been performed with such fidelity and care by the
Prince Consort. At this time the Queen was living in strict retirement
and for a long period still to follow she maintained the same sorrowing
seclusion in a more or less modified form. Toward the close of 1865 the
death of Lord Palmerston removed a statesman in whom the Prince had
found a personal friend and whom he had consulted and greatly trusted in
private matters. In February, 1866, the Queen made one of her rare
public appearances and opened Parliament, in person, accompanied by the
Prince and Princess of Wales. A little later came the cholera epidemic
which killed one hundred thousand people in Austria and caused a number
of deaths in England. To the Mansion House Relief Fund, which ultimately
reached the total of $350,000 and to another Fund, the Prince
contributed $17,500. In August the Royal couple visited Studley Royal,
the seat of the Earl de Grey and Ripon--better known afterwards as the
Marquess of Ripon--and were given a great reception in the City of York.
An incident of the latter occasion was a sudden downpour of rain during
which the Prince stood up in his carriage, bareheaded, so that the
people should not be disappointed.
VARIOUS PUBLIC FUNCTIONS AND EVENTS
A little before this, on May 9th, the President and Council of the
Institution of Civil Engineers entertained the Heir Apparent at a
banquet in London and amongst the other guests were the veteran Field
Marshal Sir John Burgoyne, the Dukes of Sutherland and Buccleuch, Earl
Grey, Lord Salisbury, Sir John Pakington, Sir Edwin Landseer, Sir
Richard Owen and many other eminent scientists and leaders of the time.
During his speech the Prince paid a tribute to the work of Brunel and
Stephenson and, in the latter connection, referred to the great bridge
across the St. Lawrence, in Canada, which he had inaugurated in 1860 and
to which he gave the credit for an opportunity to visit British America
and the United States. On June 11th His Royal Highness had also laid the
foundation of the new building of the British and Foreign Bible Society
in London. He was received formally by the President, the Earl of
Shaftsbury, the Lord Mayor, the Archbishop of York and others and, in
the course of his speech, pointed out that the Society had already spent
$30,000,000 in the promotion of its objects and in the translation of
the Bible into two hundred and eighty different languages and dialects.
After referring to the efforts in this cause by his grandfather, the
Duke of Kent, the Prince went on to say that "it is my hope and trust
that, under Divine guidance, the wider diffusion and deeper study of the
Scriptures will, in this as in every age, be at once the surest
guarantee of the progress and liberty of the mind and the means of
multiplying in the present time the consolations of our holy religion."
The next function shared in was the anniversary gathering of the Clergy
Corporation, attended by the Archbishops of Canterbury, York and Armagh,
the Marquess of Salisbury and other dignitaries. In his speech the
Prince pointed out that there were ten thousand clergymen in the United
Kingdom whose benefices were of less value than $750 a year and urged
the usefulness of an institution which distributed $20,000 per annum to
orphans and unmarried daughters of clergymen as well as temporary aid to
necessitous clergymen themselves. The result of his appeal was a
subscription of $6,000 to which he contributed $525 personally. On June
18th he inaugurated a Warehousemen and Clerks' School at Croydon at a
gathering presided over by Earl Russell and ten days later visited the
Merchant Seamen's Orphan Asylum in the suburbs of London. In August the
Prince and Princess of Wales made one of their first public appearances
in the County where they had made their country home and where the
Prince so well embodied the hearty, healthy life of the English
gentleman. During the month, therefore, they paid a visit to Norwich as
the principal town of Norfolk and, accompanied by the Queen of Denmark
and the Duke of Edinburgh, attended one of Sir Michael Costa's
oratorios, opened a Drill-hall, planted memorial trees and in other ways
helped to make the occasion memorable to the people of the ancient town.
A visit followed in the autumn to the Duke and Duchess of Sutherland, at
their splendid Castle of Dunrobin, in the north of Scotland. In driving
twenty-five miles from the station to the Castle a most enthusiastic
welcome was received along the entire route. In reviewing the Sutherland
Volunteers during his stay the Prince expressed a wish that the Corps
would wear the kilt as their uniform and this was, of course, done with
the greatest pleasure. Shortly after the return from Scotland the Queen
of Denmark came again to England and stayed for some time at Sandringham
with her daughter. Late in the year (November) the Prince of Wales went
to St. Petersburg to attend in an official capacity the marriage of the
Princess Dagmar of Denmark--sister of his wife--to the Czarewitch who
afterwards became Alexander III. The cold was deemed a sufficiently
strong reason for the Princess not to accompany him. In his suite were
Lord Frederick Paulet, the Marquess of Blandford, Viscount Hamilton, and
Major Teesdale. He was welcomed at the station by the Emperor, the
Czarewitch and others of the Imperial family and given splendid
quarters at the Hermitage Palace. After the marriage he visited Moscow,
accompanied by the Crown Prince of Denmark, went over the historic
Kremlin and called on the Metropolitan, the highest dignitary in the
Russian Church, who received his Royal visitor in a cell and gave him
his blessing after a brief conversation.
The year 1867 was marked by a painful illness of the Princess through
acute rheumatism and inflammation of a knee-joint. During the serious
period of the illness the Prince devoted himself to the invalid, never
leaving her side unless compelled to do so and having his desk brought
into the sick-room so that he might carry on his correspondence in her
presence. It was not until July that the Princess was able to drive out
and during the rest of the year the Royal couple lived very quietly and
made as few public appearances as possible. It was in the beginning of
this year that Princess Louise, afterwards Duchess of Fife, was born.
Some functions had to be performed, however, and they included the
presiding at a meeting of the National Lifeboat Institution and at the
one hundred and fifty-second anniversary festival of the Welsh Society
of Ancient Britons, on March 1st; a visit to the International
Exhibition at Paris in May; and the presence of the Prince at the laying
of the foundation stone of the Albert Hall, in London, later in the same
month. On July 10th His Royal Highness inaugurated the London
International College, which had been organized by Mr. Cobden and M.
Michel Chevalier, as a branch of an international institution. At the
luncheon were the Duc d'Aumale, the Prince de Joinville and the Comte de
Paris as well as Professor Huxley and Dr. Leonard Schmitz, the head of
the institution. In his speech the Prince pointed out the usefulness of
a College which would more or less devote itself to the teaching of
modern languages at a time when the interests of varied nationalities
were becoming so intermingled.
[Illustration: THE CORONATION OF EDWARD'S QUEEN
Queen Alexandra received her crown at the hands of the venerable
Archbishop of York at Westminster Abbey, August 9, 1902, immediately
after the crowning of the King by the Archbishop of Canterbury]
[Illustration: KING EDWARD VII AND QUEEN ALEXANDRA
At the Opening of Parliament]
[Illustration: THE ROYAL LINE OF SUCCESSION AT THE TIME OF QUEEN
VICTORIA'S DIAMOND JUBILEE
Queen Victoria, Prince of Wales, Duke of York and Prince Edward]
[Illustration: THE CORONATION CHAIR
Containing the Stone of Scone on which traditional Irish Kings, Scotch
Kings and British Kings have been crowned]
An interesting event occurred in July when Ismail Pasha, Khedive of
Egypt, visited England, as his father had done twenty-one years before.
At a banquet in the Mansion Home, on July 11th, a distinguished
gathering met to do him honour and amongst them were the Prince of
Wales, the Duke of Cambridge, Prince Edward of Saxe-Weimar and many men
eminent in politics and diplomacy. In his speech the Prince spoke of his
personal indebtedness to the late Khedive for kindness received during
his own visit to Egypt in 1862 and, also, of the national importance of
the facilities given by that country to England in the transit of troops
to India. He then referred to the illness of the Princess and to the
words in that connection used by the Lord Mayor. "I know I only express
her feelings when I say that she has been deeply touched by that
universal good feeling and sympathy which has been shown to her during
her long and painful illness. Thank God, she has now nearly recovered
and I trust that in a month's time she will be able to leave London and
enjoy the benefits of fresh air."
ROYAL VISIT TO IRELAND
The Prince of Wales early in his public life showed his sympathy with
the people of Ireland. He had already visited Dublin in 1865 and, on
March 17, 1868, while planning a State visit to that country, attended a
brilliant celebration of the anniversary of St. Patrick's birth, in
Willis's Rooms, London. Amongst those present were the Archbishop of
Armagh, the Bishop of Derry, the Earl of Longford, the Earl of Mayo and
Lord Kimberley. The Prince, in his speech, expressed the belief that
despite disagreeable occurrences of the past few years the people of
Ireland generally were "thoroughly true and loyal." On April 15th the
Prince and Princess of Wales landed at Kingstown and were received with
tremendous acclaim. With his usual tact the Prince asked that no troops
should be present in the streets. The Princess, who was dressed in Irish
poplin, was presented with a white dove, emblematic of peace, and fairly
captured the hearts of the populace. The visit lasted ten days and
included amongst its functions a gorgeous installation of the Prince as
a Knight of St. Patrick, when he used the sword worn by George IV. on a
similar occasion; his presence at the Punchestown races--where the Royal
couple appeared in open carriages and received an enthusiastic welcome;
attendance at the Royal Hibernian Academy's rooms and at the Royal
Dublin Society's Conversazione; a visit to the Catholic University and
the receipt of an LL.D.--together with the Duke of Cambridge and Lord
Abercorn, the Lord Lieutenant--from Trinity College; a visit to the
Cattle Show and a Royal review of troops; attendance at Sunday service
in historic Christ Church; personal visits to Lord Powerscourt's
beautiful place in Wicklow and to the Duke of Leinster at Carton; a
formal visit to Maynooth College and the unveiling in Dublin of a statue
of Edmund Burke.
The London _Times_ described the crowded life of those ten days in
rather interesting language: "There were presentations and receptions,
and receiving and answering addresses, processions, walking, riding and
driving, in morning and evening, in military, academic and mediaeval
attire. The Prince had to breakfast, lunch, dine and sup with more or
less publicity every twenty-four hours. He had to go twice to races with
fifty or a hundred thousand people about him; to review a small army and
make a tour in the Wicklow Mountains, everywhere receiving addresses
under canopies and dining in state under galleries full of spectators.
He visited and inspected institutions, colleges, universities,
academies, libraries and cattle shows. He had to take a very active part
in assemblies of from several hundred to several thousand dancers and
always to select for his partners the most important personages. He had
to listen to many speeches sufficiently to know when and what to answer.
He had to examine with respectful interest pictures, books, antiquities,
relics, manuscripts, specimens, bones, fossils, prize beasts and works
of Irish art. He had never to be unequal to the occasion, however
different from the last, or however like the last, and whatever his
disadvantage as to the novelty or dullness of the matter and the scene."
On April 25th the Royal visitors returned to Holyhead and on their way
home stopped at Carnarvon, the birthplace of the first Prince of Wales,
where a banquet was received and a brief speech made by the living
successor of a great King's son. Among the incidents connected with this
visit was the fact that while the Prince was freely passing through and
amongst the people of the Irish capital his brother, the Duke of
Edinburgh, was shot at Clontarf, Australia, by an Irishman named
O'Farrell, while he was accepting the hospitality of a local Sailors'
Home. Another was the tact and judgment displayed by the Heir Apparent
in forwarding a cheque to the Dublin Hospital Sunday Fund after his
return home. This institution had then and has since exercised a most
beneficial effect upon Irish hospital affairs; but the marvel was that
the Prince should have found time amid his multifarious duties and
functions to look into its management and influence. May the 5th, saw
the Prince attending the sixty-second anniversary of the "Society of
Friends of Foreigners in Distress" and pointing out in a preliminary
speech that the Queen had taken deep interest in this charity ever since
her accession in 1837. In proposing the health of the Prince and
Princess of Wales, Sir Travers Twiss, the Advocate-General, said that
though it was not generally known, he would take the liberty of stating
that during His Royal Highness' Eastern travels he had passed through no
great city without visiting and helping any institutions which might
exist in aid of suffering humanity.
Eight days later the Prince presided at the annual banquet of the
Governors of St. Bartholomew's Hospital--after visiting and inspecting
the wards. During the same day His Royal Highness attended a great state
function in the laying of the foundation of St. Thomas' Hospital by the
Queen in person. The last important matter in which the Prince took part
before leaving for his second Eastern tour was the laying of the
foundation stone of new buildings for Glasgow University on October 8th.
They cost over two millions of dollars and in the stately proceedings
accompanying this event, the Princess of Wales was able to participate.
From November 1868 to May 1869 the Royal couple were in the distant
East, but, on the Queen's birthday in the latter year, the Prince of
Wales was able to be present at the anniversary banquet of the Royal
Geographical Society and to receive congratulations on having been
instrumental in effecting the appointment of his late travelling
companion, Sir Samuel Baker, to the government of the Soudan region in
Africa, under the control of the Egyptian Government and with the object
of suppressing the slave trade. His Royal Highness warmly eulogized Sir
S. Baker--who had also just received the Society's medal for the
year--and the events of the evening were considered to have made the
occasion memorable. Prince Hassan of Egypt was present and amongst the
speakers were Sir Roderick Murchison, Admiral Sir George Back, Professor
Owen, the Duke of Sutherland, Dr. W. H. Russell, Sir Francis Grant
P.R.A., and Sir Henry Rawlinson.
The next two or three years saw the Prince participating in many public
and more or less important events. Accompanied by the Princess of Wales
he laid the foundation of new buildings in connection with the Earlswood
Asylum, in Surrey, on June 28, 1869. An incident of this event was not
only the usual gift of a hundred guineas by the Prince but a procession
of ladies who passed up to the dais in single file and deposited
upwards of four hundred purses, which they had collected for the
Charity, under the influence of Royal patronage and encouragement. On
July 7th Their Royal Highnesses visited Lynn, inaugurated the new
Alexandra Dock, and took part in several local events. A state visit to
Manchester followed, on July 29th, and the Prince opened the annual
exhibition of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, of which he was
President, and was given a warm welcome in and around the city. On the
succeeding day he inaugurated a new dock at Hull.
Meanwhile, on July 23rd, the Prince had visited London in order to
unveil a statue of George Peabody, the distinguished American
philanthropist. At the ceremony Sir Benjamin Phillips, Chairman of the
Committee, addressed the Prince formally and thus concluded: "Let us
hope that this statue, erected by the sons of free England to the honour
of one of Columbia's truest and noblest citizens, may be symbolical of
the peace and good will that exist between the two countries." In
replying His Royal Highness spoke of Mr Peabody as a great American
citizen and of his gift of over a quarter of a million pounds sterling
to the charities of a country not his own, as being unexampled, and
concluded as follows: "Be assured that the feelings which I personally
entertain toward America are the same as they ever were. I can never
forget the reception which I had there nine years ago and my earnest
wish and hope is that England and America may go hand in hand in peace
and prosperity." Following the example of King William IV., when Duke of
Clarence, and of the late Dukes of Kent, Sussex and Cambridge, the
Prince of Wales presided on November 30th at the anniversary banquet of
the Scottish Corporation--or as it was popularly called the Scottish
Hospital--in order to mark his approval of an institution which had done
much to assist, by means of pensions, poor and aged natives of Scotland
living in London; to afford temporary relief to Scotchmen in distress;
or to educate poor Scottish children. On this occasion there was a
large gathering which included Prince Christian and the Duke of
Roxburghe and, after a speech from the Prince describing the objects and
work of the institution, it was announced that $12,500 had been
specially subscribed to the purposes of the Hospital--including $500
from the Prince of Wales himself.
Exhibitions, in the years between his coming of age and his accession to
the Throne, were always favourite objects of attention and support at
the hands of Heir Apparent. He had already studied closely his father's
conduct of the first great International Exhibition, and had himself
opened one of the same kind at Dublin, and been present at an
International Reformatory gathering and at the Paris Exhibition. On
April 4th, 1870, he presided at a meeting of the Society of Arts called
to promote an International Educational Exhibition for the succeeding
year. Resolutions were passed to this end, and after an explanatory
speech from His Royal Highness and, it may be added here, the Exhibition
was duly opened on May 1st, 1871, by the Prince of Wales, with imposing
pageantry and with details worked out by his assistant in various future
undertakings Sir Philip Cunliffe-Owen. On May 16, 1870, the Prince
presided at the annual banquet of the Royal General Theatrical Fund,
established as far back as 1839, for the relief and assistance of
members, and of widows and orphans of members, of the dramatic
profession. During the evening, after a speech from the Royal chairman,
Mr. Buckstone, the well-known actor, spoke in warm words of the kindness
of the Prince in attending their function: "The duties he has to perform
are so numerous and fatiguing that we only wonder how he gets through
them all. Even within these few days he has held a Levee; on Saturday
last he patronized a performance at Drury Lane in aid of the Dramatic
College; then had to run away to Freemasons' Hall to be present at the
installation of the Grand Master; and now we find him in the chair this
evening; so what with _conversaziones_, laying foundation stones,
opening schools, and other calls upon his little leisure, I think he may
be looked upon as one of the hardest working men in Her Majesty's
dominions." This was a fact or condition not recognized very generally
in those days; in after years it became a truism in popular opinion.
St. George's Hospital received the combined patronage of the Prince and
Princess on May 26th. The former occupied the chair and made an earnest
appeal for aid to this most deserving institution. The Earl of Cadogan,
who was one of the Treasurers, announced a little later in the evening
that the Prince of Wales had handed him a check for two hundred guineas,
the Princess one for fifty guineas, and the Marquess of
Westminster--afterwards the first Duke of that name--one for two hundred
guineas. Amongst the other speakers on this occasion were Earl
Granville, the Earl of Derby, the Earl of Carnarvon and Mr. W. H. Smith,
M.P. On June 21st, His Royal Highness opened a new building in
connection with Dulwich College in Surrey; nine days later he and the
Princess opened new schools for the children of seamen near the London
Docks; on July 1st they visited in state the ancient town of Reading and
laid the foundation stone of a new Grammar School. A week later the
Prince had the congenial task of giving the Albert gold medal of the
Society of Arts to M. de Lesseps. As President of the Society he
addressed the father of the Suez Canal, in French, and congratulated him
upon the completion of his great undertaking, not only in a public
capacity, but "as a personal friend." In his reply, M. de Lesseps said
that he had received much private encouragement from the late Prince
Consort in the early stages of his enterprise, and that he could never
forget that fact. It may be added here that the presentation of this
Medal was always a peculiar pleasure to the Prince of Wales, and that
amongst those in after years who received it at his hands were Sir
Henry Bessemer, M. Chevalier and Sir Henry Doulton.
On July 13th His Royal Highness, on behalf of the Queen, and accompanied
by the Princess Louise and the grand officers of the Household, opened
with elaborate ceremony the new Thames Embankment. Three days later he
opened the Workmen's International Exhibition at Islington in the name
of the Queen. During this year the war between France and Germany caused
the Prince and his family keen interest and many natural anxieties. He
arranged for a special telegraph service so that news might reach him at
once and took an active part in associations and subscription lists for
aid to the wounded on both sides. The Royal family had such close
relations with that of Prussia through the Princess Royal and with that
of France through long personal friendship with the Emperor and Empress
that the position of individual members, like the Heir Apparent, and his
wife could be easily understood.
The Royal Albert Hall of Arts and Sciences was opened with stately and
imposing ceremony by the Queen on March 29th, 1871. When Her Majesty,
accompanied by the Princess of Wales and other members of the Royal
family, had taken her place on the dais of a Hall containing eight
thousand people and an orchestra of twelve hundred persons, under Sir
Michael Costa, the Prince of Wales advanced and, as President of the
Provisional Committee, detailed the origin and history of the project.
He then, after receiving a formal reply, declared the Hall open in the
name of the Queen. On May 7th, following, the Prince presided at a
dinner in aid of the Artists' Orphan Fund and, after explaining its
useful objects, expressed the wish that further contributions would be
offered for the purpose in view. At the close of the affair the
Treasurer announced subscriptions to the amount of $60,000, of which a
check for $525 was from the Royal chairman. The Earlswood Asylum for
Idiots was again visited by the Prince on May 17th, when he presided at
the anniversary dinner of the institution in London and explained its
continued progress. Subscriptions of $21,000 were announced, of which
$525 were given by the Prince. The same result followed his chairmanship
of a dinner in aid of the Farningham Homes for Little Boys on June 2nd.
He pointed out that the institution was still in need despite a recent
anonymous contribution of $5000. Before the close of the evening some
$17,000 had been subscribed, including $750 from His Royal Highness.
Such incidents, often repeated, indicate better than many words the
value attached to the Prince's presence and support of deserving
charities, and they also afford some proof of the generous expenditure
of his private means for public benefit. On June 28th, the Prince acted
as Chairman of the anniversary festival of the Royal Caledonian Asylum
in London. There were three hundred and fifty guests present, mostly in
Highland costume, and amongst them were Prince Arthur and the Duke of
Cambridge, the Dukes of Buccleuch and Richmond, the Marquess of Lorne
and Marquess of Huntly, the Earls of Fife, Mar, and March.
On July 31st His Royal Highness again paid a visit to Dublin. He was
accompanied by the Princess Louise, the Marquess of Lorne, and the young
Prince Arthur--better known in later years as the Duke of Connaught. An
address was presented at Kingstown by the Lord Mayor and Corporation
and, on the following day, the Royal visitors witnessed a cricket match,
lunched with the officers of the Grenadier Guards and inspected the
cattle, horses, and sheep of the Royal Agricultural Society's annual
show. In the evening the Prince of Wales presided at a great banquet of
four hundred and fifty guests, with galleries thronged with ladies. He
made several brief speeches and a particularly happy one in proposing
the health of Earl Spencer, the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland. A series of
engagements and entertainments followed, amongst which were a brilliant
military review in Phoenix Park and the installation of the Prince as
Grand Patron of the Masonic Institution in Ireland. This was the last
important event taken part in by His Royal Highness before the serious
illness which, a little later, so greatly stirred the nation and
affected himself.