DON ALFONSO XIII
What manner of man is the young King whom the Island Princess married?
Don Alfonso XIII is unique among the kings of the earth, inasmuch as he
was practically born a king. His father, Alfonso XII, died five months
before he was born. The widowed Queen, his mother, became the Regent of
the Throne, but the little Alfonso XIII knew, from the time he knew
anything, that he was a ruler already, where most kings have spent years
of preparation for kingship while heirs-apparent.
He was born May 17, 1886. He received the tenderest care and attention
from his mother; her favourite pet name for him while he was a baby was
“Puby.” From the time of his birth he appeared delicate, which
occasioned the greatest solicitude for his physical well-being.
He has always manifested the greatest love for his mother. From earliest
childhood he entertained for her a supreme regard and affection, and
frequently when he was inclined to be headstrong and oppose the wishes
of his governesses the Queen Regent--as she was called until Alfonso
reached the age of sixteen--would be called to make him obey. Her
methods were all her own, her coercion only that of love.
One winter morning Alfonso was reluctant to take his usual cold bath and
stubbornly remained in bed. His nurses made appeal after appeal to him,
but his Majesty remained obdurate. Finally, in despair, the nurse went
to his mother the Queen Regent.
“You must take your bath, Baby,” said the Queen, coming to his bedside.
The baby king gave no answer.
“If I tell you to do it, you will--won’t you?”
Again no response.
“Very well, then,” continued the Queen, “I will not ask you again, but I
shall go to my room and cry because you will not obey me. Do you wish
that?”
“No, no, mamma,” cried the young Alfonso, and flinging aside the bed
clothes he sprang from the bed and took his cold plunge.
King Alfonso was brought up in this atmosphere of love and affection and
it is doubtless owing to this that his own nature is so warm and lovable
to-day.
When he was four years old, he fell very ill. His anxious mother watched
constantly by his bedside. One day, he turned his little face toward
where she was sitting and said: “Are you not very tired, mother mine? Do
you love me so very much? Do go to bed. You must be so tired. I think I
ought to send you away.”
Not until he was seven years of age did he begin any regular course of
studies and then he began with only one hour a day. In a short time,
however, he had learned to read and write easily. Much of his boyhood
was spent at the beautiful Miramar palace. After he had learned to read
and write, the study of geography and history came next and a little
later French and Latin. From all accounts, the boy Alfonso was quite as
full of mischief and capers as are most small boys.
One of his Chamberlains relates the story that, when he was eight years
old, streams of water were one day seen running down the corridor from
the bathroom of the Royal Palace. The door of the apartment was securely
fastened and the little fellow refused admission to any one until
finally the Queen herself was sent for, and, when she demanded
admittance, found her Royal son enjoying what he called “A Naval Battle
in High Seas,” the ships being logs which he had collected from various
wood baskets and his high seas, the overflowing bathtub.
Queen Cristina found Alfonso a little backward in acquiring German, and
as none of the text-books then used in Spain seemed adapted to his use,
she went to the trouble of preparing a grammar for him, which enabled
him to become familiar with the rules of the language in a simple and
amusing form. Alfonso has always been of an inquiring turn of mind, and
the interest he has recently displayed in aeroplanes and automobiles is
the natural outcome of the interest he displayed in all mechanics when a
mere boy.
Mr. Frederic Courtland Penfield has related as one of his experiences in
Spain the breaking down of his motor car near La Granja which
necessitated sending to Madrid for new parts to replace the damaged
mechanism. While the men were at work upon the machine, the King
happened along, and, not content with watching the progress of the
repairs, he proceeded to direct the men himself, getting down under the
car and examining minutely each of its parts and aiding the men by
constant suggestion. He took apparently all the interest in the work of
a boy who has removed the back of his first watch to see the wheels go
round. Not until the car was ready to proceed did the King leave the
spot.
As a matter of fact, Don Alfonso is the most ardent motorist in Spain
and the most skilful if not the most reckless driver. He has several 70
h.p. machines and when he drives these machines in the country, he
sometimes goes at the rate of seventy-five and eighty miles an hour.
During the Spring months, when the court is at La Granja, the King comes
to Madrid several times a week. The distance is ninety kilometres and he
allows one hour and a quarter for the journey. The road lies right
across the Guadarrama mountains which rise to a height of six thousand
feet. The ascent and descent of these mountains is tremendously steep,
being made by a series of loops like the roads which cross the Alps in
Switzerland. Only the most skilled chauffeurs can go over this road at
even a moderate rate of speed, but the King goes all the way at high
speed, averaging for the entire distance nearly a mile a minute.