After the death of the Duke of Clarence, the King and his family naturally retired into the deepest privacy, and it was many months before His Majesty had sufficiently recovered from the blow to be able to take up again the thread of his public duties. CHAPTER XVII THE HOUSING OF THE WORKING CLASSES--MARRIAGE OF PRINCE GEORGE--THE DIAMOND JUBILEE--DEATH OF THE DUCHESS OF TECK The year 1893 brought to the King a very fortunate distraction, which prevented his mind from dwelling too much on his still recent bereavement in a way that could not have been accomplished by the customary round of ceremonial visits and functions. This distraction was his appointment as a member of the Royal Commission on the Housing of the Poor. The King was genuinely delighted with this opportunity. He threw himself with the greatest zeal into the work, and not only attended all the sittings, which took place in one of the House of Lords’ Committee Rooms, but visited, _incognito_, some of the very poorest quarters of London. It is well known that he was exceedingly anxious to serve on the Labour Commission, but Ministers have always been unwilling that the Heir-Apparent should take an active part in matters connected, even indirectly, with politics, and he has had, therefore, constantly to play the part of the Sovereign’s deputy without the responsibilities and interests naturally attaching to the position. It is no exaggeration to say that there are few men now living who possess better general qualifications for the difficult work of serving on Royal Commissions than the King. He is familiar with an almost bewildering variety of subjects, and possesses a wonderful faculty for almost instinctively grasping the important features and the really essential points of any matter under discussion. He is a model chairman of a committee, and, though he cannot ever display the slightest trace of personal or party feeling, it is well known that he follows with intense interest all the political and social movements of the day, and it is no secret that he is thoroughly an Imperialist. [Illustration: KING EDWARD AND QUEEN ALEXANDRA, WITH THE DUCHESS OF FIFE AND LADY ALEXANDRA DUFF _From a Photograph by Gunn and Stuart_]