Not long after the King’s accession, extensive alterations were ordered to fit Buckingham Palace, which had been for a long time only occupied occasionally, to be the town house of His Majesty and Queen Alexandra. It is probable that their Majesties would have preferred to remain at Marlborough House, which is endeared to them by the most intimate associations, both of joy and of sorrow; but in this, as in so many other instances, the King divined by quick intuition that his loyal subjects would wish that their Sovereign and his Consort should reside in the palace which is not less closely linked in the popular imagination with the British monarchy than Windsor Castle itself. It is evident that in all that concerns State ceremonial and the _décor_ of a magnificent Court, King Edward is resolved to abate not a jot of his regal dignity. But so much of His Majesty’s life was passed at Marlborough House, and the beautiful old Georgian mansion was for so long the centre of his social, philanthropic, and official activities, that no biographical sketch of the King would be complete without some account of what went on there. There is scarcely an object in the house which does not remind the King and Queen of some happy incident of their joint lives. The very carpet in the drawing-room was presented to them on the occasion of their wedding; and His Majesty’s great interest in everything that concerns the history of the country and of the Empire is strikingly shown in each of his homes, for the rooms of both Marlborough House and Sandringham are lined with fine paintings and engravings recalling great events of the Victorian era. Although Marlborough House is the official residence of the Heir-Apparent, it is considered a private house for taxation purposes, and is rated at over £1000 a year. [Illustration: MARLBOROUGH HOUSE FROM THE SOUTH-WEST _Photograph by Ralph, Dersingham_] The King’s study at Marlborough House, where none but his intimates are admitted, looks like the room of a hard-working man of business. He works at an old-fashioned pedestal desk-table, exactly resembling the one used by his father. The desk portion of the table shuts with a spring, and can only be opened with a golden key, which the King always wears on his watch chain.