“There was a nice incident in the consecration. Just as the Bishop was signing the sentence of consecration, Bishop of Salisbury whispered to me, ‘Shouldn’t the Prince of Wales be asked to sign it?’ I sent him to Bishop of Truro to suggest it, who sent him on to the Prince’s daïs. The Prince assented, but instead of waiting for the parchment to be brought up, instantly came down from his place and went up the altar steps and signed it there on the little table set in front of the altar--a real little bit of reverence.” Another interesting ceremony was His Majesty’s consecration, in his official capacity as Grand Master of England, of the Chancery Bar Lodge of Freemasons in Lincoln’s Inn Hall. The King sat in the Grand Master’s chair, wearing the full regalia of his office; at his left sat the Earl of Lathom, Pro-Grand Master, and at his right, the Earl of Mount-Edgcumbe, Deputy Grand Master. Many curious incidents have occurred in connection with the King’s interest in Freemasonry. At one dinner at which the King of Sweden was present, the list of subscriptions announced amounted to the enormous sum of £51,000, probably the largest amount ever raised at a festival dinner in the history of the world. On two occasions the King has presided as Grand Master of English Freemasons over remarkable assemblies in the Royal Albert Hall. The first was in celebration of Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee in 1887, when the tickets for admission produced £6000, a sum which was divided among the three great Masonic charities. Very similar was the Diamond Jubilee assembly of Freemasons, at which eight thousand members were present. The King spoke admirably, the Duke of Connaught moved the adoption of the address to Queen Victoria, while Earl Amherst aroused unbounded enthusiasm when he alluded to Her Majesty as “the daughter of a Freemason, the mother of Freemasons, and the patron and benefactress of our Order.” CHAPTER XXIV THE KING AS A PHILANTHROPIST One of the first occasions on which King Edward and Queen Alexandra appeared in support of a charitable institution was on 24th June 1863, when their Majesties opened the new buildings of the British Orphan Asylum at Slough. From that day forward both the King and Queen have unceasingly demonstrated their keen personal interest in every genuine form of charitable endeavour. It would be impossible to estimate the total sum of human misery and suffering which has been relieved as the direct result, not only of their Majesties’ own exertions, but also of the powerful example which they have consistently set before the wealthy and leisured classes. The mere catalogue of the charitable meetings and dinners at which the King has presided would occupy many pages of this book.