Modern Leaders: Being a Series of Biographical SketchesMcCarthy, Justin
History
Modern Leaders: Being a Series of Biographical Sketches
McCarthy, Justin
Biography
Those who saw the Prince of Wales when he visited this country, would
surely fail to recognize the slender, fair-haired, rather graceful youth
of that day in the heavy, fat, stolid, prematurely bald,
elderly-young-man of this. It would not be easy to see in any assembly a
more stupid-looking man than the Prince of Wales is now. On horseback he
shows to best advantage. He rides well, and the pleasure he takes in
riding lends something of animation to his usually inexpressive face.
But when his eyes and features lapse into their habitual condition of
indolent, good-natured, stolid repose, all light of intellect seems to
have been banished. The outline of the head and face, and the general
expression, seemed to me of late to be growing every day more and more
like the head and face of George the Third. Anybody who may happen to
have a shilling or half-crown of George the Third's time, can see on the
coin a very fair presentment of the countenance of the present
heir-apparent of the English throne. Whether the Prince of Wales
resembles George the Fourth in character and tastes or not, he certainly
does not resemble him in face. Even a court sycophant could not pretend
to see beauty or grace in our present Prince.
I think that to the eye of the cynic or the satirist the Prince of Wales
shows to greatest advantage when he sits in his box at an advanced hour
of some rather heavy classic opera, or has to endure a long succession
of speeches at a formal public dinner. The heavy head droops, the heavy
jaws hang, the languid eyes close, the heir-apparent sinks into a doze.
Loyalty itself can see nothing dignified or kingly in him then. I have
watched him thus as he sat in his box during some high-class, and to
him, doubtless, very heavy performance at the Italian opera, and have
thought that at times he might remind irreverent and disloyal observers
of Pickwick's immortal fat boy. I have sometimes observed that his
little dozes appeared to afford innocent amusement to his sisters, if
any of them happened to be in the box; and occasionally one of the
Princesses would playfully poke her slumbering brother in the princely
ribs, and the Heir of all the Ages would open his eyes and smile
languidly, and try to look at the stage and listen to the music; and
then, after a while, the heavy head would sink once more on the vast
expanse of shirt-front in which the Prince seems to delight, and the fat
boy would go to sleep again. But this would only happen at certain
performances. There were times when the Prince had eyes and ears open
and attentive, even in the opera house. His tastes in general, however,
are not for high art in music or the drama. He is very fond of the
little theatres where the vivacious blondes display their unconcealed
attractions. There are, as everybody knows, several minor theatres in
London where the audience, or, I should say more properly, the
spectators, will be found to consist chiefly of men, while, on the other
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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