The Life of King Edward VII: with a sketch of the career of King George VHopkins, J. Castell (John Castell)
History
The Life of King Edward VII: with a sketch of the career of King George V
Hopkins, J. Castell (John Castell)
Edward VII, King of Great Britain, 1841-1910
The Prince of Wales landed _incognito_ at Cadiz on April 20th and then
proceeded, with the Duke of Connaught quietly to visit Seville and
Cordova. At Madrid, which was reached on April 25th, the Royal party
were formally welcomed by King Alfonso XII. and attended a state
reception at the Palace. A military review was held by the King, and
then a train was taken for the Palace of the Escurial, where King
Alfonso acted as guide for his Royal guests amidst the bewildering
artistic and other treasures of that immense and historic pile. Various
functions of stately dignity followed the return of the Prince to
Madrid, and the departure of the Duke for London, and the incidents of
the period included attendance at a sitting of the Spanish Cortes, and
the spectacle of a bull-fight. On April 30th His Royal Highness departed
for Lisbon, where, on the following day, he was formally welcomed by
King Louis of Portugal, his Court, the Foreign Ministers and the British
Admirals of the fleet in the Tagus. There were no flags, or arches, or
decorations, or tokens of welcome in the streets of Lisbon, but there
was a vast mass of silent and respectful people. Many functions followed
during the next few days and on May 7th the _Serapis_ started once more
for England. Four days later the ship was met by a yacht bearing the
Princess of Wales and the Royal children and, in a few hours, the Heir
Apparent was again at home from his famous journey and receiving a
welcome at Portsmouth which was a fitting prelude to similar greetings
in London and elsewhere.
Such a tremendous experience as this tour had proved could not but have
a pronounced and important effect. The burden of a continuous succession
of events in which he was the central figure; the strain of a steady
succession of brilliant spectacles presenting a kaleidoscopic variety of
sight and sound and splendour and incident; the weight of a constant
burden of ceremonial and state observances in a land where the slightest
carelessness, or indifference, or cordiality--at the wrong moment--meant
mortal offense to some important dignitary, caste, or interest; the
physical trial of innumerable functions to a man clad in European
costumes in a tropical climate; the infinite variety of his duties, the
peculiar character of the hours maintained, the lack of sleep and the
continuous round of banquets; must have tried the mind and heart and
body about equally. In the end the experience must have broadened the
conceptions and ideas of the Prince; educated him in a better perception
of his immense responsibilities; trained him in an iron school of
etiquette and helped to teach him that inflexible routine of duty which
must ever face a British Sovereign.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account