Though he is much more of a soldier than a diplomat or statesman, he is more democratic than his father, and he is tremendously popular with his people on that account. This he has shown to his men ever since he went to the front; the comfort of his soldiers is constantly before him. He makes it a point to see that his men are provided with socks and shoes. When a student at the University of Bonn he had the reputation of being a good mixer. In spite of his fair hair and blue eyes he has always been closer to the war party than has his father. He is a fearless horseman and has a deep knowledge of military tactics. The Crown Prince received his first military training when he was hardly large enough to mount a horse. He and all his brothers have continued this training all through their boyhood. First the Crown Prince went to the Prince's Academy Military School at Ploen, and completed this work at Danzig. Though a severe leader, he has always been the idol of his regiment, for he never asks his people to do the things he is unwilling to undertake himself. He has always been as popular with women as with his soldiers. He is exceedingly fond of American women and has been admired by many an attractive American girl. Several times he had his heart set on taking one for a wife, but his father showed him the impracticability of such a venture. But he is extremely fond of his home and devoted to his wife and four lovely boys. They are splendid comrades, much more so than the average German woman is with her husband. When the war broke out Princess Cecilie said that she would join her husband at the front just as soon as she could. One of the dispatches sent by way of The Hague from Berlin says that Cecilie, the German Crown Princess, accompanied by her two eldest sons, left Berlin to join her husband at his headquarters in France. She proposed personally to bestow decorations upon officers of her dragoon regiment. Though the Crown Princess is naturally delicate, having inherited tubercular tendencies from her father, she and her husband, along with the children, devote much of their time at winter sports in Switzerland. She and her children toboggan, ski, skate on the ice, and partake of all winter sports. She is so fond of exercise that she sometimes neglects the question of handsome costumes. On more than one state occasion she has had to devise something in a hurry because her wardrobe had run low. She takes more pains selecting her sporting costumes than her evening toilettes. The first time the Emperor laid eyes on her he was charmed by her beauty and grace; as he told one of his friends, "I might look the kingdom over and I could not find a lovelier wife for my son."