Westward with the Prince of WalesNewton, W. Douglas (Wilfrid Douglas)
History
Westward with the Prince of Wales
Newton, W. Douglas (Wilfrid Douglas)
Canada -- Description and travel; Windsor, Edward, Duke of, 1894-1972
We met a young man in a rather light grey lounge suit, whose boyish
figure is thickening into the outlines of manhood. I have heard him
described as frail; and a Canadian girl called him "a little bit of a
feller" in my hearing. But one has only to note an excellent pair of
shoulders and the strength of his long body to understand how he can
put in a twenty-hour day of unresting strenuosity in running, riding,
walking and dancing without turning a hair.
It is the neat, small features, the nose a little inclined to tilt, a
soft and almost girlish fairness of complexion, and the smooth and
remarkable gold hair that give him the suggestion of extreme
boyishness--these things and his nervousness.
His nervousness is part of his naturalness and lack of poise. It
showed itself then, and always, in characteristic gestures, a tugging
at the tie, the smoothing-down of the hair with the flat of the hand,
the furious digging of fists into pockets, a clutching at coat lapels,
and a touch of hesitance before he speaks.
He comes at you with a sort of impulsive friendliness, his body hitched
a little sideways by the nervous drag of a leg. His grip is a good
one; he meets your eyes squarely in a long glance to which the darkness
about his eyes adds intensity, as though he is getting your features
into his memory for all time, in the resolve to keep you as a friend.
He speaks well, with an attractive manner and a clear enunciation that
not even acute nervousness can slur or disorganize. He is, in fact, an
excellent public speaker, never missing the value of a sentence, and
managing his voice so well that even in the open air people are able to
follow what he says at a distance that renders other speakers inaudible.
In private he is as clear, but more impulsive. He makes little darting
interjections which seem part of a similar movement of hands, or the
whole of the body, and he speaks with eagerness, as though he found
most things jolly and worth while, and expects you do too. Obviously
he finds zest in ordinary human things, and not a little humour, also,
for there is more often than not a twinkle in his eyes that gives
character to his friendly smile--that extraordinarily ready smile,
which comes so spontaneously and delightfully, and which became a
byword over the whole continent of the West.
It is this friendly and unstudied manner that wins him so much
affection. It makes all feel immediately that he is extraordinarily
human and extraordinarily responsive, and that there are no barriers or
reticences in intercourse with him.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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