OCR Text |
Show uw KING'S INDIAN ATTENDANTS. The fact that King George received at Rucklnsham Palace recently four Indian orderlies who will he In attendance at-tendance on his majesty at state ceremonies cere-monies during the season, is a re- minder that It hag been the custom ' for many years, particularly since the i late Queen Victoria was made Era-I Era-I press of India in the seventies, to , have at the English court Indians of l high caste. usuall relatives of powerful power-ful potentates, to act as orderlies and attendants to their majesties. The custom really arose from the desire of Indian ptlnces to learn 1 something of English life, though It j has been suwsted that the wish on the part fi the authorities to impress Indian royalty with OUT power and resources re-sources has had not a little to do with the continuance of these period-I period-I ical visits to the court, of high-caste ; Indians. And there can be no doubt that the close personal relationship J between the Indian prince and our ; royal familv which has resulted from 1 such visits has done much to improve the relations between this country and India. Queen Victoria always liked to have her Indian attendants about her, and a glance at pictures dealing with the events of her reign will show that she j was invariablv accompanied by her orderlies or-derlies from the east. The late King Edward, too, whose voyace to India in the winter of 1S7."-76 1S7."-76 brought him Into close contact with the chief Indian vassals of the jfj British crown, had a gTcat partiality iflfltl for Indian attendants and orderlies, fiSIH and it Is an open secret that the honor IfcaBlS of attending his late majesty for a jyqEg season was much coveted by the sons flS of Indian rulers ifcAlIP' In a certain sense these visits form tho completion of their English edu- A ration, for the majority of the In-dlans In-dlans sepn at the court have been to l our colleges and varsities for their early training. .--.x'-fe The custom, which really has for Its i - W object the cementing of the bond of 1 friendship between Britain and India, IH is carefully observed by King George k ", .and Queen Mary, whose islt in 1911, w hen they attended the Durbar, and If I Delhi was proclaimed the capital of ' V India, aroused much enthusiasm. As a matter of fact, his majesty made I H himself so popular during his visit to India that it. was with the greatest - V" difficulty that the orderlies at present 1 : In attendance upon him were selected from the number who wished to spend ' a season at the English court Lon- ; V don Tit-Bits. I 00 IP |