Show england adopts king Kings george ca after one year ye aa 14 trial per period iod v fillin fill in monarch shows mettle during E era a of Tribu tribulation ladon by JOSEPH W labine englishmen everywhere this month are opening their eyes from a 12 month dream the dream began may 12 1937 when king george VI and queen elizabeth ascended the british throne in colorful coronation ceremonies ceremonies the dream has been a sweet one for few Britis hers expected affairs of state to run so smoothly as they have the past year nor could anyone have predicted on the day romantic king edward VIII abdicated that his little known brother would soon displace him in En glands heart through a year marked by bitter international strife in which the empire has more than once been threatened king george queen elizabeth and their two charming princess daughters have done their job well that thai job is not to rule for britaina Brit ains monarchy constituted that way instead the royal fam ilys job is one of salesmanship for it is freely admitted that loyalty to the crown is the biggest bulwark against dissolution of the british empire today that loyalty is stronger than at any point since edwards abdication though even then few englishmen were worried the story is told about ia a foggy night during britaina Brit ains supposedly dark hour in december 1936 when edward was making up his mind to surrender the throne for the woman I 1 love from placards of news vendors in the street came the awful state statement meni COLLAPSE startled foreigners saw aw in this pronouncement an immediate collapse of english monarchy but lon doners knew it was something even worse the Efi english glish cricket team was losing to the australians the unwanted king the story of king georges rise to popularity is a story of constant struggle igle overnight he was ka thrown into the breach untrained for a job which in normal times would be strenuous enough but which was made even harder by the crisis his coaches the past pasi year have W A W 9 I 1 ally al I 1 king george and queen elizabeth sell themselves to the empire through a conscientious concern for britons everywhere been the matriarchal queen mother mary and the venerable archbishop of canterbury both watched and influenced george V during his long reign and helped teach him that to be successful a british monarch must be limited and constitutional it is not surprising thlin then to see En glands current georgian era resembling the late georgian era in more than name more and more sub subjects j acts are realizing that george VI will run run his affairs much like the beloved father he hd succeeds he displays the old fashioned virtues that made george V a popular monarch the royal family Att attends erid church regularly and is famous for its strong belief in a home life almost every week some sentimental al detail of dom domesticity esti city at buckingham palace finds its way into public print democratic royalty the king is ai his happiest dressed informally or in hunting togs around the moors at ai balmoral and the splendor of his coronation was apparently nothing compared with his joy a few months later at visiting a boy scout camp he founded 15 years ago as duke of york 7 k i 4 zo W MY xa gle g g NEI 11 iw A princess margaret rose left and princess elizabeth on whose eleven year old head the crown of england may some day fall the king turned up in shorts and an open necked shirt allowing himself to be carried shoulder high by the admiring lads but all is not play and personal salesmanship for britaina Brit ains ruler behind scenes he plays as important a role in national and international affairs as george V arm in arm with his prime minister neville chamberlain he cut through much diplomatic red tape to lay britaina Brit ains position before the world but these are only a few reasons why britaina Brit ains royalty is so popular another seemingly insignificant is the intense attitude of endearment with which england has adopted its two princesses elizabeth and margaret rose elizabeth now eleven is in line to succeed her father untainted by their position the two royal youngsters have not been allowed to go highbrow highbrown high brow on their subjects indeed they have probably been kept as much in the dark about king edward VIII as other britons there is the story of the princess discussion of the abdication where is uncle david inquires margaret rose sah 11 scolded her elder sister hes been sent out of the country for wanting to marry mrs baldwin camping at the palace the princesses like other little girls have been enrolled in the girl guides A special troop was formed at buckingham palace for daughters of close friends of the royal family each week they drill indoors or camp in the wilds of the pa palace ace garden learning woodcraft and studying nature lore those who meet princess elizabeth must bow or curtsy whatever their age addressing her as your highness it is told that elizabeth was much impressed when informed that people would now curtsy to her the next day in saying farewell to a palace guest elizabeth kept shaking 6 the au batters lat hand until the guest noting the twinkle in her eyes exclaimed why I 1 believe youre trying to make me curt curtsy yes said elizabeth breaking into laughter it fu funny anny P in a day when kings have fled their thrones and when dictatorships stamp the breath of life from struggling democracies the world can still look with envy on eng lands constitutional monarchy perhaps the radical james maxton was right in asking if royalty has any intelligent justification in the twentieth century but the opposite is also true at the time parliament was discussing expenditures for the coronation a suggestion was made that court ceremonials and pageantry be simplified to give the monarch more of a private life the idea was rejected after wizened winston churchill remarked that the ancient ritual throne and crown constituted a bulwark against dictatorship it sounds reasonable a western newspaper unton union |