Part 11 (1/2)
CHAPTER XII
The Prince as a Social Leader
The influence wielded upon Society by the Prince of Wales, during nearly forty years of public life, was so marked and important as to merit extended consideration Society, of course, in such a connection includes much more than any particular set of persons however select, or distinguished, or aristocratic; it h and lohich have recognized principles of etiquette and intercourse and common customs of amusement and fashi+on Taken in this wide sense of the word, no personage in the history of Europe during the nineteenth century wielded so great an influence as His Royal Highness
He helped toof a previous period unpopular and socially un-orthodox; he encouraged in his ; he introduced very largely the popular fashi+on of a cigarette after dinner in place of endless heavy cigars and their accoe and popularize a love for music; he led the fashi+on in the matter of men's dress and, upon the whole, society in nified custoe and persistence and not onlymore popular but helped to establish its code and operation upon a high plane of honour--by far the highest and cleanest in the world; he made charity and the support of its varied public institutions popular and fashi+onable; he showed the gilded youth of a great social world that as a good thing for a Prince and a peer as well as for a peasant; he, with his beautiful wife, presented for many years a ether, discouraged many of the petty vices and small faults which creep into all social systems from time to time
LIFE AT MARLBOROUGH HOUSE
The official and social centre of this leadershi+p in the British world was at Marlborough House--a large and unpretentious residence in the heart of London That the place was exquisitely furnished and equipped goes without saying; that it was comfortable in the extreme is equally a matter of course to those acquainted with the taste and house-keeping capacities of the Princess of Wales It was filled with fine engravings and paintings illustrative of the Victorian era; it teemed with mementoes and memorials of past incidents, travels and friendshi+ps in the lives of the Royal couple; it contained roo life and multifarious public duties of its occupants The Prince's study, where only intimates were ad hness used to mark out his time, each day, with care and precision and even then it was difficult to fill his ements There were certain public functions such as the Horse Show at Islington, or the Royal Military Tournament, to which the Prince and Princess alhen in London There were a certain nuiven in place of those which, under other circun Diploh House as well as dinners which included the Governreat banquets held frouests of the nation or Royal relations visiting the country
The dining-rooe an example of simplicity which society, in this case, did not always follow The Prince of Wales never concealed his dislike for the extrethy banquets which were the custom in his youth and succeeded, so far as private dinner-parties were concerned, in revolutionizing the systeh House was a scene of historic as well as personal interest It had been the horeat Duke of that name; the residence of Prince Leopold, intended husband of the laians; the dower-house of Queen Adelaide; the choice of the Prince Consort for his son's London hoeneral contents of the house orthy of its history In one room were splendid panels of Gobelin tapestry presented by Napoleon; in another were the rare and wonderful treasures of Indian work, in gold, silver, jewelry and eht home from the Royal visit to Hindostan; elsewhere was a beautiful vase given the Prince by Alexander II of Russia, enamelled work froold, tables full of presentation keys, medals, trowels and -rooeneral effect has been described[6] as being white and gold and pale pink, its floor of polished oak with an Axminster carpet in the centre, and with an appearance of vastness old There were innumerable mirrors and the furniture was upholstered in deep red, while rare china, flowers, photographs, statuettes, and sold and silver and enamel were scattered in profusion upon tables, cabinets and mantels Here the most eminent men and beautiful or clever women of Great Britain and the world have been entertained and here, or in the well-kept grounds, the intiathered froh was always cosmopolitan in its variety but it was never of the kind which slander sometimes insinuated
No man has ever been more democratic, so far as mere class barriers are concerned, than was the Prince of Wales, but no one knew better than he where to draw the line in his entertainments The Princess, for her part, was at all times a model hostess, and each knew too as due to the other tomore than a correct embodiment and representation of the social life of London The liberality of the Prince wascultivated and representative Americans or Jeelco for beautiful woed at one time a social class of ”professional beauties,” but as soon as this patronage was found to have been arized in certain quarters, he and the Princess quietly dropped those ere nition A story has been told illustrating the capacity which the Prince of Wales always showed for keeping people in their proper places On one occasion, at a great charitable bazaar in Albert Hall, which he had honoured with his presence, he went up to a refreshment stall and asked for a cup of tea
The fair vendor--there was no doubt of her beauty--before handing the cup to His Royal Highness took a drink frouineas!” The Prince gravely paid the ive me a clean cup?”
The Royal etiquette, as to social entertainments and the acceptance of invitations to country houses, or city functions, was always very exact and was carried out along lines fixed by the Prince and Princess in their early married life Outside of the aristocracy, or a small list of personal friends, very few hospitable invitations were ever accepted and as such acceptance her ranks of society the pressure upon personal friends or officials can easily be iant style of such entertain his circle of hosts and hostesses At the country houses visited from time to time, or at the private dinners to which he accepted invitations, the Prince was supposed to usually see a list of the guests and to always have the right of adding na to this matter was for many years confided to Mr Harry Tyrwhitt Wilson; who also had the arrangeely in his hands One incident of the visits to country houses was an effort on the part of the Prince in recent years to discourage and check the wholesale habit of tipping servants He took thea moderate and suitable sum for the purpose and this was distributed after he had left the place It may be added that whenever the Prince went anywhere he was always accompanied by an equerry, his own valets, a footman to wait on him at meals, and certain other servants
FRIENDS AND COMPANIONS OF THE PRINCE
The Prince and Princess of Wales, separately or together as the case land Chief ahted to visit were the Duke and duchess of Devonshi+re and Chatsworth; Hardwick Hall and Compton Place have, therefore, more than once seen most brilliant entertainan were frequent and favourite hosts Lord and Lady Londonderry, the Earl and Countess of Warwick, the Duke of Richmond at Goodwood House, the late Duke of Westminster at Eaton Hall, all entertained the Royal couple upon ton, the late Duke of Beaufort, and Sir Edward Lawson gave the Prince frequent and enjoyable shooting The duchess of Marlborough and Mrs Arthur Paget were two Ahness counted as friends and hostesses Several members of the Rothschild family entertained the Heir Apparent at homes which have been described as models of conate whoreat pleasure, and the late Baron Hirsch, in his Hungarian shootings, gave him splendid sport upon more than one occasion
No phrase has been more conspicuous in recent years and none have beenand application than that of ”the Prince's set”
Properly used, itspecific and often very diverse lines of sport, society, work, or travel, were necessarily intihness Inate a rather fast and very ”suise it had really no existence Those ere familiar with the Prince of Wales' career and character knew thatwhich ever attracted hi which was a e; to say nothing of his friendshi+p Many disappointed millionaires can speak with accuracy upon this point--if they wished to On the other hand, honest love of racing, or shooting, or yachting; brilliancy of conversation in man or woman and conspicuous beauty or chare of the world and capacity to do the right thing in the right way at the right ti the friendshi+p of the Prince of Wales
Achievereat philanthropic interests and undertakings, were always elehlands made friends and hosts such as the late Dukes of Sutherland and Ha his annual visits to Ho, for many years, and in the rest and liberty which he allowed himself there, the Prince's favourite companion, as he was his most devoted friend, was the late Mr
Christopher Sykes Lord Brae as better known as Sir Henry Hawkins--the Right Hon ”Jimmy”
Lowther, MP, Lord Charles and Lord Willia were also special friends of the holiday season Admiral Sir Henry Keppel was a very old friend of the Prince and his fae Keppel Lord Rosebery, Lord Beaconsfield, Lord Randolph Churchill and the late Lord Derby could all claim the Royal friendshi+p, while Lord and Lady Farquhar were delightful and favourite hosts of both the Prince and his wife Colonel Oliver Montagu was a very old and dear friend, and the Earl of Aylesford, Lord Cadogan, General Lord Wantage, Colonel Owen Williaton, Lord and Lady Dudley and Lord Russell of Killowen ranked in the category of friendshi+p Lord and Lady Alington had the rare distinction of giving dances to which the Princess of Wales used to take her daughters when they were young girls
Ast hostesses other than those already mentioned whose entertainments the Prince liked to attend were Mrs Bischoffstein and Mrs Arthur Rothschild Other personal friends were the late Earl of Lathoht and witty Marchioness of Aylesbury, Lord Jast artists whoreatly favoured were Sir Charles and Lady Halle and the late Lord Leighton No closer and more devoted friends of the Prince could be found than theaware of this in the persons of Lord Suffield, Sir Francis Knollys and Sir Dighton Probyn, in particular The Prince delighted in doing honour to those whom he accepted as friends He u and Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild by personally attending their funerals--an exception to the rule which he had set hihness frequently gave his powerful patronage to the promotion of Memorials to those who had been honoured by his friendshi+p and who deserved honour upon national grounds An early instance of this was the case of Dean Stanley A later one, on July 13, 1900, was the gathering called at Marlborough House and presided over by the Prince for the purpose of erecting a national memorial in West, His Royal Highness said: ”To me personally the death of the Dukefriend I had known him from his boyhood and there is no one whose friendshi+p I appreciated ment there is no one whose public services nition by his countrymen”
Fidelity to friends and appreciation of manly qualities and special abilities were always characteristic of the Prince of Wales and, combined with his tact and the unusual qualifications of the Princess as a hostess, ham, in different ways, the most ideal centres of social entertainment Taken as a whole, the Prince's leadershi+p of society was ee of the opera or the theatre, the race-course or the shooting-box, reeable to soreat s as they were, enjoyed them in a full-hearted and honest way, improved the _ue in many directions and left Society infinitely better and more honest than he had found it