The Crown

Great Britain

The Crown

P: As George V entered the third month of his illness, the King-Emperor was officially described as "making slow progress" and unofficially as "brighter." Last week His Majesty napped frequently, displayed a keener appetite, chatted with Queen Mary several times daily, and asked, but was refused, permission to read.

P: The London Daily News scooped, last week, the news that "the King's hair has turned pure white."

P: Prince George and Queen Mary recovered from their colds, the latter after her sore throat had been vigorously sprayed for a fortnight by Dr. G. S. Hett.

Opened in London, last week, but not yet patronized by the Royal Family, was a "Public Inhalatorium." Poor persons with colds may pay tuppence (4-c-) to sit in a large chamber inhaling beneficial gases. Individuals of the middle classes will doubtless choose to pay two shillings (48-c-) for a booth in which they may sniff privately.

P: Lady Anne Maud Wellesley, 18-year-old daughter of the Marquis of Douro, and rumored fiancee of Edward of Wales (TIME, Dec. 10), suffered a relapse of her prolonged pneumonia last week. During His Royal Highness' recent tour of British Africa, he received radio bulletins in code concerning Lady Anne's condition.

P: A certain kind of news is called "American." Admittedly the foremost "American" editor in London is Mr. Ralph D. ("Blum") Blumenfeld of the London Daily Express. Operated by one Dave Blumenfeld, son of Ralph, is the London Feature Service. Last week this enterprising bureau cabled to the U. S. a story "not to be reproduced in the British Isles." Apparently Canadians were considered sufficiently "American" to enjoy what followed:

"Ever since it was realized by the British public that the king was seriously ill Buckingham Palace has been literally inundated with patent medicines and bottles containing unguents made from hundred-year-old recipes sent by well-wishers for His Majesty's recovery. . . . There are phials containing green, red, and yellow liquids; there are chest pastes made from fruits and flour, there are unguents of crushed ginger and honey which have been handed down in recipe from generation to generation, and there is a whole drawer full of protective amulets sent by villagers from nearly every county in the country!

"The public is fully aware that the King has by his bedside the finest physicians and specialists in the country, but a certain number of them are apparently dissatisfied. Every day sees new additions to the ever-growing pile of bottles, and phials, and philtres which are being stored away unopened in special rooms; for to return the medicines to the donors would hurt their feelings, and the officials of the Palace are above all things thoughtful of others.

"Not all of the gifts of medicine come by mail. Every day the police on duty at the gates receive parcels of stuff which are delivered in person. One old lady rode up from the country in a motor car which must have been any age at the outbreak of the late War, and demanded to be taken in front of Lord Dawson of Penn, the King's chief physician. She was handled tactfully, and when she realized that she was unable to see the great doctor she disclosed that she had brought up a jar containing a mixture of linseed, aromatic herbs and toad's blood which she had religiously stirred through the night in accordance with instructions left by her great-great-grandmother, who was said to be a wonderful herbalist and who was even credited, in her day, with performing miracles. On receiving an assurance that the lotion would be applied to the King's chest, she left contentedly. . . .

"Another old lady arrived with two ring doves in a wooden cage. 'These,' she told officials at the Palace, 'must be placed in His Majesty's sleeping room for their breathing purifies the air.' The birds too were retained and, so rumor has it, were released a few hours afterwards in the beautiful Palace gardens, where they will no doubt flourish far better than they would have done in their wooden cage.

"The other morning a dignified and white haired gentleman, faultlessly dressed in morning coat and top hat applied at the Palace gates for an interview with an official of the King's household. He was at once passed in, for he is quite a well known figure in society and it was discovered to the amazement of the official whose duty it was to interview him, that he had come to tell the King's doctors that they were dealing with the case on a hopelessly wrong diagnosis. The King, he told the official, was suffering from the ill effects of his accident during the War when he was thrown from his horse, and nothing would do but that His Majesty must be treated with a certain type of embrocation, generally used for bruised limbs after a hard day in the hunting field, and which is incidentally nationally advertised.

"It must not be thought, from these few examples, that the people who are sending and bringing these medicines and suggestions to the Palace are slightly unbalanced. Anything but. They are men and women who take the King's illness as a personal affliction and they honestly feel that their quack medicines and prescriptions are not only an expression of their loyalty but that they are the only things which can save the King. The arrival a few days ago of a special serum from the United States which was rushed to the Palace and given much publicity in the newspapers has encouraged thousands more to send in their own 'unfailing' restoratives, cures and strength builders.

"Indeed, if faith and loyalty could cure King George, he would rise from his bed today."

P: The four correspondents who have been privileged to enter Buckingham Palace during the King's illness have learned from servitors that:

1) When Queen Mary is getting into a temper she is apt to purse her lips and whistle softly; 2) Edward of Wales is commonly called by Palace minions "the young guv'nor"; 3) Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, and Prince George, younger sons and still resident at Buckingham Palace, ask their mother's permission if they wish to sleep later on any given morning than 8 o'clock, the family rising hour; 4) Even the four privileged reporters are not permitted to telephone from the palace, nor may they leave by the main door. However great the news emergency, they must duck out through a subterranean passageway, then sprint for private houses in the neighborhood, where they have arranged to use the telephone, day or night.

P: A performance of Thackeray's The Rose and the Ring was attended, last week, by T. R. H. the Duke and Duchess of York. Hitherto no one of the King's sons has entered a theatre since the critical stage of his illness. Princess Mary has been to a benefit circus, laughed.