Princely Pilgrim

(British Commonwealth of Nations')

P:One Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David, Prince of Wales, Earl of Chester, Duke of Cornwall, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the Isles and Great Steward of Scotland, High Steward of Windsor, K.G., K.T., G.C.S.I., G.M.M.G., G.C.I.E., G.C.V.O., G.M.B.E., I.S.O., M.C., etc., chose from all his titles that of Baron of Renfrew, boarded the good boat Berengaria, sailed for the U. S.

P:From every available quarter of the globe came debutantes, hearts a-thumping, determined to book a passage on the Berengaria. Many thousands must have been disappointed.

P:At the Barclay Hotel--Piccadilly restaurant that caters to the ultra-elite and the super-wealthy--Mr. and Mrs. James Abercrombie Burden, at whose Long Island mansion the Prince will stay during his visit to the U. S., gave a dinner party for their Royal guest, presented him with a gold Yale key to the front door.

P:Next morning, bright and early, so the story goes, the idle were gratified by a glimpse of princely shirt sleeves, a hot, dirty, princely face. The Praga Wagger* was doing his own packing.

P:In late afternoon of the following day, the Prince, accompanied by his youngest brother, Prince George; his Groom-in-Waiting, one-armed Brig. Gen. G. F. Trotter; his assistant private secretary, Captain A. F. Lascelles; and an equerry, the Hon. Bruce Ogilvy, left the great metropolis for Southampton. Said the British press: "His Royal Highness left for New York this afternoon bubbling over with good spirits."

P:At Southampton the serried ranks of reporters and photographers stood at attention for the Royal victim. A few minutes past four o'clock, ante meridiem, word was brought to them that the Prince had boarded the Berengaria by "swarming up a rope ladder."

P:At 2:30 p. m. the ship weighed anchor and carried the British Heir Apparent to the land which might, had there been no American Revolution, have been his Royal father's greatest dominion.

P:Immediately he sets foot on the territory of the U. S. the Prince of Wales will become Baron of Renfrew. At Washington, however, where he will be received officially by President Coolidge and entertained at a state luncheon in the White House, he will become Prince of Wales for a brief period.

P:Captain E. F. Toby of Troop K, New York State Police, appointed four husky troopers to act as the Prince's bodyguard. He said that they "would not leave the Prince's " during the whole time he is in N. Y. State.*

P:Major Oscar N. Solbert, Corps of Engineers, was detailed by Secretary of War John W. Weeks to act as honorary aide-de-camp to the Prince during his visit. Major Solbert was for five years Military Attache at the U. S. Embassy in London and knows the Prince intimately. He is in charge of the Royal program. Said he:

"The program for the entire visit is already filled beyond its capacity with sports, polo, golf, recreation, informal lunches and dinners with the British and American polo players, and one or two parties, such as the Piping Rock Club dinner on Sept. 3 for the Prince and the British polo team and the dinner and reception to be given by Clarence Mackay on the evening of the first game. The program has thus been filled in the manner and with such recreation and parties as the Prince himself desired."

P:Even on the high seas news was flashed from the Berengaria to the high-and-dry world telling it of the princely doings. He went to church and inspired, by his presence, a record attendance of passengers; he strolled the deck at four-miles-an-hour pace for hours on end; he ate little, which worried the cook -- for lunch he toyed with a little lobster and the wing of a grouse. At dinner in the main saloon bejeweled ladies, resplendent in gorgeous apparel, bright-eyed debs, attired in flimsy frills, and a host of cavaliers, dressed most appropriately in dinner suits, shirt fronts uncreased and ties tied to perfection, sat dallying with their food as they waited for the Prince. At 8:30 p. m. the Royal party arrived, dressed in lounge suits. In a secluded wing of the saloon a delightfully decorated table was laid. Before it the Prince stopped, ran his fingers through his hair, motioned his party to another less elaborately set table. P:The first day's fashion: Double-breasted dark grey suit, with a thin white stripe, Grenadier Guards tie, rough brown suede shoes.

*"Praga Wagger"--Oxonian for "Prince of Wales." Many words, when translated into Oxford slang, suffer a slight or vicious annihilation of their final syllables. For example, breakfast becomes brekker; sitting (living) room, sitter; bedroom, bedder. Names of streets are prefixed by "the" and "street" is never used. Thus High Street becomes The High; Broad Street, The Broad; but St. Giles Street, becomes The Giler.

*Such a statement as this must not be taken literally. The troopers would almost certainly be in the way at meal times, bedtime, etc.