Birthday Party

Her Royal Highness, the Infanta Eulalia of Spain, aunt of King Alfonso, has recently observed publicly--that, with the drooping of his whiskers into a beard, Wilhelm of Doorn now "appears at first glance to be none other than the late King Edward VII."

Last week this most notorious of Queen Victoria's grandchildren made a gesture somewhat Edwardian in its expansiveness; he expended a sum estimated at 40,000 florins ($16,000) upon the celebration of his 67th birthday; he received 300 telegrams of congratulation.

Atop the Hohenzollern chateau at Doorn, the imperial standard flaunted all day. The Lord Chamberlain (TIME, Nov. 30) was kept busy welcoming Dutch and German notables, who motored up to the estate with baskets of flowers and were either pressed to remain or turned away after being allowed to sign the "Complimentary Register" kept at the entrance to the lodge.

Meanwhile Wilhelm was not idle. At 11 a.m. he was snapshoted by photographers while walking with his consort, Hermine, in the hamlet of Doom itself, where the Dutch inhabitants usually accord him a silent salute by gravely tipping their hats. At noon he received the congratulations of his entourage and servants. At 4 p. m. he delivered a birthday speech "with energy in a high voice" to his guests, and was greeted with "loud hochs."

Finally, as dinner time approached, the expensive part of the entertainment was revealed. The Lord Chamberlain threw open the doors of the Frederick the Great Salon. Wilhelm strode proudly in; deigned to express by a gesture that the room had just been "newly furnished with beautiful bronzes, together with brocaded hangings" and many another embellishment imported from Germany.

A small table at one side was "reserved for young princes and princesses, and decorated with white lilies." Wilhelm himself presided at a large table adorned with red roses and "a splendid bouquet," which was announced to have been the gift of the Queen Mother of Holland.

At Berlin the Monarchist Deutsche Zeitung sharply criticized President von Hindenburg for delaying so long "to hand back to our Kaiser his rightful throne." Meanwhile, 42 persons were injured during riots which ensued after German Communists had hanged Wilhelm in effigy at Charlottenburg (Berlin suburb).

*On p. 155 of her Courts and Countries After the War (Dodd, Mead).