Prince of Wales

“ The prince of Wales, after a lingering illness, died in the forty-sixth year of his age; and left a character illustrious for every eminent virtue, and, from his earliest youth till the hour he expired, unstained by any blemish. His valor and military talents formed the smallest part of his merit: his generosity, humanity, affability, moderation, gained him the affections of all men ”

“ To assert an inherent right in the Prince of Wales to assume the Government, is virtually to revive those exploded ideas of the divine and indefeasible authority of Princes, which have so justly sunk into contempt and almost oblivion. ”

“ THE FIRST-BORN PRINCE OF WALES.
[On the death of Llewellyn, the Welsh demanded a native Prince: so King Edward of England, who was then in Wales, sent for Eleanor, his Queen; and she, soon after her arrival in Caernarvon Castle, was delivered of a son, whom the King presented to the Welsh chieftains, and whom they acknowledged as their native Prince.]
I.
Weep, noble lady! weep no more!
⁠The woman’s joy is won:
Fear not! ”

“ But the Prince of Wales is nothing of a prig or a faddist. He has arranged his life in this healthful way of his own initiative entirely, with a quiet decision that is rather surprising in a young man who has the world at his feet. ”

“ The Prince of Wales, who was still, despite his forty years and more, one of the handsomest men in the three kingdoms, with the soul the most ugly and the most vile, had condescended to come and relate to everyone who was willing to listen to him that the King was madder than ever. ”

“ So long as the Prince of Wales keeps out of politics, he may hold his place well enough; the England of to-day could far better endure even a George the Fourth than a George the Third. I have little doubt that the Prince of Wales, when he comes to be King, will be discreet in this matter at least. ”

“ There was no part of his public career more creditable to the Prince of Wales than his sincere, unforced friendship and sympathy with the workingman. Like his philanthropic work, it was the natural product of a generous disposition, and won the honest liking of men who had always looked with suspicion upon aristocratic, to say nothing of Royal, efforts in their behalf. ”

“ No apprehension ever touches those who are present at a scene of which the Prince of Wales is the centre, that he may chance to chill by lack of interest, to choose his words of admiration inopportunely, or to praise without sympathy. The work he came, as it were, to sanction by national approbation is a grand engineering undertaking, and is grander yet in its probable moral consequences. ”

“ In the prince of Wales we behold another pledge of the security of those inestimable privileges, which we have enjoyed under the monarchs of thy illustrious house—kings, distinguished by their justice, their clemency, and regard to the prosperity of their people: a happy presage, that under their descendants, our civil and religious liberties will devolve, in their full extent, to succeeding generations. ”

“ Here and in several other places it is supposed that the next heir apparent of the crown was Prince of Wales. The heir apparent of the crown is indeed prince, but not, strictly speaking, of Wales, unless he has it given him by creation; and it is said that there is nothing on record to prove that any of Henry's children were ever created Prince of Wales. There are indeed some hints of the Lady Mary's being styled Princess of Wales; for when a family was appointed for her, 1525, Veysey, bishop of Exeter, her tutor, was made president of Wales. ”

“ A Prince of Wales has rarely been called as a witness in a case, although, of course, in the theory of English law, all men are equal, and the privileges, if any, which would attach to him would not attach to him in his capacity as Prince of Wales or Heir-Apparent to the Throne, but simply in his capacity as a peer of the United Kingdom. ”

“ That, for a Faction to engross the education of a Prince of Wales to themselves, excluding men of probity, property, and wholesome learning, is unwarrantable, dangerous, and illegal.
That, to place men about a Prince of Wales, whose principles are suspected, and whose belief in the mysteries of our Holy Faith is doubtful, has the most mischievous tendency, and ought justly to alarm the friends of their country, and of the Protestant Succession. ”

“ Is not the Prince of Wales as likely to be able to judge of political systems as his father, ... afflicted as the latter unhappily has been in more ways than one, and bent down with age as he now is? Is not the Prince as likely to be able to choose proper advisers as his father was, or ever can be? ”

“ The title of Prince of Wales with a right to the homage of the Welsh chieftains satisfied his ambition; and he consented to swear fealty to Henry, and to pay him the sum of twenty-five thousand marks. The restoration of tranquillity allowed the King to direct his attention to the improvement of his people. He condescended to profit by the labors of his adversaries; and some of the most useful among the provisions of the barons were with other laws enacted by legitimate authority in a parliament at Marlborough. ”

“ The tradition of constitutional monarchy established by our late beloved Queen necessarily inaugurated a different régime. No political party was ever able honestly to claim the Prince of Wales as an adherent, or even as a platonic sympathiser. On the other hand, not his severest critics ever accused him of [264] apathy to British interests. In that higher sphere of patriotism which rises superior to the din of party politics he thoroughly earned the title of the typical Englishman. ”

“ For the hatred at least a good reason will be shown in its proper place.
The Prince then having consulted with his advisers—and the principal of these were the Duke of Marlborough, Lord Carteret and Mr. Pulteney—decided to appeal to Parliament to petition the King to grant him that same income as Prince of Wales, which he himself received from George the First. ”

“ During the brief time that has elapsed since our late glorious Sovereign’s death, there has been far too much dragging-in of the King’s name to matters “theatrical and sporting,” in the Press,—and it is of far more interest to the nation50 to remember how ardently he, as Prince of Wales, has worked for good and charitable aims, how much he has helped to promote the cause of the poor, the weak and the aged, and how generously and promptly he has always given his personal aid and influence to relieve any immediate suffering. ”

“ It is always interesting to know what people look like; so here is a picture of the Prince of Wales as he appeared at the age of forty-two: "A merry, good-humored man, tall, though somewhat portly in stature, in the prime of life, with laughing eyes, pouting lips, and nose which very slightly turned up and gave a peculiar poignancy to the expression of his face. He wore a well-powdered wig, adorned with a profusion of curls, and a very large pigtail appended thereto. ”

“ He was always an ardent supporter of the Prince of Wales, with whom he lived upon terms of the closest intimacy, and he did him good service in the debates upon the Regency Bill, 1789,—to prove thereafter the proverbial ingratitude of princes. ”

“ Besides purchasing Lord Lumley's books, the young prince acquired the entire collection of the erudite Welshman, William Morice, and an unprecedented stir and activity began to animate the affairs of the Royal library. Scholars saw in the Prince of Wales their future stay and protector, and looked forward to his reign as to that of the first English king in modern times, who would not merely patronise, but also extend learning by his inherent love of, and zeal for, letters. ”

“ We know now the feeling that existed in our Colonies and that they have sent their best material, their best blood and manhood, to fight with us, side by side, for the honour of the flag and for the maintenance of our Empire." Such words may fittingly conclude a brief record of the Prince of Wales' interest in Empire affairs up to the time of his accession to the Throne. ”

“ On 26 June 1471 his father, having recovered the throne, created him Prince of Wales (Rolls of Parl. vi. 9) , and on 3 July following compelled the lords in parliament to acknowledge him as undoubted heir of the kingdom, swearing that they would take him as king if he survived himself (Rymer, xi. 714) . ”

“ I believe there is no harder worked man in the United Kingdom than the Prince of Wales. From morning to night he is at the beck and call of somebody or other, and we always find him ready to respond to the calls made upon him. ”

“ During the years which followed, up to the time of his accession to the Throne, the interest of the Prince of Wales in everything that helped Imperial unity was continuous and most earnest. At the Jubilee periods of 1887 and 1897, he entertained many Colonial statesmen, as he had done at other times when opportunity served, and he was always delighted to meet them and to discuss the affairs of their countries with men who naturally knew them best. ”

“ The Prince of Wales is so regardless of weather, that a shower of rain is never known to interrupt his excursions. His Highness's indifference on this head, reminds us of a remark of Henry the Great, "that fate does not depend upon a sunbeam!"—The example of the British prince was followed by his insular friends and Parisian visitors. The road from Brighthelmstone to Lewes, was crowded by gentlemen jockies and jockey sharpers ”