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King George of Greece THE LIFE OF KING GEORGE OF GREECE KING GEORGE OF GREECE King George of Greece BY CAPTAIN WALTER CHRISTMAS ft Illustratedfrom photographs, some of which have been graciously lent by H.M. QUEEN ALEXANDRA LONDON EVELEIGH NASH 1914 \ v^ TRANSLATED FROM THE DANISH BY A. G. CHATER DEDICATED BY GRACIOUS PERMISSION TO H.M. QUEEN ALEXANDRA 308050 INTRODUCTION MY FIRST MEETING WITH KING GEORGE Late in November 1875 if I remember rightly " a little ship's boy, Volunteer Apprentice, No. 274," as his official title ran, stood on the orlop deck of the Danish corvette Dagmar, endeavouring in the prevailing semi-darkness to polish a pair of very elegant, but extremely dirty boots. I was that boy, and the boots were the property of First Lieutenant, now Rear - Admiral, Francis Lund. At that time naval cadets were required to put in a preliminary term as officers' servants, and I was fortunate enough to find myself allotted to the kindliest of all the officers on board. If the truth must be told, I fear my master was less pleased with me than I with him I First ; worshipped my Lieutenant, and worked away gladly at his boots, while my comrades, each busy with his own particular occupation, chattered in chorus. We had been at Smyrna, and had found it horribly cold. A boy's first voyage to the Levant 11 "12 .: KiNiG GEORGE OF GREECE is invariably made the subject of anticipatory dreams of tropic heat, with real live camels and golden orange-trees. Camels there were in plenty, and loads of oranges, but the temperature was far from coming up to our expectations. At night the mercury withdrew modestly below freezing-point; there was rime in the rigging, and real icicles hung from the scuppers. In the sheltered harbour of the Piraeus, where we now it was a little better the lay anchored, ; but master's mate, who had been ashore that morning, declared he had seen ice upon the puddles on the quay. All this, and many other matters of slight or serious interest, formed topics of talk. But first of all there was Kin- George. The King and Queen had paid a visit on board the day before, in great pomp and state, with admirals, generals, and court officials in their suite. We had manned the yards, while the guns thundered out the royal salute, with officers and men in parade dress, flags everywhere and an extra ration of grog in the evening, in honour of the occasion. It was all delightfully excf:ing. To-day, however, the splendour of state visits was already a thing of the past. The King was again up on deck, dressed this time as an ordinary gentleman, and accompanied only by his aide-de- camp, Baron Giildencrone. And every now and then one of us would stick his head up over the FIRST MEETING WITH KING GEORGE 18 hatchway to get another glimpse of this Danish Prince, so strangely made a monarch, brought from the far North to be crowned, while still only a naval cadet just three years older than myself. Some one came tumbling hurriedly down the companion-way it was my comrade, Jorgen Castenskiold. He was on duty up above, and had been sent to get a light for the King's cigar. This in itself was something worth telling. And then the King had stroked him under the chin and asked if he would like to come up to the Palace. What could it mean ? Was the King going to invite all the volunteers on board to roast goose and Christmas cheer ? Castenskiold hurried off and left us eagerly discussing the question. The call sounded for tea, and soon we were seated round the tables in the mess, busy with tin mugs full of the hot liquid, in which we tried to soak rye biscuits, hardest of hard tasks, chew- ing away till our jaws were tired, but seldom till our stomachs were satisfied. As we sat there, our strong teeth hard at work, " there came a hail from above : Two-seven-four " Number two-seven-four ! " " Here ! I shouted, putting down my tin mug. " " King wants you look alive ! I sprang up, and sat down again as suddenly on my bench, utterly overwhelmed the King ! What on earth could it mean ? 14 KING GEORGE OF GREECE I pulled myself together, flew like a stone from a catapult up the companion-ladder and hurried to the chart-house. A moment later I was stand- ing stiff as a post and blinking like an owl before a very young and very slender gentleman, who sat with a big cigar between his fingers and a cup of coffee before him, surrounded by the Commander and officers of the ship. I felt the eyes of the assembled company upon me, and despite the King's kindly smile I could not help feeling ill at ease. Besides, I suddenly remembered that my hands were most obtrusively unwashed after the recent boot cleaning I must have cut a pretty figure ! "So your name's Walter Christmas?" asked the King, looking with a faint twinkle in his eye at my untidy little person. ** " Yes, your your " " Your Majesty, you ass ! whispered Lieutenant Hammer, who was nearest. The last words were presumably intended for my private ear. The King laughed. "Would you like to come up with me to the Palace you and your friend, Jorgen Castenskiold.'*" " Yes, please, your your Majesty," I stammered, now utterly confused. I stole a glance at Lieutenant Lund, who was my providence in all cases of difficulty. He nodded encouragingly. "It's all right, you may go," said the Commander " kindly. Go and get your things packed." FIRST MEETING WITH KING GEORGE 15 The King took out his watch. "In half an hour from now," he said. " Yes, your Majesty." I backed out of the chart-house and stumbled down to the orlop deck. Castenskiold was already busy getting out his best clothes, and soon we were both feverishly occupied with our "wardrobe." " Look at their Royal Highnesses!" croaked out a voice, and the whole mess sailors, conscripts, and volunteers following the signal, set up a combined fire of jests at our expense. We cared but little for their chaff, however, and as for myself, my first confusion over, I thought only of immediate needs. Neither of us had any bulky luggage a ship's boy's effects are few and simple. We could not even muster a single trunk, but this difficulty was over got by borrowing a nice clean bread bag, in which we packed our finest clothes and most indispensable belongings. When the side was piped for the King's departure, we were already seated in the bows of the our boat, hearts thumping in delightful anticipation. It was all like a fairy tale to us boys a wondrous weaving of glorious golden threads into the web of our fourteen-year-old lives. As if some gentle fairy had led us away from the dark and mean of our surroundings daily life on the hated orlop deck to the splendours of a royal palace in the 16 KING GEORGE OF GREECE most renowned of old-time cities. One night to lie in a narrow hammock, stowed stuffily away amid a mass of snoring and perspiring humanity the next, to find ourselves luxuriously couched in canopied beds in a large and lofty room. Out- side our windows stretched the beautiful palace gardens, where hundreds of orange - trees stood with fruit and other heavy ripe ; palms, cypresses, wondrous semi-tropical plants nodded to us in the gleaming sunshine. Yesterday we had been boot- cleaning, plate-carrying ship's boys, whose greatest delight was to find a remnant of some delicacy from the officers' table, a drop of coffee at the bottom of a pot. And to-day our own private attendant knocked discreetly at the door, before entering with a tray of early morning luxuries at eight o'clock! coffee, hot milk, toast, cakes, honey, and fresh-churned butter, the whole delightful spread placed on a little low table between two most inviting easy chairs. How we did eat and drink! And how we splashed luxuriously in our tepid baths of fresh water! For months we had washed in the salt water of the Mediterranean, and every one knows how impossible it is to get decently clean with salt water. On mature consideration we agreed that it would be best to proceed by easy stages towards cleanliness of we did not perfect body ; like to scrub ourselves too thoroughly all at once, fearing the corn with which our magnificent FIRST MEETING WITH KING GEORGE 17 attendant would certainly regard the resulting opacity of the water! It was a life of fairy tale indeed, through all those seven weeks of splendour and delight. Our early breakfast over, we slipped down into the garden to eat oranges till we could eat no more, wandered at leisure among the trees and flowers, and played with the tortoises by the little ponds. We also paid daily visits to the King's private zoo at the back of the gardens and spent hours by the cages of a wolf, a jackal, and an old lion, which King George had received as a present from the Emperor of Abyssinia, and which were on terms of the greatest friendship with him. The King never failed to visit these animals at least twice a day, and delighted in feeding them himself. Then the little Princes and Princesses would come down, often in the personal charge of King George and Queen Olga, and would roam about with us for hours.
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