Their Majesties as I Knew Them / Personal Reminiscences of the Kings and Queens of Europe

duties. I therefore left him at the station and was not to resume my place in his suite until the moment of his departure. The anarchist revolutionary gentry appeared to be

n at the Opera in his honour, struck me more particularly because of the plainness of the warning which

een taken," it read, "the King had better be

no doubt excluded the possibility of a successful plot. But there remained the danger of an individual attempt, the murderous act of a single person: and I knew by experie

he had stepped into it with M. Loubet and driven off, surrounded by his squadron of cavalry. The attempt on his life took place at the corner of the Rue

n these circumstances, for it is still present in every memory, nor the

to me, a couple of days later, "and, upon my w

he little drawbacks attendant on the trade of king. He gave a splendid proof of this courage at the time of the Madrid bomb, o

rly morning, the presidential train was shunted on to the special line that leads direct to the dockyard. Suddenly, while we were running pretty fast, a short stop took place, producing a viole

King, calmly smiling, as he p

light accident: the rear luggage-van had left the rails through a m

the same, that it was an attempt on my life: I must

Queen Maria Christina that a fresh attack had been made on her son. There are always plenty of

was returning direct to his own country. This time, the official journey was over; and I once more found the pleasant, simple young man, in t

o see this beautiful country again, even t

d had to travel very slowly. At that moment, seeing some gangs of navvies working under the di

going to give you something

gh the window, first to the delighted labourers and then to the soldiers drawn up on either side of the line. They had never known such a windfall: it rained Upmanns, Henry Clays and Turkish ci

r, thank you!

e until we were able, at the next stop, to replenish our provisio

lso about to pay an official visit to France; and the authorities and troops had collected on the platform in order to show the usual honours to their new guest. Our sudden arrival, for which nobody was prepared, as Alfonso XIII was not now travelling officially, utterly disconcerted the resplendent crow

and the band of the regiment, which had been practising the Portuguese royal anthem, briskly struck up the

ow that you are not here for me,

, hustled one another and fired guns into the air for joy, while the King, calm and smiling elbowed his way from the presidential to the royal train, patting the children's heads as he passed, paying a compliment to their mothers, distributing friendly nods to the men who were noisily cheering him. And I thought of ou

. Still laughing, the King,

longer say that you haven'

Sir," I replied. "It

o you

haven't you

g to the grand master of his court, "Sant

ed a photograph, signed an

s accession-visit to the Berlin Court, stopped to spend a day incognito in Paris. I

ccording to custom, I had gone to meet him. "But this time I shall not cause you any great w

his clothes, after which he managed, during his brief stay, to hear mass in the church of St. Roch, for it was Sunday, to pay a visit to M. Loubet, to make some purchases in the principal shops, to lunc

ay, when he's travelling,"

chermen. Every morning of his life, Alfonso XIII has a good rumpsteak and potatoes for his first breakfast, often preceded by eggs and sometimes followed by salad and fruit. The K

XIII, even in his flying trips, never, as we have seen, loses the occasion of improving his mind. He is very quick at seizing a point, possesses a remarkable power of assimilation and,

many gendarmes th

y, for I have never cared much about statistics.

thous

ou thinking of? That's the number we have

fterwards learnt, w

lead one to believe. Rising winter and summer at six o'clock, he stays indoors and works regularly during th

Just like the Queen Mother, he insists upon clear and detailed explanations, before signing the least document; and he knows quite well how to ma

lled during a quarter of a century have sometimes involved difficult moments, delicate responsibilities, thankless tasks, but they have also procured me many charming compensations; and I have no more delightful recollection than that of witnessing, at first hand, the fresh and

is ministers began to hint discreetly about poss

o takes my fancy and nobody

was also mooted, I believe. But the political rapprochement between Spain and England had just been accomplished under French auspices; an Anglo-Spanish marriage seemed to correspond with the interests of Spain; and it so happened that the Princess Patricia of Connaught had lately been seen in

o Patricia of Connaught. The diplomatists, however, had reckoned without a factor, which, doubtless, was

r hand, at the ball given in the King's honour at Buckingham Palace, Alfonso never took his eyes

at?" asked

of Battenberg,

talked together, met again on the

urned to Spain, he lef

conducted with the English royal family by the King in person-was pursued in the greatest mystery. People knew, of course, that the princess and the King liked and admired each other; but th

, when the time came to christen her, he made

CESS

these three little dots

leaving shortly for Biarritz, to stay with their cousin, the Princess Frederica of Hanover, and inviting me to accompany them. This kind thought is explained by the fact that I had known the princess and her daughter for many years: I had often had occasions to see Princess Beatrice with the late Queen Victoria, to whom she showed the most

fter her arrival at Biarritz, I unexpectedly saw King Alfonso arrive in a great state of excitement and surprised the first glance which they exchanged at the door of the villa, then I understood. I was, theref

fficially settled yet; i