The Prince of Wales became, of course, King at the moment of his Father's death; on May 7th His Majesty met the Privy Council, signed the proclamation relating to his Accession and accepted the oath of fealty from the Lords and gentlemen assembled. To them he delivered a brief address expressive of his personal sorrow and sense of his onerous responsibilities: "In this irreparable loss, which has so suddenly fallen upon me and the whole Empire, I am comforted by the feeling that I have the sympathy of my future subjects, who will mourn with me for their beloved Sovereign, whose own happiness was found in sharing and promoting theirs. I have lost not only a Father's love, but the affectionate and intimate relations of a dear friend and adviser. No less confident am I of the universal and loving sympathy which is assured to my dearest Mother in her overwhelming grief.
"Standing here, little more than nine years ago, our beloved King declared that so long as there was breath in his body he would work for the good and amelioration of his subjects. I am sure that the opinion of the whole nation will be that this declaration has been fully carried out. To endeavour to follow in his footsteps, and at the same time to uphold the constitutional government of these realms will be the earnest object of my life. I am deeply sensible of the heavy responsibilities which have fallen upon me. I know that I can rely upon the Parliament and on the people of these Islands and my Dominions beyond the Seas for their help in the discharge of these arduous duties and their prayers that God will grant me strength and guidance. I am encouraged by the knowledge that I have in my dear wife one who will be a constant helpmate in every endeavour for our people's good."
This speech, delivered with obvious feeling and indicating a real understanding and appreciation of his late Father's character and career, made a most favourable impression upon the Council, the Nation, and the Empire. It was followed by others—all showing tact and a clear grasp of the fundamental conditions of the time and of his new responsibilities. To the British Army King George issued the following Message: "My beloved Father was always closely associated with the Army by ties of strong personal attachment, and from the first day he entered the service he identified himself with everything conducive to its welfare. On my accession to the Throne I take this earliest opportunity of expressing to all ranks my gratitude for their gallant and devoted service to him. Although I have been always interested in the Army, recent years have afforded me special opportunities of becoming more intimately acquainted with our forces both at home and in India, as well as in other parts of the Empire. I shall watch over your interests and efficiency with continuous and keen solicitude and shall rely on that spirit of loyalty which has at all times animated and been the proud tradition of the British Army." To the Royal Navy His Majesty's Message was issued with special and personal interest. He was devoted to that arm of the service. From the year 1877 when he entered as a Cadet of twelve years old, and 1879 when, with Prince Albert Victor—afterwards Duke of Clarence—he went around the world in H. M. S. Bacchante, and 1885 when he became a Midshipman, he had delighted in the Naval service, imbibed the free air of the seas of the world and become instinct with pride in England's naval record and achievements. He had been attached to and served in several great battleships; in 1888 he commanded a torpedo boat and in 1890 the gunboat Thrush; in succeeding years he held more important commands and finally in 1897 had become an Admiral. To his Navy King George spoke as follows:
"It is my earnest wish on succeeding to the Throne to make known to the Navy how deeply grateful I am for its faithful and distinguished services rendered to the late King, my beloved Father, who ever showed great solicitude for its welfare and efficiency. Educated and trained in that profession which I love so dearly my retirement from active duty has in no sense diminished my feelings of affection for it. For thirty-three years I had the honour of serving in the Navy, and such intimate participation in its life and work enables me to know how thoroughly I can depend upon that spirit of loyalty and zealous devotion to duty of which the glorious history of our Navy is the outcome. That you will ever continue to be, as in the past, the foremost defenders of your country's honour I know full well, and your fortunes will always be followed by me with deep feelings of pride and affectionate interest."
Parliament met in special Session on May 11th to tender its combined condolences and congratulations to the new Sovereign. The Addresses from both Houses were identical in terms and referred eulogistically to the great work of the late King in building up and maintaining friendly Foreign relations. To them His Majesty replied briefly as to his personal grief and the national sorrow and then added: "King Edward's care for the welfare of his people, his skill and prudent guidance of the nation's affairs, his unwavering devotion to public duty during his illustrious reign, his simple courage under pain, will long be held in honour by his subjects both at home and beyond the Seas." Meanwhile an infinite variety of articles were being written about the new King. In Canada and the United States the same despatches, practically, came to the leading papers; in Canada were reproduced many of the attractive articles written by special American correspondents in England. Some of them could hardly have come from personal knowledge; others contained much of current gossip, passing stories, hasty impressions; all were interesting. A remarkable feature of nearly all that was written regarding His Majesty was the absence of serious criticism or the slightest cause for condemnation in a life of forty-five years lived in the continuous white light which beats upon Royalty with such merciless precision.
The facts are that King George was and had been essentially a sailor Prince; that he had in his younger days been open-handed, free, and possessed of a certain natural and bluff and pleasant geniality which was, however, quite different from the urbane, charming, courtly geniality of King Edward; that something of this characteristic had disappeared from public view after the death of his brother, the Duke of Clarence, and his own assumption of public duties and public work as heir presumptive—functions greatly enlarged by the accession of his father to the Throne; that in his travels through the outer spaces, the vast Colonial Dominions, of the Empire he was too hedged about with etiquette, too much surrounded by a varied, and constantly changing, and bewildering environment to exhibit anything except devotion to the immediate duty of the moment; that under the circumstances of his Imperial tours, amidst political conditions wherein a wrong word or even an unwise gesture might, upon occasions, evoke a storm, where not even his carefully-selected suite could be expected to understand all the varied shades of political strife and the infinite varieties of public opinion, it would have been more than human for him to show continuous geniality—as that word is interpreted in democratic countries; that upon many occasions and despite these obstacles he did thoroughly indicate a personal and unaffected enjoyment very different in manner from that of a prince receiving a formal address—notably so in his drives around Quebec during the Tercentenary; that the responsibilities of his position, the personal limitations of his environment, the difficulties always surrounding an heir to the throne, had however, and upon the whole, sobered the one-time "jolly" Prince into a serious and thoughtful personage—a statesman in the making; that he was, what none of the Royal family had ever been, something of an orator as he proved by his splendid speech in London upon returning from the Empire tour of 1901 and by his delivery of otherwise routine addresses upon many occasions; that there could be absolutely no doubt as to his love of home, his devotion to wife and family, his personal preference for a quieter life than that which destiny had given him. King George was married to Princess May of Teck, on July 6, 1893, and the children of the Royal pair at the Accession were as follows:
| H. R. H., Edward Albert | Born | June 23, 1894 |
| H. R. H., Albert Frederick | " | Dec. 14, 1895 |
| H. R. H., Victoria Alexandra | " | April 25, 1897 |
| H. R. H., Henry William | " | March 31, 1900 |
| H. R. H., George Edward | " | Dec. 20, 1902 |
| H. R. H., John Charles | " | July 12, 1905 |
Of the new Queen Mary much might be said. Unspoiled by the social adulation, the personal power of her environment; devoted to her home, its duties and its responsibilities, and believing her children to be the first object and aim of a woman's study and attention, she yet found time to master the underlying principles of her future position, to become thoroughly conversant with all the details of sovereignty—not only in the ordinary sense but in that new meaning which has come to stamp the British Monarchy with such an international and Imperial prestige. The future Queen had some special qualifications for her position. She was British by birth and training and habit of thought—the first Queen-Consort who could claim these conditions in centuries of history. A great-granddaughter of George the Third she was the popular child of a popular mother—Princess Mary of Teck—and was born in Kensington Palace on May 26, 1867, in a room adjacent to that in which Queen Victoria first saw the light of day. Interested in the theatre, in music, and the drama, charitable by nature and incessant in her work for, and amongst, the poor, a cheerful though not exactly eager participant in social affairs and presiding at the Marlborough House functions with tact and distinction; winning during her tour around the Empire the unstinted liking and respect of the people; the mistress and careful head of her household, a constant friend and adviser and associate of her Royal husband, a loving and devoted mother; the Princess of Wales before she entered upon her inheritance of power had well proved her right to help in holding the reins of a greater position and in setting the example of leadership in her natural and important share of the duties surrounding the throne of Britain and its far-flung realm.
KING GEORGE V
Son and successor of Edward VII upon the throne of England