The sad news of the gallant death of General Gordon affected the Prince of Wales as only the loss of a friend who is greatly and personally admired can do. He took much interest in the Committee which was formed to promote a Memorial and finally summoned a special meeting at Marlborough House, on January 12th, 1886, to promote the collection of a fund looking to the permanent establishment of a Gordon Boys' Home. Speeches were made by General Higginson, the Duke of Cambridge and Lord Napier of Magdala, and ultimately the enterprise was fairly placed upon its feet. A little later, with Prince Albert Victor and Prince George, His Royal Highness went to stay with the Duke of Westminster at Eaton Hall. From thence, on January 20th, they visited Liverpool and the Mersey Tunnel was formally inaugurated after a drive through the city and the reception of the usual addresses and popular welcome. A banquet was also received and several speeches made by the Prince. The Institution of Civil Engineers entertained the Prince of Wales at dinner on March 27th and the Royal guest was accompanied by his eldest son and the Duke of Cambridge. Sir Frederick Bramwell presided. On June 28th, following, he laid the foundation-stone of the Peoples' Palace amidst evidences of unbounded personal popularity in the East End of London; with ten thousand people around him—including one thousand delegates from the various Trade, Friendly and Temperance Societies in East London; and with representative persons in attendance such as Dr. Adler, the Chief Rabbi, Cardinal Manning, Archbishop Benson and Mr. Walter Besant.
As a result of his deep and practical interest in agricultural matters the Prince of Wales held a sale of Shorthorn cattle and Southdown sheep at Norwich on July 15th of this year. The sale was a most interesting and successful event from a technical as well as general standpoint and fully proved the right of the Royal owner of Sandringham to be called a farmer and to act as President of the Royal Agricultural Society of England. A luncheon given to the agricultural celebrities of England followed the sale. On March 12th, 1887, the Prince presided at the Jubilee banquet of the London Orphan Asylum and defined its objects and work while urging more financial assistance to its projects. Amongst those present were the Duke of Abercorn, the Earl of Clarendon, General Sir Donald Stewart and Sir Dighton Probyn. The subscriptions announced during the evening were £5000, including one hundred guineas from the Prince.
On March 30th he opened the new College of Preceptors in London, accompanied by the Princess of Wales and the Princesses Victoria and Maud. The opening of the Manchester Exhibition followed on May 3rd and the Prince and Princesses came to the city from Tatton Hall, where they had been staying with Lord Egerton. The usual hearty welcome was given along the crowded route. On May 22nd the London Hospital's new buildings were inaugurated, the Prince being accompanied by his wife and two daughters and the Crown Prince of Denmark. Six days later Tottenham was visited and the new portion of the Deaconesses Institution and Hospital opened. The Shaftesbury House, or home for shelterless boys, was inaugurated on June 17th and on November 3rd His Royal Highness visited Truro, accompanied by the Princess and his two sons, attended the consecration of the new Cathedral by the Primate of England and spoke afterwards at a luncheon given by the principal residents of the Duchy of Cornwall. On the following day he presented new colours to the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry at Devonport.
On May the 8th, 1888, the Prince and Princess of Wales opened the Glasgow Exhibition and the former spoke interestingly of the industrial development of the time. The statesman whose advice and knowledge had been so greatly appreciated by the Prince during his Indian tour was fittingly commemorated by the statue on the Thames Embankment which His Royal Highness unveiled on June 5th following. Sir Bartle Frere was described in the speech accompanying the act as "a great and valued public servant of the Crown and a highly esteemed and dear friend of myself." On July 6th a new Gymnasium for the Young Men's Christian Association was opened in London; on May 9th the Prince and Princess visited Blackburn and were enthusiastically received; on May 14th His Royal Highness, accompanied by his wife and daughters, Prince Charles of Denmark and Prince George of Greece, opened the Anglo-Danish Exhibition at South Kensington; on July 17th he inaugurated the new buildings of the Great Northern Hospital at Islington and in the autumn of the year paid a visit to Austria and some of the countries in Southern Europe.
The purely public events of following years may be briefly and partially summarized. In June, 1889, the Prince and Princess of Wales visited the Paris Exhibition in a semi-private capacity, and were present at Athens, on October 27th, at the wedding of the Duke of Sparta and Princess Sophia of Germany. The great Forth Bridge was opened by the Prince in March, 1890, and a short time spent with Lord Rosebery at Dalmeny; a visit was paid to Berlin, accompanied by Prince George, on March 21st; a statue of the Duke of Albany was unveiled at Cannes on April 6th; a new nave in the ancient Church of St. Saviour, Southwark, was inaugurated on July 24th; the new Town Hall at Portsmouth was opened on August 9th; the City of London Electric Railway was inaugurated on November 4th. On November 9th, 1891, the theatrical managers of London presented His Royal Highness with a large gold cigar-box in honour of his fiftieth birthday. In 1892 the Prince visited the Royal Agricultural Society at Warwick with the Duke of York, laid the foundation-stone of the Clarence Memorial addition to St. Mary's Hospital, Paddington, and supervised the re-building of Sandringham after the fire which had consumed a portion of it. One of the events of 1894 was a visit to Coburg in April and attendance at the marriage of his niece and nephew, the Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg and the Grand Duke of Hesse. Another was the opening of the Tower Bridge, London, in June, by the Prince and Princess on behalf of the Queen.
On May 16, 1895, the Prince of Wales reviewed the Warwickshire Yeomanry; on July 8th he laid the foundation-stone of new buildings at the Epsom Medical College; in July he reviewed Italian and British fleets off Portsmouth; on July 22nd he opened the new building of the Royal Free Hospital, Grey's Inn Road, London; in November he presided at a lecture in the Imperial Institute. In 1896 he was formally installed as Chancellor of the University of Wales, and stayed at Balmoral in September during the visit of the Emperor and Empress of Russia to the Queen. In January, 1897, the Prince visited the Duke of Sutherland at Trentham Hall; on May 22nd he opened the Blackwell Tunnel; in June he participated in all the Jubilee functions, was created Grand Master of the Order of the Bath and gave a banquet, in honour of the appointment, to all living Knights Grand Cross of the Order, which was a unique gathering of men distinguished in diplomacy, statesmanship, in the Army and Navy, and in Imperial and civil administration. During the following year he distributed prizes in June at Wellington College and laid the foundation-stone of new buildings at University College Hospital; on December 23rd he attended the opening service of a restored church at Sherbourne. On June 19, 1899, His Royal Highness held a Levée at St. James's Palace; on July 6th he received the freedom of the City of Edinburgh; and on September 18th he presented new colours to the Gordon Highlanders.
Such was the general character and scope of the Prince's public life. There would have been little object served in elaborating the description of these ceremonial events. They are of value and necessary to a clear comprehension of the position and manifold duties of the Prince of Wales, and quite enough have been given for this purpose. During all these thirty years the work of the Heir Apparent increased in its importance and multifarious character until every interest and element in the population found a place in its performance. It was arduous and unceasing, but the Prince never showed weariness and always appeared with the same unaffected bonhomie and natural dignity whatever the extent of his work or the character of the function. The end of it all was a popularity as unique as it was thoroughly and well deserved.