The deep interest which His Majesty took in the Boer War will be fresh in the recollection of everybody. Accompanied by the Duke of Cambridge, he said good-bye, on 14th October 1899, to Sir Redvers Buller, departing to take up the command in South Africa. Later on, accompanied by his brother, the Duke of Connaught, he saw Lord Roberts off on that cold winter morning when the Commander-in-Chief, in the midst of his own bitter private grief, left for South Africa, sped by the deep sympathy and encouragement of His Majesty. It will be remembered, too, how frequently the King inspected battalions ordered to the front, encouraging them with his outspoken interest and admiration; and it will be remembered not less vividly how his gracious Consort cared for the wounded and invalided soldiers, whose sufferings are the inevitable price of victory. The Princess of Wales Hospital Ship will never be forgotten by a grateful nation.
The King and Queen Alexandra were among the earliest subscribers to the Mansion-House funds for the relief of the Transvaal refugees and of the sufferers from the war. The death of their nephew, Major Prince Christian Victor, who was stricken down by disease in October 1900 while on active service in South Africa, was a deep grief to their Majesties. The beginning of the year 1901 was signalised by the return of Lord Roberts and by Queen Alexandra’s special appeal on behalf of the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Families Association, which brought relief to many a stricken family whose head had fallen at the front.
The King and the Duke of Connaught
From a Photograph by F.G.O.S., published by Gregory
In the reception of Lord Roberts the King took a prominent part. Accompanied by Queen Alexandra, and their son and daughter-in-law and Princess Victoria, His Majesty, as representing his Royal Mother, presided at the State luncheon at Buckingham Palace in honour of the Commander-in-Chief, while only a few days before Queen Victoria’s death the King took the chair at the great banquet at which the United Service Club entertained Lord Roberts.
The services of the Colonial contingents in South Africa made a profound impression on the King’s mind. He showed this in the most significant manner when, brushing aside all antiquated War Office precedents, he not only inspected Strathcona’s Horse in the garden of Buckingham Palace and gave them the South African Medal in advance before its general issue, but actually presented the regiment with a colour. That such honour should be conferred on a corps of irregulars doubtless shocked military pedants, but it caused intense pride and gratification to the gallant Canadians, who in their modesty refused to believe that their services had been anything out of the common.