Capital gleam of royal glamour
A bit of excitement in Depression-era New Zealand was provided by the visit of Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester. Tina White looks back at a royal in trouble with his family.
On the quiet post-Christmas Friday morning of December 28, 1934, Wellingtonians awoke to brilliant sunshine and equally brilliant floral displays.
The city fathers’ planting programme was paying off, according to that day’s Evening Post.
‘‘Where not long ago were bare banks and patches of ground thick with unsightly weeds, are now pleasant stretches of grass, flowering shrubs, sheets of brilliantly coloured polyanthus and climbing roses, red geraniums and many another flower . . .’’
As well, trees were burgeoning on Mt Victoria, and ‘‘street trees, protected by railings, are starting to make a show . . . Seatoun Park has had native trees planted all round it.’’
This summer abundance was also intended to catch the eye of Wellington’s distinguished visitor, Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, who had arrived in New Zealand on December 15 aboard the ship HMAS Australia and spent four days in the capital, meeting dignitaries and attending functions.
He would be back briefly after a non-stop, comprehensive tour through the rest of the country.
The royal visitor was bringing a gleam of glamour to Depressionera Wellington; earlier, in November, the Post had also given wide coverage to the November wedding of Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark to Prince George, Duke of Kent, in London.
That day the Evening Post ,as usual, also featured a smorgasbord of other news.
A prominently printed article (chilling in hindsight) from the Post’s London correspondent declared: ‘‘In a strange book, written by a German clergyman, the sayings of Hitler are likened to the word of God – indeed that is the title of the book. The author sees in Hitler the champion of light and truth on this earth . . .’’
During the Christmas season ‘‘a number of visitors to Wellington called at Parliament Buildings, the messengers on duty being kept fairly busy showing parties around whenever there is an overseas ship in port.
‘‘Many visitors mistake the buildings for the Dominion Museum, one messenger said this morning. During one day, about a dozen persons called at the Bowen St entrance, expecting to see the contents of the museum.’’
The talking-movie version of The Count of Monte Cristo was packing film fans in at the Regent Theatre in Manners St, and other cinemas in city and suburbs were also doing brisk business.
At Khandallah, sparks from passing trains were causing grass fires by the tracks.
On December 18 the duke, after dinner at Government House, had left for Hastings, where the royal train was due to arrive at 10am the next day.
The train had the royal coat of arms attached to it and was drawn by two steam engines.
Henry’s Australian terriers, Digger and Sally, greeted him as he boarded the train, and were with him throughout the rest of the trip.
The Evening Post recorded the scene at Cross Creek, at the foot – on the Wairarapa side – of the Rimutaka Summit.
‘‘The two AB engines which had drawn the train . . . were taken off and replaced by five Fell engines.
One was placed at the head of the train, two at the rear and the other two between the carriages.
‘‘The Fell engine is a combination of the adhesion engine and mechanism which grips the centre rail up to the Summit. It was the first time more than two engines had been used on the tour, with the exception of the pull from Rotorua to Mamaku.’’
By the time the whole tour was completed and the train had chugged back into Wellington on the evening of January 4, 1935, it had covered 946 miles – an average of 45 miles a day from the outset.
It was fairly well known that the duke, weak and sickly as a child, had built up his health and strength as an adult through sport and exercise.
What wasn’t known was that the New Zealand tour had followed his family extricating him from an unsuitable affair with the married future aviator and author Beryl Markham. It was even rumoured later that the royals had paid hush money to Markham.
Back in Wellington, the royal train finally stopped at Pipitea Wharf, alongside HMAS Australia.
The Post reported: ‘‘Outside the wharf gates many people had stopped to welcome his Royal Highness back to Wellington, but he went aboard immediately and the public saw little of him.’’
At daylight, the ship sailed away to Picton.
Ten months later, back in England, Henry married Alice Montagu Douglas Scott; they would have two sons.
From 1945-1947, he served as Australia’s governor-general.
The duke died in 1974, but his wife, Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, achieved fame as the longest-lived person in the British royal family.
She died in 2004, aged 102.