THE CHINA MAIL, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY
1954.
The FABULOUS MOUNTBATTENS TAILOR CHEUNG
RUMPILY the ́Ad- miralty got out its
and pen
made another entry
op-
posite Mountbatten's name
The Viceroya
in Fleet orders: "Rear Ad- from command of Combined
miral: Seconded temporarlly duty Viceroy."
In India the machinery of government was
down. It was Mr Attlee's
Operations Earl Mountbatten went as running Supreme Commander, Southeast personal decision to ap Asia. Again his appointment caused a apply his im- sensation, but there was more to come mense drive and dynamic personality to the establish- when he returned home at the end of Ing of full self-government in India within a definite the war. The Labour Government
prouch Mountbatten with a request to
stated period.
Mountbatten at first de- appointed him Viceroy
clined. It was only when King George VI reinforced
of India.
When the Mountbattens come disobeyed only at his Prime Minister's request back for good from India the that his objections were problem was to find employment overcome, and even then he for a man who, before reaching held the demanded a guarantee that the age of 48, bad his naval career would not highest appointed office in the
British Commonwealth. be affected.
ISA
Jour
There is no hint that Mount- batten wavered at any time in his resolve, which was to return to the Navy.
to
went sea again
the carriage abolit
in
were going to drive away
0.30 p.m., on the start of the honeymoon
"While we waited for the brido and bridegroom to change their clothes, everyone skylarking about, more war like a Bank Holiday on Hamp stead Heath than a royal cere monial.
WIS given the bride.
groom's overcoat and hat to
the
bat
hold, and was standing next to the Grand Duchess Vera when the peril of Prince George of Greece seized the whole system.
and put it on his aunt's And, above all, there is the head, knocking her spectacles acute sense that Earl Mount- off and damaging her coiffure,
of She was. I shown
think one batten has always
proprieties, fret ladies with bobbed hair 1 the constitutional
however, had ever seen. It may yet, prove,
contribution "Deprived that his greatest
of her spectacles she could not see who was the to our affairs has been to com- stan- municate his hereditary
aggressor, However, she pulled dorda and contemporary out the hat off and started to hit
who has me over the head with it. look to the nephew brought such lustre to the family name.
The Duke of Edinburgh's up
"As they came but under the light, it appeared to the detec, tives that something untual was happening, for the paper bags must have looked Jikn the satin shoes bombs, and gleaming under the searchlight appeared very like daggers.
"Thereupon they shouldered their umbrellas and joined the rush,
"The Emperor went straight for the backs of the people. awaiting who were anxiously the passing of the Royal car ringe.
"At this the
from
the
moment she re-
Philip's father, Prince Andrew, was, in command of one of the Greek army corps. When defeat led / la Insurrection in the forces und revolu- lon at home, King Constantine hud to abdicato again, this time. In favour of his blasz son, George, the first part of. whose reign was to last barely, fourteen months
But the sourch for scapegoats went further, The revived Re- placed volutionary Committee three royalist ex-premizsa, swa ex-ministers and the commander- m-chief on trial for their lives.
Prince. Andrew W moned from his home do Cortu on the pretext that he was re- quired to give evidence, but on arrival in Athens was his
arrested and put on promptly
His escape
husband
Only personal intervention by emissaries of King George V "Putting his head down; he
of England, the King of Spalni
them of the rammed
and gradually and the Pope saved him from
the fate of his fellow prison pushed his way through the six
were lined up and Ales of human beings, shedding or, who
shot in the prison courtyard the children
coat.
of and reached after the merest semblance tails on the way, Reaching Delhi on March 22,
trial. 1947, he and his wife succeeded
the street at the moment when
Princess Allco, leaving hor weeks completely
the carriage was going by with Princess Alice bowing her one-year-old son in the Corfu transforming the whole rela-
To the general astonishment Britists and he appeared perfectly happy to tionship between
Landing, clean, who was acknowledgments to the cheer- at 2, made her way to Athens at great personni risk to be at close behind and enw ing
hia sido. When Trydsust.
her take up the appointment which
the whole incident, found by his interrupted brief laid down a trutts had been
released, they left the Rep bringing was something of a opportunity for having a litle ceived the contents of the full country in the British cruiser that fer of power to the Indians not Viceroyalty,
the Em-
gathered up their later than Junie 1948. Within Admiral commanding the First group enterprise, involving his joke, so she went back
two the grandmother, his parents,
she found my sister, Squadron with a few days of his arrival he had Cruiser
and, leaving her: Your brother has been uncles and a sister. made up his mind and taken Mediterranear Floot.
But the
so funny. He has put his hat the fateful decision
personality that the
ол the Grand Duchess Vera's dute should
advanced by
deeply imprinted on his forma-
anci knocked her nearly
tive years was his Uncle Louts head, (Earl Mountbatten), through spectacles off. who whom he derives his aptitude, naval suspended. service and in the liberal en-
T vironment of whose household ho ucquired his attitude 10 Ft modem world,
be
year.
his
That the British Government accepted
ni
The conclusion
From being the effective ruler recommendation of a Bub-continent, he
found
does not absolve Mountbutten himself twenty-sixth in order of of his responsibility.
precedence in the tiny island of Malta.
It is contended that he went that this haste 100 jul, ind Wie
direct cause of the appalling
that ful lowed partition at midnight un August 14, only a hundred und forty-five days after his arrival. 11 is an argument largely hypothetical.
Unparalleled
There is no escaping the con- clusion that the example of his fother is what bulks largest in Earl Mountbatten's life.
He has now reached again the eminence he enjoyed tr the special conditions of war.
As
Allied Commander-in- Chief in the Mediterranean he la responsible to General Ridg- way at SHAPE. for the lines of communication to the Euro- he is in no pean theatre. But to this day that if the miillant sense under General Ridgway for the extremets had been given an- In his responsibilites
Those who really Indian scene proclaim
Kreat
know the rourully
In
the
other ten or twelve months civil lines of communication to the war would huve reduced the Miitdie East, and he has overoli sub-continent to a reeking coordinating power for naval slaughter-house,
movements апа air By the time the transter of
Mediterranean. including the occurred
the Mount American Sixth Fleet. Dower battens prestige In India stood it is very doubtful whether
height, and It ity
the Americans would have been paralleled scenes of mass affee, willing to yield such powers to
wore A true any other Englishman. of the volte-face in concerning all opinion
lion for them
reftertion Intion
things Brilisti.
มิ
the
un-
As the situation slowly cleared Mountbatten was able to devote ittle time to personal and family affairs.
In No
November 1947, he flew his wife to attend home with the momentous marriage of his nephew to Princess Elizabeth.
There
was something pecu-
Whispering
D9
whispering cam- A quiet
has gathered strength polgn depicting Earl Mountbatten the "power behind the Throne." because of his relationship to the Duke of Edinburgh,
Those who propagule it must have highly simplined conce tions of the checks and balances ly tting in the presence at of the British Constitution. the wedding of the man who There is very little hope in
Britain
for anyone who thinks had just been instrumental in rentving the ille ef Emperor to use the Crown as a tool to
the sovereign's further his ambitions. India from
Joco standing iy
to The two obstacles excutcheon.
the parents to the young consort on interference whom will fall such a large eignty of Parliament and the share of maintaining the dignity conventions of the constitution
unwritten rules of the Crown in those and position this modern age.
British government which are
аго
such
Gover-
#
of
ΠΟΥ
for
To pick up the first threads of the Duke's background, wc must go back to the beginning of The century. It WRS in
October. 1003, f t Prince
Louis of Battenberg ok a few days leave from his duties
until
Was
behind
and told peror had carried, in her
face ng
they possessed, om-
Paper 'bombs'
what shu
"My sister evidently thought the champagne had been too much for me, and hurried for- ward to reprove and; it neces- laughter, while the bride re-
sary, remove me,
rond
sumed her seat with a charm-
precarious
found itself
in
the
bag of rice, which
followed by the satin shoe.
"Casting dignity asido, abg
barked on a life of caught the shoe, and leaning over the back of the carriage extle in Paris. The family hit the Emperor on the head
very red
reduced circumstances, with it, at the same time tells Paris was full of royal exlles ing him
exactly
endeavouring to accommodate thought of him.
"This so overcame him that themselves to a world of harsh realities for which they were ho remained in the middle of
Ul-adapted. the
shrieking
with
Another
manber Greck Royal Family who had sought refuge there was Prince Andrew's brother Nicholas, father of Princess Marina, later the Duchess of Kent. He was a To London
gifted artist, and not only man-
and to support eged
his wife This idyllic picture provides three daughters by giving us with our first introduction in lezzons in painting, hut was Prince Philip's parents. Durable to sell a respectable mum- ing the eighteen yours that ber ni canvases under the were to intervene before his signature of "Nicholas, birththe last of five children Prince."
Junc
his મમ 10, 1021, ready the host, the Grand Duke un
Andrew still Prince of Hesse,
villa, who was the bride's father's beautiful
Mon
served sufficient private means of Corfu, to lease a modest estate at St uncle, acted as butler and call- Hepos, on the island many unkind buffels
to Cloud,
Alicè and Princess ed up the carriage.
dim the first fair promise
of started a small business selling his parents'
traditional Greek embroidery Prince
and needlework. It was against this background that her small
I don't think she quite being smile, looking more besti- Heved my gatement of Inno- ful than ever,
until ehe heurd JL
and
roundi looking Queen Alexandra laugh-
ពង
cence chuckle, BAW
at
her joke.
An-
1
Director of Naval Intelligence ing hearily ut the success 10 sitend the wedding
of his daughter, Darmstadt Princess Alice, to Prince drew of Greece.
Skylarks!
jano- the festivi-
A mood of prankish cence ran through tles.
"We were each supplid wish white paper bag of tice and a satin shoe, and
when
the
bride and bridegroom were
werd
Parriage.
WAS
old whan ho the country which
three first
Wus
and bridegroom make him Duke of Edin. 5on grew up.
brought at- she
of ber
10
con-
members One of the other of the Royal Family, acting as footman, led a shot to the back of the carriage just before months
visited bride the entered.
mother "Shuwers of rice and slippers burgh. His
him
to London when as they drove followed them
the funeral out
o strong electric tended
NEXT SATURDAY: Prince light, near which was gathered father, Prince Louls of Batten- Philip comes to Britain Ди
detectives berg. a group of man
school high-spirited prep boots ammunition
Greece. On their
return to on
boy with
he elimbe on the roof fect
in disaster and umbrellas
overwhelmed the of their
Palace and their hands.
family.
Constantino dares a policeman to fetch him King go found that he had inherited the down
he grows up, Joine of his former the then ambitious plan
Navy Prime Minister was
for a Greater marries Princess Elizabeth.
under
Whether they realised it or not we cannot perceive, but the sands were running out of the
te private hour-gines
of £ world in which most of the wedding guests lived.
were to War and revolution shalter their life and some of their lives before two decades had passed, and a new, more forbidding and more demand
world was to be the lot of ing most of their descendants.
Admiral Mark Kert, Prince
The carriage had to Louis's blographer,
and wrote this about sixty yards
celebration turn into a street which the account of shortly
to leaving Darn lined with pectatore about Greece, Include the Western
to see te deep, walling stadi, where his close friend- deep,
portions of Turkey. ship
of the bride
The whole nation with Prince Louis had groun
in a muile him a fellow guest:
once united had ext ot completion
"Almo
extend THE
directly they
this territory, "At the
there
started the Emperor of Russia. large army Was 1 marriage rites
given. In the old called out, 'Come along, we can ported large dinner
abso Palace, and to make it
catch them again_outside, and purpose. all the suites
started lutely informal
in to run. Everyone were dispensed with, and after their taras, ribbons and stars di ner even the servants were followed him, the children of relegated to the background, the party hanging on to his Ankara, was a great milltary when the newly-married couple coat-tails.
after
six
de- and
Wis
meets
д
and
the
bu
for This world copyright series of
to articles is abridged from fervour
book "Manifest Derliny," had been trans- Brian Connell, and published to Turkey
by Cassells.
and a
for
tha
initial
after The result, Greek successes which brought their forces to the outskirts of
defeat.
SPOTLIGHT ON OFFICE BOYS
London.
OFFICE boys are far from
ensy to get in Britain, although many large firms have standing arrangements with the employment ex- changes which ensures ધ regular inflow.
jy
It i
The office-boy with his days off for his grandmother's funeral, was once as much à Music Hall joko as mother- in-laws. Now the jokes are no more. Chiefly because the office-boys are quite often either elderly gentle- mon or non-existent! This week correspondents describe the type one finds in different countries.
scme senior typist not a particular- of the staff sneak out one less popular job because by one and plug an electric can be cajoled (or flat-
some- tered) into making it. Home employers purposely hotplate in the wall
James White. dismiss the boys just be. where. fore their term of National The nearest the German
BIG PROMISES Service.to avoid being com- offico gets to having an pelled to re-engage them on office boy is a messenger,
forty, and often over sixty. He Ministry, tax-collector's office or never makes tea or coffee- such-like. They seem to be a except for himself, and this he special physical type, something does fairly ofien.
ilko Neanderthal man, with extremely shallow brain-pans, The Vienna office boy's time rudimentary manners and total is divided between:
incapacity to do anything not 1 Carrying Bles, letter-trays sanctified by routine. To judge and other office impedimenta by their wooden faces, most of them also have Parkinson's about the building.
disease.
2. Making "odd purchases" for, and "obliging" "generally, anyone suficiently important to have a claim on his services.
3. Competing with the Aus trian post office.
their discharge from the but there is no nonsense A SALARY of between raison d'etre of his existence,
offices and
Otherwise, Paris business houses are staffed by cheery whistling young lads and girls. They don't do much in afternoon the way of getting tea because there's nothing like tea-time in France. Though if the boss feels like a croissant they'll slip out and ret it and BOTTLE bave OVEN been
New York.
This, it seems, is the main services 18 months later. about him making cups of £14 and $17 a week and he spends most of his time Neither is it well paid com- tea, or saucing the boss. and the promise of quick cycling or walking round Vienna known to return inside forty pared with many "quick He runs official messages advancement are the only delivering the firm's mail by minutes-Stephen Coulter. money" openings now, being and that is that.-Antony ways of getting offered to youngsters.
Terry.
To remedy the shortage, LIMITED DEMAND girls of 15 and
NEVER HAD THEM
Berlin.
for
NON-EXISTENT
\FFICE boys In Switzerland
hand. Generally speaking it is office boys in New York. Even up to the "perfect secretary" to
make her chief's "clevenses.""
Geneva. then the boss might have of to throw in the name
In the larger "general offices," 15 are.
aren't. Young fellows who Copenhagen. "Office Administrative As the best coffee-raker is chos often employed, and if they
go into offices on leaving school. the job-regarded as a office sistant."
highly skilled and exacting task serve as apprentices and learn do well are promoted to THE demand for
boys in Denmark is so Office boys practically dis and allowed a lot of latitude, at once to do a clerk's work, better paid clerical jobs.- Ian Macleod.
limited that the supply is appeared in New York during the last war. Some offices hired
This VIP spends most of her In Switzerland self-gumming sufficient. The largest
girls, but the majority learned (or his)) time huddled in a corner anvelopes tend to eliminate envelope-licking, and franking offices profor men as indoor to get along without such help. of the office Addling about with machines, at least in big con- and outdoor messengers. - în the old days, in walking pots, cans, cups, saucers
and
cerna, are doing away with There lan't even
a native into a big offos to see the boss some kind of coffee-brower, for stamp-jleking. The only errand TRYING to explain to a
Danish word for office the receptionist would call a coffee time is not a kind of to be run outside the office t German about office
chances are the hour's secretary, continuous round, of little, cups, or pillar-box for, one never any other foreigner why is used for them and hotel will come out or maybe the of brown liquid, starting soon seed a cup of tea in a Swiss boys is like explaining to Doy: The Italian. "piccolo" * to show you in. Now the "break" as in England, but curry letters to the post office.
boss himself!
after the office opens and tasting orice, the Briton drinks ten, or
The shortage of
of boys ls, so throughout, the day,ma, Riichie, a why it rains more at home, It is generally the lot of
neute that belegraph companies MeKwen. the junior typist to run rely on elderly men and women or why Britain is an island.
errands and do odd jobs,
Hampreti. ~ Germany has never had Thench hour! is but a office boys partly because half hour, so sandwiches OFTEN OVER 60- Germane do not drink tea are eaten on the spot
pagos.
in the office. If they feel all, including "the
the need for
the secretazioni
fhment: After lunches coffee
to deliver messages Jehu DESPAIR OF ALL
"<"The Swing" are oarly - risers and elevernes become “öleni in the French part of the
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