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[Earl of Crawford]

Dictated

7, Audley Square, W.1.

5th February 1936.

Dear John,

As we look back upon the events of the last fortnight, we realise how well matters have worked out. In the first place, how merciful was the fact that the King did not suffer in his last illness, or, indeed, that that illness should have been prolonged, to the increasing distress of himself and of the Nation. The funeral likewise was not unduly delayed, and mourning therefore was not overwhelmed by pageant. There was a happy balance of ceremonial and of homeliness. Protocol was allied with informality, and the result was a tremendous and lasting impression of affection as well as homage. We hear that foreigners were moved by the demonstraiton of national sympathy and grief. We likewise were touched by the universality of the condolences reaching us from every corner of the world;- though Ireland stood out with a very mean and trumpery sulkiness, thus missing a really great chance, because England is quite ready to be sympathetic - J.H. Thomas, who had somehow dug in his heels, being no longer in charge of negotiations. But the dull fellows in Dublin miss every opportunity which presents itself. They say the Italians were well pleased with the cordiality of reception shown to their Crown Prince, and that France is still smiling at the President of the Republic being made to trudge 5 miles through muddy streets.

The Duke of Norfolk seems to stand out as a very successful actor in all these proceedings - calm and collected, and controlling

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7, AUDLEY SQUARE, W.l.

DICTATED

all the ceremonial with the assured dignity of a well-trained veteran. As regards the management of the crowds, there are very different opinions.

It is quite certain that as it happened the wet and stormy morning proved a blessing in disguise. Had the weather been radiant, it is quite possible that another quarter of a million people might have tried to witness the procession, with devastating results. The Police are a little puzzled why control should have broken down. It is true that they only had a week in which to prepare their scheme, compared with ample time available for the Jubilee. I fancy, however, that the Police ought to have noticed, from the phenomenal efforts of the public to witness the Lying-in-State, that something unique in assemblage was inevitable . There has been a good deal of criticism, though very little public complaint. At one momen t it looked as though the gangway at Marble Arch would be obliterated, as troops and police were completely enveloped and scattered in the pressing crowds; once the roadway was closed, it would have been impossible to re-open a passage for the procession, and actually the funeral might in fact have been stopped. A friend of mine who controls Special Constables, told me that at King's Cross, where his men were looking after traffic, he was instructed at 9 a.m. to collect every available man for service at Paddington. I suppose we shall react to the other extreme for the Coronation next year. I sympathise with the Police, who have a very difficult task.

By-the-way, there was a figure in the funeral procession which

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never provoked more than a smile amongst the assembled millions, but were the gentleman to appear in the Coronation procession he would be greeted by resounding cheers and laughter from the beginning to the end of the ceremonial route. The gentleman in question was alleged to be the masseur of a Balkan monarch, who had been comforting his sovereign in the barouche which carried them both to Westminster Hall. The man was turned out there, was pushed into the procession, and ultimately ended in St. George's at Windsor, wearing a squash black hat, an ordinary little black double-breasted jacket, beneath which a shirt, apparently escaping from his trousers, descended to just above the knees. He was also wearing white flannel trousers. You will acknowledge a figure pour rire: but, as I say, the mob treated him with respect and condolence . In point of fact, the little fellow is a Rumanian V.C., who performed every kind of feat of gallantry during the War: and even if it takes me twelve months of intrigue, I am determined that he shall be received with enthusiasm by the Coronation crowd. I wonder if Literature, Science & Art could be a bit better represented at the Coronation than they were at the Funeral of King George.

We are now thinking of the future, and of H. M' s entourage. He is anxious to make the minimum changes in his own methods and circumstances. There will be rows of empty palaces. It is surprising that he should be surprised to find how great is the gulf between E. R. E. and H. M. - for instance, that his speeches will become those of a Con[stitutional]

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[con]stitutional Monarch and should be adjusted with his Ministers: or likewise that his holidays will be those of a King and not of the Heir Apparent. His duties now include patronage and appointment. His assent, if not his advice, will be taken on a hundred and one grave subjects. Hitherto he has been kept informed; but in future he will have to accept or at least to share responsibility: and finally, the routine and exacting labours of audiences, signatures and so on will prove irksome. So he finds himself a little non-plussed that his freedom should be so much curtailed. I believe he has expressed a view that his next holiday would take place in France, as usual, but that he has heard the French Police, who have left him alone pretty much hitherto, have no intention of being so easygoing in the future. I need hardly add that everybody profoundly hopes that he will shed some of his tiresome and very second rate friends, who we tolerated while they could exercise no influence upon public affairs; but now, where patronage has got to be exercised, any intervention on their part, even if only an allegation, would be bitterly resented.

I think people are glad that Ramsay Macdonald has been returned, though the experiment was very risky, and the reactions upon University representation may be serious later on. However, your old constituents seem to have kept cool, and I rejoice that one of the candidates should have to forfeit his election deposit. Macdonald seems to become more quiet and retiring, but I believe he still occupies a

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considerable position in public life, and in his new office will not have to speak so frequently as hitherto. His oratory was becoming very thin. The prospects of the son in Ross & Cromarty are more obscure, but I think he ought to hold that seat. During the next week or two we shall measure our mature reflections of the shock arising from the Hoare-Laval proposals. I am told the War Office knows practically nothing about the real situation in Abyssinia. There is a growing distrust of reports issued by both combatants. Mussolini becomes more boastful going to manufacture wool out of milk, he threatens Greece, Egypt, Switzerland, - all his small neighbours - and he is a little less confident of France than he was three months ago. But somehow he gets away with his bluff and bluster. Nobody in Italy dares say a word to him. Grandi could upset him, so could Federzoni, so could the King or Balbo: but in each case the succession to the Dictatorship would be at stake, and potential rivals are therefore very cautious. I wish one of them would summon up courage to tell the public that another year or two in Abyssinia will doom Italy to economic extinction.

Yours

Bal

The Lord Tweedsmuir.

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