THOUGHTS ON' THE MARRIAGE OF PRINCESS MARY. - -LI VERY experienced
observer_ of London life must have noticed-the extraordinary spontaneity-of the pleasure expressed by the multitude on .Princess Mary's wedding day. London -has not worn -such a care-free and happy aspect since the Aemistice. The. message' which the King issued to the, people after-the ceremony showed unmistak- ably that hawas quitaconseious of the depth of. the interest and the warmth of the affection which were everywhere displayed. If there was anywhere a dissentient voice it did - not venture .to • make itself heard: And it is to be remarked- that -the whole of this great -popular demonitra- tion was--almost unaided by the extrinsic- arts of street : :decoration, which in spite of ill-designed finery do somehow . 'convey -to crowds the, spirit of joy- and relaxation.. The real decoration of -the -scene on Tuesday was .the openly expressed feelings, of the people. The Royal Family, with their unfailing (good- sense, had perceived that what was required was - dignity -without -expense. To have poured out money upon trappings-of the moment and temporary buildings -would in these times have been an offence. The result was that -thousands of spectators improvised their own little stands out sof boxes - and barrows if they. were not sufficiently active to -climb into the trees or to reach the tops of -walls, and a good deal of latitude was allowed which would have been -ruled out in wealthier and more • strictly regulated days. There must, of -course, be! a reason for the specially heartygoodwill of Tuesday, -.and it is not far to seek. There: is no doubt whatever that the nation -is delighted that the only daughter -of the King should have made an English marriage. However severely we may be inclined to role our sentiments, and to prevent them- turning- into supersti- tions,. we (must-admit thatthe, marriage of 4 -Princess has in it -a strong-touch-of the-fairy tale, it therefore appeals to every human: being avhoahas in -him those rudiments of romance toy which-he wasintrodUced in childhood and -which perform !the- healthy function ,taking him beyond him- self and his experience. If the ordinary 'personahad been asked what End of marriage -he- would like -for- Princess Mary, he would have said that she ought to marry an Engliehman who had what are regarded as chazacteristicallY English- tastes ; a man who belonged' to a family which had 'followed the tradition -of public service-and who had himself been a willing servant of his country. That is exactly" what has happened. Any other sort of husband would have been- unsuitable for one who- has been- brought up in -a very unaffected manner to consider -the- needs of others first and her own second. During the war Princess Mary trained herself as a hospital nurse, and as. President of the -Girl Guides she is very muck more than -a figure- head. She ardently believes in the• possibilities of an organization which every year adds thousands of girls to those in whom it is instilling a rode of Conduct and a body of principles which have service as the prime aim of the disciplined ordering of spare time. All her tastes and occupations-are so perfectly in -keeping with !the wishes of the nation that people felt on Tuesday that they were looking on not merely at the wedding of the King's daughter, but at the wedding of the nation's daughter.• It would have been a great disappointment to everybody to see this natural, simple-hearted and good-hearted bride married to some foreign prince-and taken away to another land.
The fact is that there are not many foreign princes left to whom the marriage of an English .princess would be desirable.• Even if there were high diplomatic reasons for such marriages, the gain would not nearly outbalance the loss. to •the British people, who have, as it were, aided and applauded at• every stage the bringing up of the Royal Family as exemplars in public life. Mr. Kipling wrote once about the advantages conferred by well- arranged Royal marriages upon nations living under monarchical rule. Where statesmen failed, kings and queens, princesses and princes, remembering that they were cousins and that they owed- something to their relations, could hold out a warning hand like drivers le a London ',street to check the blind onward movement of the traffiC towards crash and collision. Before the War diplomatically arranged marriages were indeed part of the Balance of Power. But everything is now changed. The more British our monarchy becomes, the better the nation will be! pleased.
It- is natural to most middle-aged or old people, no doubt, to have -some misgivings—since these are-part of the atmosphere in which they have grown up—about the marriage of _members of the Royal Family to subjects. But they should! remember that the ideas about Royal marriages, which they accepted as a matter of course in:their youth, !did not • always prevail. There :is: no long- established precedent. In •the Middle Ages, and later still, an English King was free to exercise his own choice. Henry VIIL only too notoriously did so ; so did. James II. The reason was that if an- English King did not govern absolutely by divine right, he was at all events nearly enough in the 'position of one who could do no -wrong. He could make all his favourites dukes, and he could raise whom he liked to the throne. The .great change came after the Revolution of 1688, when members of -the Royal Family became rapidly but effectually limited in their choice -because the Venetian oligarchy of great families —Whig -and Tory—which governed England could not tolerate that the. favours.' of a Royal marriage should unduly help Any of the' rival competitors in -the unceasing struggle for political power. But that oligarchy has also passed- away. The successive huge extensions of the franchise killed it. While the oligarchy held its sway there was the curious paradox that Royal Families in some foreign countries which were generations,behind us in political progress had a greater freedom of choice in marriage than was allowed to the limited constitutional monarchy- of Great Britain.
It is now not only possible but safe to say that, if popular feeling is to be (consulted about the marriage of the Prince of Walesa—and why should it not be consulted ? the nation will be best pleased• if he should marry an Englishwoman. It - would be- distinctly disappointed if he should marry a foreigner. Of-course; if the choke of the Prince of Wales should fall upon a 'foreigner entirely of his own volition, that would be a sufficient reason for accepting a foreign marriage. The paint -is that the nation has become intolerant of seeing 'marriages dictated to any member of the Royal Family, for some alleged diplomatic reason. Certain limitations upon the choice. of the Prince of. Wales there would no doubt be, but only such limitations as are imposed by seemliness, naturalness and good sense. The nation would not like a Cophetua marriage for the Prince of Wales any more than it would welcome a foreign marriage. But any marriage entered into willingly by any member of a family brought up with such a strong sense of what is proper and reasonable as has been implanted in the family of the King and Queen is just as, likely to be fitting as the choice of any other thoroughly well brought- up boy or girl. Ina social sense like usually marries like, if only because any other arrangement is inconvenient and uncomfortable. Common sense, that is to say, will confine the choice of the Prince of Wales to some extent, but it will still leave a field of choice far wider than that whioh was: deemed to be open to an Heir Apparent in. the past two hundred years.
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