DEATH OF THE PRINCESS ROYAL. (Hansard, 20 January 1931)

§ The PRIME MINISTER (Mr. Ramsay MacDonald)
I beg to move, That an humble Address be presented to His Majesty, to express the deep concern of this House at the loss which His Majesty has sustained by the death of Her Royal Highness the Princess Royal; and to condole with His Majesty on this melancholy occasion; and to assure His Majesty that this House will ever participate with the most affectionate and dutiful attachment in whatever may concern the feelings and interests of His Majesty. The House will have noted that during the Christmas Recess Her Royal Highness the Princess Royal has died, and everyone who has been privileged to have a glimpse into the soothing domestic life of His Majesty knows the fond relations which existed between him and the Princess Royal and can understand what a very heavy and oppressive personal loss he has sustained by her death. She was not prominent in public life; she was shy, and she was retiring. She was not robust; indeed, she very often suffered from pain. But whoever has been permitted, for instance, to cross the threshold of Mar Lodge on a Sunday afternoon when the autumn light has lain in beautiful peace across the meadows in front of it, over the Dee, and upon the fir-clad hills beyond and has seen the majesty and dignity of State transformed into the charm of personal affection must have borne away with him memories of tender felicity and family happiness. The smooth flow of her life, to which a happy union contributed so much, was broken by the terrible experiences of herself and her family on that night of shipwreck off the coast of Morocco, now 19 years ago, to which was attributed the death of her husband a few weeks later. All her later years were spent in the quiet of her home, occupied by her interests in art, music, and the routine of a Royal but secluded household. It is fitting that this House should dutifully approach His Majesty with an expression of its concern and its sympathy, and I therefore move the Resolution.

§ Mr. STANLEY BALDWIN
I rise to express on behalf of those who sit behind me our sympathy with the humble 42 Address which the Prime Minister has so eloquently moved from his position as Leader of the House. There is something peculiarly intimate and touching about such a Resolution. It often falls to our lot to move these Resolutions for those who have played a great and prominent part in the world, but we all of us know in our own private lives—and here we are touching the private life of His Majesty—that very often it is not those vivid personalities, which appeal to the world's love of strife and have their place in history, that leave the greatest gap, but those whose life has been centred in the domestic and in the love of home and the fair country. Theirs is the closest and most touching appeal to our hearts. It is such a loss in his innermost circles that His Majesty has suffered, and there can be nothing more appropriate this afternoon than that we should pass unanimously this message to His Majesty, which has been moved by the Prime Minister, which is supported by that part of the Opposition for which I speak, and which will be supported by the Opposition for which the right hon. Member for Carnarvon Boroughs (Mr. Lloyd George) speaks.

Mr. LLOYD GEORGE
I support the Resolution for an Address of condolence with His Majesty in his bereavement. I can add nothing to the very appropriate sentiments so eloquently expressed by the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. I simply say that I share them to the full, and I rise on behalf of the Members whom I represent in this House to associate ourselves with this message of tender and affectionate sympathy with the King in his sorrow on the loss of a much loved sister.