§ THE LORD PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL (LORD PARMOOR) rose to move—
§ That an humble Address be presented to His Majesty:
§ To express the deep concern of this House at the great 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:
§ To assure His Majesty that this House will ever feel the warmest interest in whatever concerns His Majesty's domestic relations; and to 688 declare the ardent wishes of this House for the happiness of His Majesty and of His Family.
§ The noble and learned Lord said: My Lords, I rise to move the Resolution which stands in my name upon the Paper. I regard this as the first effective day of the meeting of our House since the adjournment. It was fully understood that no business of any kind would be taken on the 20th. I propose this Address of Condolence to His Majesty the King on the occasion of the death of his eldest sister, Her Royal Highness the Princess Royal, and I am sure that it will receive the unanimous assent of all members of the House. I do not think it is necessary to read the actual terms of the Resolution, because they are upon the Paper and everyone present in the House will have a printed copy already before him. Not many words are needed in order to bring both the Resolution of Condolence and the message of sympathy to His Majesty the King before the House. Her Royal Highness the Princess Royal did not take any prominent part in public life. Her place was mainly in the family and the home, but those are touchstones which, not inaccurately, test the influence of the higher ethics on the wider sphere of our national life. It was from the centre of her home and family that Her Royal Highness the Princess Royal made the far-reaching appeal to many quiet and humble homes in all parts of the country.
§ Her early years were mainly spent at Sandringham, but those of us who carry our memories hack to what has been called the Victorian era will not forget her constant companionship with her mother, then Princess of Wales, in our London life at the end of the nineteenth century. After her marriage—a marriage of true affection—she spent much time in the homely atmosphere of her Scottish home. About eighteen years ago occurred the tragic wreck off the coast of Morocco, followed shortly by the death of her husband. Since then, Her Royal Highness the Princess Royal has lived a life of quiet retirement. To His Majesty we desire to express our unanimous and sympathetic condolence in the terms of the Resolution to which I have already referred. Human sorrows ever evolve a sense of human sympathy. It is hardly 689 necessary to add that this House will ever feel the warmest interest in whatever concerns His Majesty's domestic relations, or to declare in any formal manner our ardent wishes for the happiness of His Majesty and of his Family. I beg to move the Resolution in the terms upon the paper.
§ Moved, That an humble Address be presented to His Majesty:
§ To express the deep concern of this, House at the great 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:
§ To assure His Majesty that this House will aver feel the warmest interest in whatever concerns His Majesty's domestic relations; and to declare the ardent wishes of this House for the happiness of His Majesty and of His Family.—(Lord Parmoor.)
§ VISCOUNT HAILSHAMMy Lords, I am sure that every member of your Lordships' House will welcome the opportunity of associating himself with the Address of Condolence and Sympathy which has been brought before your Lordships by the noble and learned Lord the Leader of the House. As the noble and learned Lord has said, Her Royal Highness the late Princess Royal had not for some years taken any active part in public affairs. She had elected rather to devote herself to the intimacies and the duties of her own domestic circle. But that very fact must surely make the sense of loss all the keener in the hearts of those who were privileged to form part of that circle. One of the strands—and that not the weakest strand—in that strong bond of dutiful affection which knits the people of this land to the Throne and to the person of His Majesty, consists, I think, of the knowledge that their Majesties do permit their people to share in their private joys and griefs. Each one of us appreciates profoundly the assurance that His Majesty will welcome the sympathy of His people even in an intimate and private sorrow such as this. I speak for every member of the Party to which I belong when I say that we desire to support wholeheartedly the Resolution which has been moved in such eloquent terms by the noble and learned Lord the Leader of the House.
§ EARL BEAUCHAMPMy Lords, I beg permission to be allowed to associate my noble friends and myself with the tribute which has been paid by the noble and learned Lord the Leader of the House and also by the noble and learned Viscount, Lord Hailsham. In speaking of the character—so sympathetic, so straightforward—of Her late Royal Highness, few words are really necessary from me to-day. It was a very great misfortune that for so many years ill health prevented Her Royal Highness from taking a leading part in the life of this country and so prevented the people of this country from being acquainted with her character. She was—if I may be allowed to speak from personal recollection of a time when I had the honour of being in the Household of His late Majesty King Edward—invariably kind and considerate to all those who came into contact with her. The ill health from which she suffered so long was, as it were, a kind of veil which prevented intimate acquaintance on the part of the people of this country with her character. No one who came into contact with her Royal Highness, as I had the privilege of doing, could fail to recognise how lovable and how loving was her character. The ill health which prevented her from taking part in the public life of this country must all the more have thrown her back upon family life. It cannot but feel that that very fact must have intensified the loss to His Majesty the King and the Royal Family. For these reasons I feel that the loss is all the more serious to His Majesty; the characteristics of Her Royal Highness must have made her very dear to him. Therefore I would lay emphasis upon that part of the Resolution which expresses sympathy with His Majesty in the loss he has sustained.
THE LORD SPEAKERMy Lords, I am sure it would be your Lordships' desire that it be recorded in the usual way that the Resolution was acceded to unanimously.
§ On Question, Motion agreed to nemine dissentiente.
§ Address to be presented to His Majesty by the Lords with White Staves.