Prince of Wales visit 1922

Submitted by RenoTommy on Wed, 11/17/2010 - 15:56

I came across of a photo provided by this site on the internet depicting the 1922 Prince of Wales visit to Hong Kong.  My question is, who was the Prince of Wales at that time......Duke of Windsor or KGVI?  I tried to zoom in but the image of the subject sitting on a "sedan chair" was too blurry. And I believe the Governor was walking beside the Prince of Wales. 

Was QEII the first British Monarch ever visited Hong Kong?  Has she ever visited China?

The Prince of Wales visited Hong Kong on the 6th and 7th April 1922, he was the then Duke of Windsor who of course famously was never King.  The colony was excited by the prospect of the visit and the Governor specifically requested and appointed Sir Paul Chater as chairman of the Reception Committee to organise the Prince's visit.  The Prince expressed a very keen desire for an opportunity to play polo whilst in Hong Kong and, as  Sir Paul Chater was delighted to do anything that might involve horses (his first passion), he was happy to ensure a polo match was organised for the Prince.

best wishes

Liz

The POW at this time was Prince Edward, the eldest son of King George V and who, on his father's death, became King Edward VIII, until his abdication in December 1936, upon which he became Duke of Windsor.

He arrived in Victoria harbour aboard HMS Renown at 9.15am on the 6th April 1922 and left at 9.00am on the 8th for Yokohama.

 

This query about the Prince’s visit to Hong Kong in 1922 caught my eye at the same time as I was searching the Happy Valley reports on the race results of some of my grandfather’s ponies. Three of these had been entered for the Prince of Wales Race Meeting of 7th April, arranged in the Prince of Wales’s honour. The spectators’ stands had never been so full, especially as there was some expectation that the Prince might even ride himself. However he was reportedly too tired after his polo game, arranged by Sir Paul Chater the day before. On the 7th he had a packed programme and arrived at the racecourse at 4.20 p.m., later than scheduled. The race that boded to be the most exciting, The Prince of Wales Stakes, reserved for ponies that had already had two wins at that year’s race meetings, was switched with a later race so that the Prince would arrive in time to watch it. The Prince was reported “to be loud in praises of the China pony.” I went on to read the reports on the evening ball given by the Governor at the Prince’s Pavilion, at which the Prince only arrived at 10 p.m., having been previously entertained by the Chinese community with a banquet and a theatrical performance. The Hong Kong Daily Press reporter was desperately trying to identify all the Prince’s dance partners, but admitted that “it was difficult to keep up with the Prince’s activities, for he mingled with the throng and chose his own partners.” At 12.30 everyone followed the lead of the Governor and his wife, assembling in readiness to leave, but the Prince was nowhere to be found. The music was ordered to restart, whereupon the Prince appeared from outside with one of his partners “with crumpled collar and flushed face” reported the Hong Kong Telegraph. All the newspapers report that the Prince didn’t miss a single dance and congratulate him on being up at 7 a.m. in order to fit in a morning visit to Kowloon on the 8th and, in addition, to get a view of the Hinterland. He finally left for Yokohama at 9 a.m. in the HMS Renown escorted by four Japanese destroyers. There are several different articles worth reading about the Prince’s extremely successful visit in the various pages of the English newspapers of 7th and 8th April and I'm sure in the Chinese press too.

Jill