TO FULFILL A WISH

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 151, 23 December 1929, Page 9

TO FULFILL A WISH

5000 MILES JOURNEY

ALL.FOR A SHORT DANCE

THE PRINCE AS DANCES

Many people have wondered what it is like to dance with the Prince of "Wales, for that is the greatest ambition of every young woman in society and of countless others in humbler walks of life, says an. overseas writer.

The Prince patronises two types of dances—the usual dances of the London season where the- same dancers are to be found at different dances every night, and the dance entertainments by night clubs of the respectable- type. He naturally docs not have time enough to attend as many balls as most of those taking part in the London season, and it is stated by one who has often danced with him at functions of this description that it is a blessing for which he is profoundly thankful.

The- Heir-Apparent good-naturedly goes to as many dances as he can, says his biographer, Mr. Evelyn Graham, but what he really likes to do in London is to go to a fashionable night club witlt a small party composed of people he knows and likes, and partners to whose steps he is aceust/med. Not infrequently he is to be seen at the KitKat or at the Embassy, dancing on thecrowded floors of these resorts, and enjoying himself as heartily and as unaffectedly as the rest of the dancers. A girl who had been included for the-fft-st time in one of these night-club parties at which the Prince was present, was. asked what it felt like to be dancing with the Prince of "Wales for, the first time. SHORT-LIVED NERVOUSNESS. ""When the Prince first asked mo for s, dance, -I don't know whether I was.: more pleased than frightened," the girl? said. "Although my other partners have told me that I dance very well, and certainly I have had enough lessons, yet I kept wondering whether I danced as well as the people with whom the Prince usually dances. ""What frightened mo most, though, was the thought that I should be too nervous to be able to talk to him at i all, for I am afraid that I do not know !any high-brow books to talk about, nor ido I know anything about matters of jState and all that sort of thing. By jthe time that my dance came round I I was simply 'dithering' with fear, and ,ivhen. the music started I really did not ikhow whether I was on my head or my (heels. In the first few steps I nearly (tripped over my own feet twice, but 'I soon got over my nervousness.

"It was just like dancing with anyone else except that the Prince dances than most people. I find that •what spoils most young men as dancing jpartners is that they will not keep jtneir knees unbending when they [dance, but the Prince of "Wales never foffends in this way, he ia much too good a dancer. "The only thing that the Prince does that my dancing instructor tells me partners ought not to do is to sway ia bit from the hips when he is dancing, :but personally I like that, and I hope ythat now the Prince does it it will come ■ into fashion."

"Well,'' an. inter viewer said to the jgirl, "tell me wliat he talked to you [about." The, girl 'blushed prettily. '"Oh," she said, "he talked to me first {about me floor and the people who jwere there, and then the people who jwere usually therej and then, we talked ■*bout books.

"I think we got on. to that subject 'fby comparing the club with one of ■those hotels that. Oppenheim 'writes about. Then we talked about Edgar ."Wallace, and ho told me that Wallace was one of his favourite writers."Was that all you talked about?" the girl was asked. "Well, as a matter of fact," she. • answered at last, "he told mo what a; 'good dancer I was, and then he admired' py dress, which I had had sent by air' {from. Paris for the occasion, and then. ' —well, he was very nice and flattering! Sto me, and we just got oa splendidly together." ■ Mr. Graham proceeds: "At this point • I can hear the disappointed brunettes 'murmur to each other: 'Oh, just like •''dancing with an ordinary young man (after all.' Tor as a matter of fact my {young friend was a blonde of the most lavishing type, and it is well known jthat His Eoyal Highness, like the 'legendary gentleman, prefers blondes. '.. VALUE OF A COMPLIMENT. ■ ' "Asa matter of fact, to dance with : the Prince is just like 'lancing with an ' ordinary young man—but an ordinary, ■ young man who has a splendid flow of i amusing small talk, and a young man ■ who has a way of paying a compliment so neatly makes it worth all the'sugary flattery in the world. Besides, a eom-.-plimcnt from the Prince of "Wales is naturally more valuable than a eonpliment from an ordinary young man. "I think the Prince enjoys himself .most on the crowded polished floor of a night club when, the clock has just -struck midnight and everyone there is i too intent on their own amusement to ■notice the heir to the British Throne. 'At such time the Prince, swaying in time with his partner, is allowed to be himself for a few hours, to dance with those with whom he ; wishes to dance, to talk with those , with whom he wishes to talk, and to be a normal healthy human being.'' t The Prince, however, has attended |dances of various kinds in every quarter of the globe, civilised and uncivilised. There are young girls In Western I Canada who have on their mantlepieces [in. the place of honour a photograph £o'£ the Prince of Wales because they with him when he was over 'there on tour. i