Page:Dictionary of National Biography, Second Supplement, volume 1.djvu/582

 the prince and princess went, too, to Oxford to take part in the pleasures of Commemoration. They stayed with Dean Liddell at the prince's college, Christ Church (16-18 June), and at the encænia he received from the chancellor, Lord Derby, the honorary degree of D.C.L. A year later similar experiences awaited the prince and princess at Cambridge during May week. They stayed in the royal apartments at Trinity College, and the prince received the honorary degree of LL.D. Meanwhile a sumptuous ball given by the guards regiment in the exhibition building at South Kensington on 26 June 1863 brought the gaieties of their first season to an end.

The prince's married life was mainly spent at Marlborough House. But Sandringham constantly drew him from London ; he visited friends in all parts of the country for sport or society, and was in Scotland every autumn. Nor was his habit of foreign travel long interrupted. Part of the early spring was soon regularly devoted to Cannes or Nice in the Riviera, and part of the early autumn to Homburg, while tours on a larger scale were not infrequent.

Outside London his career for the most part resembled that of any man of wealth and high station. At Sandringham the prince until his death spent seven or eight weeks each year, living the life of a private country gentleman. The first Easter after his marriage was spent at Sandringham but the old house was then condemned as inadequate, and a new mansion was completed in 1870. The hospitality at Sandringham was easy and unconstrained ; and the prince's guests were drawn from all ranks and professions. He interested himself in his tenants, and maintained his cottages in admirable repair. On every detail in the management of the estate he kept a watchful eye. The furniture and decorations of the house, the gardens, the farm, the stables, the kennels, were all under his personal care. For his horses and dogs he always cherished affection. The stables were always well filled. In the kennels at Sandringham were representatives of almost every breed. He was an exhibitor of dogs at shows from 27 May 1864, and was patron of the Kennel Club from its formation in April 1873. He actively identified himself with the sport of the county. For some twelve years he hunted with the West Norfolk hounds, at times with the princess for his companion, but after 1880 he abandoned hunting, both at home and on visits to friends. Shooting at Sandringham gradually took its place as the prince's main sport. To his shooting parties were invited his Norfolk neighbours as well as his intimate circle of associates. He reared pheasants and partridges assiduously, profiting by useful advice from his neighbour, Thomas William Coke, earl of Leicester, of Holkham. Partridge-driving grew to be his favourite sporting recreation. He was a variable and no first-rate shot, but was successful with high pheasants. For his autumnal vacation at Scotland during September and October Queen Victoria lent him Abergeldie Castle, on Deeside near Balmoral, which she had leased in 1862 for sixty years. He varied his sojourn there by visits to Scottish noblemen, with one of whom, the duke of Sutherland, he formed an intimate friendship. The duke's mother was a beloved associate of Queen Victoria, and at the ducal seat, Dunrobin Castle, the prince was a frequent guest. In Scotland the prince's chief sports were grouse-shooting and deerstalking. He had killed his first stag on 21 Sept. 1858 ; on 30 Aug. 1866 he killed as many as seven, and for years he was no less successful. Fishing never attracted him. But he was always fond of the sea, and his early life on the Isle of Wight made him an eager yachtsman. Succeeding his father as patron of the Royal Yacht Squadron at Cowes, he became a member, on 8 July 1865, commodore in 1882, and finally admiral in 1901. He was soon a regular witness of the Cowes regatta in August, and as early as 1866 was owner of a small yacht, the Dagmar. But neither horse-racing nor yacht-racing occupied much of his interest till he reached middle life.

But while country life had no lack of attraction for the prince, London, which Queen Victoria had practically abandoned for Osborne, Balmoral, or Windsor, was the chief centre of his mature activities. In the capital city he rapidly became the leader of fashionable life. The queen's withdrawal left him without a rival as ruler and law-giver of the world of fashion, and his countenance was sedulously sought by all aspirants to social eminence. With manhood he developed increasingly an accessibility and charm of manner, a curiosity about persons, a quickness of observation, and a love of hearing promptly the