Views from an archive of private photographs documenting the visit of His Royal Highness Edward, Prince of Wales ( the future Edward Vlll) to Australia and New Zealand in 1920, annotated by the Prince himself ,or finally forming part of his correspondence with his mistress, Freda Dudley Ward .
It is priced at $5000 by Douglas Stewart Fine Books, Melbourne ,who are taking part in the current event . The Australian Prime Minister , Billy Hughes , who appears in the above snaps , left in top hat with brolly , and right , shaking hands with the prince, was the subject of disparaging comments by Edward .
Background information about the collection says the photos were originally enclosed in different letters that formed part of Edward’s correspondence with his mistress, Freda Dudley Ward, between 1918 and 1921. The Prince’s manuscript captions were written exclusively for her benefit.The bookshop provides the following colourful information.
The subject matter covered in this small group of photographs includes various events on the Prince’s Australasian itinerary. His annotations reveal his general ennui, disdain for ceremony, and probably a complete lack of suitability to the future role of monarch. His passion for horseracing is made evident from the shots of him taken at Ascot Races in Brisbane (where he broke a track racing record) and at Riccarton Races, Christchurch. He is also shown participating in a rugby match at Jervis Bay. But undoubtedly the most noteworthy images are the two shots that show him meeting Australian Prime Minister Billy Hughes, of whom the Prince had a very low opinion. One rudely shows only the back of Hughes, dismissing him as a person of absolutely no consequence or standing, and the other mocks Hughes with a deliberate and sarcastic misspelling of his name.
In the Prince’s letter which originally accompanied the two latter photos, Edward wrote from Government House, Melbourne on 27 May 1920: ‘Fredie darling no words of mine could ever describe to you the pompousness & state of my landing or my first official progress through this city (the capital) to the “palace”!
Vast carriages drawn by 4 horses were provided for us & after being received by Ferguson (the G.G.) & hundreds of other bearded old men, we drove solemnly for 2 hrs through the streets in cocked hats till I thought I would die!’ Edward later abdicated " for love " to marry divorced American socialite Wallis Simpson .
Apart from the interesting royal photos, Douglas Stewart's stall at the fair has a considerable number of early volumes dealing with China,, Captain Cook's voyage , Antarctic exploration , the Congo , art and Japanese varnishing in its 50 offering covering 500 years of publishing .
