Tested by King Edward
ONE of the red-letter days in my life was when I appeared before the late King Edward VII., and Queen Alexandra at Sandringham.
To me, coming from the States, it was something of an ordeal, although it turned out to be one of the most pleasurable experiences during the whole of my career.
It was during the Christmas holidays of 1906, and I had been appearing at the London Alhambra, where we had succeeded beyond our wildest expectations. The British public had been simply wonderful, as indeed it seemed always to be, and we had received a welcome that to us was bewildering.
Then before we had been many weeks in the country we received this great honour to which I refer--an invitation to give a demonstration of our powers before their most gracious Majesties.
You can perhaps imagine the excitement into which we were plunged, for we both had visions of a most imposing and over-awing reception. We conjured up in our minds visions of pomp and ceremony, and wondered how we should deport ourselves in the Royal presence. It was no light thing to appear before the King and Queen of the world's greatest Empire, and I can assure you that as we made our way to the train which was to bear us to Sandringham I felt distinctly nervous.
Had we only known, all our fears were groundless, however, for we were received with a simplicity and gracious charm that made us easily understand why both King and Queen were so much beloved by their subjects.
There was a terrific snowstorm on the day preceding that on which we were to travel to Sandringham, and the ground was covered with snow several inches deep when at length we arrived at the station.
What was my surprise to find quite a crowd of people who had heard that we were coming waiting to see us arrive. A special carriage had been sent to meet us, and into this my wife and myself stepped, together with Sydney Paxton, my manager.
At Sandringham
On arrival at Sandringham we were made much of by the servants, who could not have paid us more attention if we had been the King and Queen ourselves. I was greatly impressed by the lavish kindness which everyone showed us, and while we were waiting for the summons into the presence of their Majesties, we gave an impromtu demonstration to the few servants at liberty to attend.
Of course, they were delighted, and it may seem strange that our first performance at Sandringham should be to the Royal servants.
At length, however, we were ushered into the presence of King Edward and Queen Alexandra, and at once all the doubts and fears that had assailed me vanished into thin air.
The King came to meet us, his face illuminated with a cheery smile of greeting. There was none of the pomp and ceremony I had expected. He shook bands with us in the most cordial manner and bade us welcome to Sandringham. He then presented us to the Prince and Princess of Wales. Queen Alexandra, on learning that me were both Danes, immediately entered into conversation with us in the Danish language.
His Majesty at once suggested that we should begin the entertainment, and himself selected a very difficult passage from a scientific book taken at random from one of the shelves. The ease and speed with which I managed to convey this passage to my wife seemed to astound the Royal gathering, who expressed their delight in the most vigorous fashion.
This was my very first introduction to Royalty, and it was a revelation to me, for although I had appeared in the drawing-rooms of many of the highest in the land, nowhere had I received wore homely, courteous treatment and consideration than at Sandringham.
Several of the passages included in the quotation referred to above contained arithmetic and algebraical symbols and technical terms. But that night we could not do wrong, and as I visualised the various tests, so did madam read to the company my thoughts.
My wife was behind at the far end of the long saloon in which the demonstration took place, concealed by a large Japanese screen; and in order that there should be no collusion, a young Princess stood behind the screen keeping Mrs. Zancig in full view as she sat in the chair blindfolded.
King's Interest
The Prince of Wales (now King George V.) wrote the word "Cagliostro," and appeared amazed when, without a moment's hesitation, my wife repeated the word, almost before the Prince had handed the paper to me.
Queen Alexandra then wrote in Danish the words "En Gliedetig Jul," which translated mean "A merry Christmas."
Now it is a singular thing, but, although we were Danes, my wife and I had never worked in the Danish language. We had always spoken and used the English tongue to convey our impressions. So that when I suddenly began to send my impressions in Danish, it was enough to put her off to some extent. It did not, however, for even as I visualised the letters, so she spoke the words in her native tongue, much to the pleasure Her Majesty.
Another interesting test was the production of a catalogue, and although my wife did not have a copy of the book I was able to transfer the knowledge to her that it had two pages numbered 6. This caused great astonishment, and when the King wrote down a long series of figures in the form of sums and madam added them up correctly the party wore most enthusiastic in their congratulations.
Mrs. Zancig was then conducted into an adjoining chamber, and near to the door there stood an intermediary to pass the word "Ready" at the right moment.
When the door was shut, my wife reproduced on the slate which she had with her not only a word written on another slate held by one member of the Royal Family but actually reproduced the identical handwriting.
The King then drew a rough sketch of his famous yacht, and in a few seconds madam reproduced the sketch most faithfully on her slate in the other room.
Every conceivable kind of test that could be devised was tried that night and to my mind one of the most interesting was when the King handed me his racing diary containing a long list of Derby winners for many years back.
All these particulars were read off by my wife as if she were reading from the pages of a newspaper, and in view of the fact that the diary was in the handwriting of the King, it was no small test to convey the name of the horses with their jockeys, and also the time in which the race Was run.
At one period of the performance I was greatly impressed with Queen Alexandra's kindly interest and sympathy. She seemed to sense something of the strain which the tests imposed on madam, and held her hand for some minutes apparently trying to infuse confidence into my wife.
Then when we had finished, their Majesties were most interested in our methods and asked us all manner of questions which we answered frankly. The Queen was particularly pressing and wanted to know whether I should ever divulge the secret of how we accomplished our feats.
We stayed at Sandringham that night, and the hospitality we received at the hands of our Royal hosts was simply wonderful. Then in the morning we were shown all over the house, and feasted our eyes upon the Christmas presents which had been placed on view in one of the huge rooms.
Yet one other episode comes back to me in connection with my visit to Sandringham. After the demonstration, I missed one of the slates which I had been using, and turned to re-enter the room.
Before I could explain to the servant what had happened, the King came across to me and said it, his breezy manner, "Left something behind?" I told him what it was, and it, a moment he was engaged in searching the room, peering under chairs, and behind pieces of furniture.
Suddenly he dropped on one knee, and groped beneath one of the settees. "Here we are," he exclaimed as he produced the missing slate, and with a smile handed it back to me. It was the sure touch of the most human Monarch that ever lived.
Far different was my experience with the Kaiser, whom I visited a couple of years afterwards at his Potsdam palace.
Appearing at the Berlin Winter Gardens, our act had inspired the same amount of wonder and controversy as it had done in London, and before we had been there long we were commanded to appear before the Kaiser.
By some mistake, however, the sentries on guard at the Imperial Palace were only informed that we were arriving at one of the entrances. We unfortunately turned up at the other gate, and there was considerable delay before we found ourselves in the Royal presence. Naturally we were somewhat distressed at being late; although it was not our fault, but the Kaiserin soon put us at our ease, apologising in the most charming manner for the mistake which had occurred.
The Kaiser had little to say, however, and the rest of the company included the Crown Prince and his pretty wife, Princess Cecile. The latter seemed more like children when I saw them, and came into the room holding hands in the most affectionate way. Princess Cecile was particularly charming, but despite the efforts of the ladies to put us at our ease, and although we readily carried out all the tests to which they subjected us, there hovered over the whole proceedings that feeling that we were in the presence of some forbidding influence that seemed to oppress us.
The rest of the party were profoundly impressed and evinced their astonishment in unmeasured terms. But the Kaiser adopted a mask that it was impossible to penetrate, and I could not tell for the time being what his exact thoughts were.
There was a lofty superiority about his attitude that was totally different from that of the smiling, genial personality of King Edward, and it was not till after the demonstration that I got behind the mask and there sensed the tragedy of bloodshed of which the man to whom I spoke was to be the author.
We stood talking on a variety of subjects, and then suddenly it came to me. I seemed to see the Kaiser surrounded by people striking at his throne, his power, and his life. Something impelled me to tell him what I sensed, and before I knew what I was doing I was warning him against the disaster that was to encompass him.
Somehow or other the years 1916, 1917, 1918 came to me, and I told him that the latter year would be the most dangerous for him. I did not tell him in so many words that the danger which threatened him would come in the form of war, for it is not wise to talk too frankly when addressing Royalty. I warned him of his peril, however, and also told the Crown Prince that his life would be endangered many times during the years I mentioned.