dress is strongly conservative. He has none of the Continental love of displaying uniforms, and his dress is always the acme of good taste, because it is always absolutely suitable to the occasion on which it is worn. The Prince has an ever-increasing number of uniforms, military and other. Every one of his honorary army titles requires four complete uniforms,-full dress, undress, mess dress, and overcoat. His uniforms and robes are worth quite £15,000, and are, of course, fully insured. It need hardly be said that the Prince has almost every Order in existence. The mere enumeration of them fills up a large space in Debrett. Some of them are extremely valuable. The principal Order possessed by His Royal Highness is, of course, the Garter, which is only worn by him on great occasions. The badge consists of a dark blue velvet garter edged with gold, with gold buckle and pendant, and bearing the motto, Honi soit qui mal y pense. His Royal Highness is very fond of wearing the Collar of the Bath, of which he is now Great Master. The actual Order itself consists of a Maltese cross, a collar of gold, a star, a habit, and a crimson riband. The Prince's own favourite among his Orders is that of Malta, the Sovereign Order of St. John of Jerusalem, of which the badge is the well-known Maltese cross suspended from a black ribbon. When in Scotland, His Royal Highness wears on State occasions the Order of the Thistle, of which the badge is a figure of St. Andrew in enamelled gold, bearing a St. Andrew's cross, surrounded by golden rays terminating in eight principal points in the form of a glory. When the Prince of Wales is in Paris he generally wears the rosette of an officer of the Legion of Honour. This enables him, when walking about the town incognito, to pass unchallenged anywhere and everywhere. MR. JOHN PORTER AND MR. RICHARD MARSH, THE PRINCE'S PAST AND PRESENT TRAINERS, AND JOHN WATTS, HIS JOCKEY From Photographs by Elliott & Fry, and Clarence Hailey CHAPTER XIX THE PRINCE AS A SPORTSMAN-THE TURF PERSIMMON'S DERBY- SHOOTING DEER THE Prince of Wales has always taken a very keen interest in those sports and pastimes which are peculiarly British, and perhaps it is to this that he owes his remarkable bodily vigour and healthy appearance, for he is never so content as when enjoying a long day's tramp over the stubble at Sandringham, or when deer-stalking in a soft Highland mist. His Royal Highness's life as a sportsman began early. When he was quite a child he used to accompany Prince Albert on deerstalking expeditions round Balmoral; somewhat later he hunted with the harriers; and when he was fifteen he could claim to be the best shot in his family. But of late years the Prince of Wales has been rather associated in the public mind with the sport of kings, and the Royal colours-purple, gold band, scarlet sleeves, and black velvet cap with gold fringe-are a familiar sight on most British race-courses. Although the Prince has been a member of the Jockey Club for thirty years, his keen personal interest in racing is a matter of later growth, for it was not till July 1877 that the Princess of Wales honoured Newmarket with her presence to see her husband's colours carried for the first time. On that occasion the Prince had no luck, although Alep, a pure-bred Arab, started favourite, being, however, beaten by Lord Strathnairn's Arab Avowal by twenty or thirty lengths. Five years later the Prince won the Household Brigade Cup at Sandown with Fairplay. In 1890 His Royal Highness put his racers under John Porter, but his total winnings were only £624. The next year the Prince won £4148; in 1892, £190; in 1893, £372; in 1894, £3499 ; and in 1895, 8281; and in the last-named year His Royal Highness's name stood tenth in the list of winning owners. This satisfactory result was undoubtedly greatly owing to Lord Marcus Beresford, who was entrusted with the management of the Prince's racing stable in 1890. The Prince of Wales is generally agreed to be a very good judge of a horse. When at Newmarket he makes it a point to watch the early morning gallops, and at one time he was very fond of attending sales. The Prince has also given a great impetus to horse-breeding in the United Kingdom. Many years ago he started a thorough-bred stud, a half-bred stud, and a shire-horse studworks of real public utility, which can only be undertaken, be it remembered, by those who have wealth and leisure, combined with intelligence and a real desire to forward the interests of the British farmer. Of late the Prince has had the satisfaction of seeing his colours often pass the winning-post, but it need hardly be said that his greatest triumph was the victory of Persimmon in the Derby of 1896. This fine horse-a bay by St. Simon, and own brother to Florizel II., who was, by the way, the first really good horse that ever carried the Royal colours-is a magnificent specimen of the thorough-bred. Persimmon has never been beaten by any horse except his own half-brother, St. Frusquin. He was bred by the Prince of Wales and trained by Marsh at Newmarket. He made his first appearance in the Coventry Stakes at Ascot as a two-year-old, and, starting favourite, won the race. On the occasion of his next appearance, in the Richmond Stakes at Goodwood, he was again favourite, and again won by a length. In the Middle Park Plate, though favourite, he was beaten by St. Frusquin, but in the Derby of 1896 he beat his half-brother by a neck. At the Newmarket First July Meeting he gave 3 lb. to St. Frusquin, and was beaten in the Princess of Wales's Stakes. He won the St. Leger by a length and a half; and in the Jockey Club Stakes at Newmarket on the Ist October he won by two lengths from Sir Visto, the Derby winner of 1897. Persimmon was ridden to victory in the Derby of 1896 by John Watts. The race was witnessed by an extraordinarily large concourse of all classes, including a considerable number of distinguished foreigners. Never was there a more popular victory, |