October 1920, Sydney Palace.
As we approach summer in Australasia, the weather becomes more suitable for traveling.
Arthur, who had not traveled with his family for a long time, suddenly decided to take the whole family on a trip.
As for the destination, we don’t have an exact address yet, so we should check it out in China.
Arthur's mother, Princess Louise, declined Arthur's invitation. But this is normal. Princess Louise is already over sixty years old and cannot bear the long-term bumps. It is better to stay in the palace to take care of her old age.
As a result, the only candidates for the trip were Arthur, Queen Mary, William, Anna, Peter and George.
Among Arthur's four children, William and Anna were born in September 1909 and are currently 11 years old.
Peter was born in 1915 and is now only five years old, a naughty age.
The youngest George is just over one year old now. Although he no longer needs human milk, he is still looked after by a wet nurse to avoid any accidents.
It is worth mentioning that Arthur's two sisters had married many years ago. However, there was still an exchange of letters from time to time. After all, the country they were in was not willing to give up the in-laws of Australasia.
Because this trip is with my family, the safety and comfort of the trip are the most important, and the time consumption becomes an unimportant factor.
Arthur underestimated the curiosity of several little ones about airplanes. When I asked the little ones what mode of travel they wanted to use, the answer was undoubtedly airplane.
Obviously, today's airplanes are not worth Arthur's personal risk, which naturally does not allow these little guys to take the airplane.
Compared with airplanes, current trains are still very reliable. Although the power of Australasian trains has been improved round after round, the speed is still far behind the trains of later generations.
Slow speed is a disadvantage, but security will also be greatly improved.
This is not a traffic environment like a car, where there is a risk of rear-end collisions if the speed is slow. The train is running on a railway and does not need to change direction, it only needs to increase or decrease the power.
Of course, this trip will definitely involve more than just taking a train. Although the main purpose is to go out and have fun, it can also take the opportunity to show the faces of the royal family. Naturally, Arthur's purpose is to travel throughout Australasia and bring the royal family closer to the people.
At the same time, it also allows a few little guys to experience the current development situation in Australasia.
A prince who only lives in the capital and palace, even if he has learned a lot of knowledge from school, is destined to be unable to apply it in real life.
This principle also applies to governments of all countries. A monarch who understands the sufferings of the people is a wise monarch.
In Sydney Palace, Steward Kent was instructing the servants to prepare items for travel. Not only do they have a variety of thin and thick clothing, but they also carry different daily utensils according to the preferences of each royal member.
The scale of this trip was very large, with more than two hundred people including servants and chefs alone.
Coupled with the security guards and guards, the total number of people traveling was more than 700, which was almost the limit that Arthur's special train could bear.
"How are the preparations going?" Arthur walked over as if walking, looked at the very busy Kent housekeeper and servants, and asked.
"We are almost ready, Your Majesty. There are a total of 27 maids, 131 servants, 11 chefs, 27 doctors, 9 tailors, 4 translators for this trip; as well as 117 royal guards and 455 royal guards. Intelligence There are 11 liaison officers, totaling more than 700 people. Is there anything else your Majesty would like to modify?" Steward Kent nodded and reported the size of the traveling party with a very clear mind.
"Not yet, Steward Kent. Do you need to bring so many escorts with you when traveling? If you are in Australasia, it doesn't seem necessary." Arthur asked with some surprise.
I have to lament the luxury of European royal life. The travels of the Australasian royal family are simply ridiculously luxurious.
There were only 6 royal family members on this trip, but there were nearly 200 service personnel and more than 500 security personnel.
These are just the people traveling with them, there are many more people serving the royal family from various places. A conservative estimate is that at least thousands of people contributed to the royal family’s trip.
"It can no longer be reduced, Your Majesty. The royal guards and bodyguards respectively protect the safety of your station and itinerary. The number of more than 500 people is already the result of streamlining. The number of servants cannot be reduced any more. In order to ensure the safety of you and Her Royal Highness the Queen, As well as the quality of life of several princes and princesses, servants of this size are very necessary." Butler Kent shook his head and rejected Arthur's proposal to reduce the number of people traveling.
In the opinion of Kent Butler, this list of travelers is not exaggerated at all, and even for the nobles of the Australasian royal family, it is a bit not up to standard.
Out of the protection of Arthur and other royal members, Butler Kent only hopes to have as many security personnel as possible. How could he reduce the size of the security personnel?
After Kent Butler refused, Arthur said no more.
To be honest, for so many years, in Arthur's mind, Butler Kent was no longer an ordinary butler.
Not to mention that Kent Butler was an old man who had served Arthur's family during the old Duke Arthur period. The hard work and dedication of Kent Butler in the 20 years since Arthur came to Australia was enough for Arthur to treat Kent Butler as a family member.
Of course, Arthur's importance to Kent's butler is definitely not just talk.
The Steward of Kent and his two sons held high positions in Australasia. The eldest son is the Prime Minister of Kent, and the second son Hunter is the Minister of Royal Affairs of Australasia. They are both very important cabinet members.
Moreover, the Kentish Steward holds the title of knight, and the Kentish Prime Minister is a baron. Even Hunter, who has no title for the time being, is on the list of the next wave of knights expected by Arthur.
And if nothing unexpected happens, after Prime Minister Kent retires, Hunter should succeed Prime Minister Kent and continue to serve as the palace steward.
Don't underestimate the position of the palace steward. Although he is only a servant of the royal family, he is the most trusted person in the entire royal family.
It is no exaggeration to say that becoming a palace steward is far more difficult than becoming a cabinet prime minister.
The prime minister of Australasia is selected every four years. As long as he is loyal to the royal family and has certain abilities, Arthur will not interfere too much.
But the palace steward is different. As the representative of the palace's external relations, the palace butler symbolizes Arthur and the entire royal family to the outside world, so the selection is very important.
In this regard, Australasia is the same as other European monarchies.
In other words, the palace steward is actually hereditary.
Every steward of the palace was basically trained since childhood, and most of them were the descendants of the previous steward.
Precisely because the descendants of the steward and the monarch's descendants have been raised together since childhood, a relatively deep relationship and tacit understanding can be established. This is also the real reason why the monarch and the steward can trust each other.
Unless the steward of the palace has done something that is considered taboo by the monarch, the candidate for the steward will generally not be replaced easily.
The previous tradition of European royal families was basically the same. The butler and the monarch were hereditary together, and the butler's family was loyal to the monarch's family for generations.
Second update, please vote for me and support!
We don’t have enough time, so this update is only 2,200 words long.
The next update, around 1:30, will be a chapter of 5,000 words.
Again, brothers’ monthly tickets can be kept until three days at the end of the month. There is a monthly ticket doubling event at the end of the month, thank you for your support!
(End of chapter)
