GREAT BRITAIN: C-C-C-Cured

• Share

For many years public speaking has been a torture to the stuttering Duke of York. Well known is the fact that in order to avoid saying "K-K-K-King" at moments of state he habitually refers to his father as "His Majesty." Specialists, remembering the Duke's extreme shyness as a child, have for years treated his stuttering psychologically, as caused by nervousness. The treatments were unavailing, His Royal Highness continued to splutter.

The Duke's impeded speech was brought painfully to public attention at the Wembley Exposition of 1925. Standing before a battery of amplifiers, H. R. H., as President of the Exposition, commenced a brief address, consisting almost entirely of syllables. The current had not been turned on, the Duke's voice could not be heard more than a few feet away. He turned to the exposition chairman seated beside him, just as electricians turned on the loud speakers full force. Instantly a Gargantuan voice boomed through the Stadium: "THE D-D-D-DAMN THINGS W-W-W-WON'T WORK!"

About three years ago, however, the Duke of York met one Lionel Logue, oral specialist from Australia. Last week Britain rang with joyful news. The Duke's stuttering was so nearly cured that he could say "King" without preliminary cackles. Alone among specialists Dr. Logue had discerned that the ducal impediment was physical, not mental. He had prescribed massage and throat exercises.