BY the time Edward Prince of Wales arrived in Hong Kong, on April 6, 1922, he had been touring the British Empire for six months. He had shaken hands with thousands of his future subjects; listened to hundreds of boring speeches; attended dozens of banquets and ploughed through mounds of strange, rich, indigestible food. He had shot tigers in Nepal, gone pig-sticking at Jodhpur and come a close second in a sack race in Malta. When he reached Hong Kong he was probably feeling rather jaded. The weather was awful. The magnificent decorations on the Peak were shrouded in fog. He met hundreds of school children; boy scouts and girl guides; inspected the 102 nd Grenadier (Indian Army); received an honorary degree from the university and an address from the Masons. He played polo, went to the races, did some shopping in Kowloon and insulted the Governor Sir Reginald Stubbs by behaving badly at a dinner at Government House given in his honour. It was a lot to cram into two days. He also upset Executive Councillor Sir Paul Chater, an indefatigable royalist, who had raised $50,000 for a statue of the Prince. Edward did not warm to the idea of having his statue join the graven images of: Queen Victoria, King Edward VII, Queen Alexandra, King George V, Queen Mary, a bank manager, two lions and an Irish governor - which already decorated Statue Square. It was a depressing thought. He suggested instead, ''that some very good thing be done for the community of Hong Kong in his name'', with the money. After careful consideration, as to what would best benefit the community, the $50,000 was given to the British Legion. On the death of his father King George V in 1936, he became King Edward VIII; but he abdicated in order to marry Wallis Simpson, an American divorcee. He later became the Duke of Windsor.
