In the cold hour before dawn yesterday a man stepped quickly up a gangway into the cruiser Principe Alfonso, which was lying with steam up at the docks of Cartagena.
Two naval officers waiting to receive him sprang to attention, and cried "Viva el Rey".
"Viva la Espana," replied the departing King Alfonso, and raised his hat.
"Sir, I am sorry," murmured the Captain-General of the cruiser, and stretched out his hand to shake hands for the last time with his King.
"I am only being true to my traditions," was the dignified reply of the man who on Tuesday evening put away his crown. He made his way to a special cabin reserved for him.
The anchor was weighed, and as dawn broke over the Spanish coast the cruiser disappeared from sight. A Gibraltar message states that the Principe Alfonso sailed for Marseilles.
The Irish Times, April 16th, 1931.
