“The Prince had various activities at Had Pli, and it is said on this occasion he took down a tractor to experiment with in ploughing.” (พระองค์ทรงมีกิจกรรมหลายอย่างที่หาดพลี และกล่าวกันว่าทรงประกอบรถแทรกเตอร์เพื่อทดลองไถที่นั่นด้วย-สำนวนแปลโดยศรัณย์)
- ดู Basil Thomson. The Scene Changes. (London : Collins, 1939), pp. 177-179. อนึ่ง เพื่อประโยชน์แก่ผู้สนใจจึงขอคัดข้อความจากต้นฉบับภาษาอังกฤษเรื่องการเข้าเฝ้าฯ สมเด็จพระบรมราชินีนาถวิกตอเรียในอัตชีวประวัติของเซอร์ เบซิล ทอมสัน มาลงพิมพ์ไว้ด้วย ณ ที่นี้
“To the Siamese Princes I owe my only audience with Queen Victoria. Mr. Verney had been trying hard to obtain royal recognition for the Princes, but probably Her Majesty felt that with so many foreign Royal children in England for their education, it would be unwise to single out a particular Prince. At twelve o’clock one day I received a lengthy telegram commanding us to Windsor at four. There was a wild rush for nail-brushes and clean collars, for the boys were gardening, and then, in correct Eton jackets, I bundled them into a carriage and drove across the Great Park. We were received by the late Duke of Argyll and the lord-in-waiting, Lord Harris, and taken up into a narrow gallery outside Her Majesty’s private apartments. A double door stood at the end of the gallery and other doors led to the State rooms. In front of these doors was a little group, consisting of the Empress Frederick, Princess Louise and one or two other royalties, and we were drawn up in line with our backs to the windows. There we waited, talking among ourselves, until a functionary came out to marshal us. “An inch or two farther back, gentlemen,” he whispered, and perhaps it was these preliminary ceremonies that contributed to the sense of awe we were under when the Queen appeared. The doors were thrown open quite suddenly, and Her Majesty came in, leaning on the arm of her Indian Munshi, who carried himself with great hauteur. The Queen was tiny. I had the impression of a little pale lady covered with lace, rather frail and infirm, but somehow invested with extraordinary dignity. She was smiling, and without a moment’s delay the two boys were taken up and presented to her. I hissed into their ears as they passed, “Kiss Her Majesty’s hand,” but the younger boy forgot and shook her hand warmly, which made her smile. Then she called for me, and I was presented. There was only one topic of conversation--the health of the Siamese boys. Were they strong? Had I noticed that they caught cold easily ? Would I say that in all respects they were not more delicate than English boys ? And then, when that topic had been exhausted, she asked the Duke of Argyll to see that we were shown everything of interest in the Castle.
“It was not until some weeks afterwards that I heard why we had been sent for. At luncheon on the previous day there had been a discussion on consanguinity, and one of the princesses remarked that the two Siamese Princes, who were in the country, were the children of a brother and sister, as is the rule in Siam as it was with the royal family in ancient Egypt. Upon this the Queen, who was always interested in what appertained to births and deaths, said that she would like to see them. After that audience I was well able to understand the awe with which the Queen’s Ministers regarded her.”
- รายงานข่าวในหน้าหนังสือพิมพ์หลังสิ้นพระชนม์ในเดือนพฤษภาคม ๒๔๖๖ ตอนหนึ่งเท้าความถึงเรื่องเงินรางวัล ๒๗,๐๐๐ ปอนด์ ว่า “He served some time in the Mediterranean when in the British Navy, and when he left to return to Siam he was reported to have been paid £27,000 by the Admiralty for a submerged tube he invented. The story duly found its way out here and was laughingly contradicted by the Prince, who said he had often wished it were true.” ดู “Death of the Minister of Marine” Bangkok Times. May 21, 1923, p. 5.