Queen Alexandra Overcome.

New York Times 100 years ago today, March 19, 1913:
    LONDON, Wednesday, March 19.— Late last evening dispatches were received in London confirming the report of the assassination of the King of Greece. A message was received at the
    Foreign Office soon after 9 P. M. and was immediately communicated to the King, while the sad news was also conveyed to Queen Alexandra, the dead King's sister, at Marlborough House.
    Queen Alexandra had been informed of the tragedy by an earlier unofficial report. She was almost unable to credit it, and to the last minute cherished the hope that it would prove incorrect. Shortly before 10 o'clock, however, an official message, stating briefly that the King had been shot and killed, was received at Marlborough House.
    The painful duty of communicating the intelligence to her mother was undertaken by Princess Victoria. Queen Alexandra broke down completely, and had to be helped to bed in a state of collapse.
    The sympathy of the English people will go out to Queen Alexandra in her latest sorrow. In the short space of a few years her eldest brother, the King of Denmark; her husband, King Edward; her son-in-law, the Duke of Fife; her nephew, Prince George of Cumberland; a near relative, Prince Francis of Teck, and now her brother, the King of Greece, have been taken from her by death.
    The news of the assassination was received in the House of Commons with great concern, much uneasiness being expressed regarding its political consequences. It is not yet known whether it was the work of a lunatic or of one politically distraught. If it was inspired by political design it may, as The Daily News points out, react very seriously on the Balkan situation, already sufficiently troubled without such a disturbance.
    It was taken for granted, in view of the King's physical and mental vigor, that he would occupy the throne during the restoration of peace and the subsequent reconstruction of a larger and stronger Greece. His death is regarded as a great calamity for the Balkan League and for Europe.

Rigid Censorship on News.
    LONDON, Wednesday, March 19.— The official world of London and the general public were startled last evening by a terse message from Salonika announcing the assassination of the King of Greece.
    Interest in the troubled Balkans had been waning of late days, but the news of this tragedy created an instant and immense sensation. It was not generally known that the King of Greece was still at Salonika, as nothing had been heard of his movements for several days.
    Concern regarding the details of the assassination was intense, but as hours passed and no further news reached London it became evident that a rigid censorship was being maintained by the army administration. The strained relations between the Greek and Bulgarian contingents at Salonika gave grounds for fears that the assassination of King George might have been incident to a clash between the allies, but a message received at midnight dispelled such apprehensions by identifying the assassin as a Greek degenerate. Another dispatch referred to him as demented.
    The British Foreign Office, Marlborough House, where Queen Alexandra, sister of the dead King, is residing, and the Greek Legation were besieged by reporters, but no one at these places had any information except the newspaper bulletins until nearly 10 o'clock.
    The King and Queen of England are at Windsor Castle. The first official confirmation of the tragedy came to the Foreign Office in a dispatch from Prince Nicholas at Salonika. It was transmitted to Windsor and to Marlborough House, and then given to the public. This dispatch announced that the King had been shot and had died in half an hour. Another telegram, reporting similarly, was received from the Greek Administrator at Salonika.
    Earlier in the evening the press message had been communicated to the King and the Queen mother as a rumor.
    The greatest sympathy is felt for Queen Alexandra. The King of Greece was her favorite brother. King George and Queen Mary will come from Windsor this morning to give her what consolation they can.

Will Hurt the London Season.
    Even if the dead King's close relationship with the British royal family did not exist, the circumstances of his death would debar the court for a time from social functions. It is expected that court mourning will be announced for three months, and that all official engagements, except the most necessary ones, will be cancelled.
    The London social season, which begins after Easter, will therefore suffer an eclipse, and several branches of retail business will lose heavily.
    It is expected that the body of the murdered King will be taken to Athens on board a warship for burial.
    King George of Greece was a frequent visitor to London, his last visit being on the occasion of King Edward's funeral, when he met Col. Theodore Roosevelt and became exceedingly friendly with the ex-President, whom he impressed as one of the most democratic characters among the European sovereigns assembled here. He remained as a guest at Buckingham Palace for several days, and with his brother, King Frederick of Denmark, walked about the streets entirely unattended and unrecognized. Several times they joined the crowds which gathered in front of the palace to cheer the new English King, their identity wholly unsuspected by the workingmen, with whom they rubbed elbows.
    In the course of a former visit to this city the London Corporation entertained the King at the Guildhall and presented an address of welcome. Of all the crowned heads of Europe, King George of Greece and his Danish brother, King Frederick, who was overtaken by a fatal illness while strolling in the streets of Hamburg alone, were among the most unostentatious. The Greek King had many friends among the  diplomats of the various nations, and some of his warmest friendships were with untitled persons.

King George's Courage.
    The King, in the course of his reign, and particularly in the latter years of it, passed through many dangers, but always went about either alone or attended by one or two aids. When he was struck down arrangements were being completed for his jubilee, and it seemed that this celebration would take place in a period of national triumph.
    Personal courage was a marked characteristic of him. On one occasion, when an attempt was made to assassinate him while he was driving with Princess Marie, he rose in the carriage and, shielding his daughter with his body, furiously shook his cane at two men who were firing at him at close range. King George had a particular fondness for a good dinner and a game of cards, and was known to all the foremost restaurateurs in the Continental capitals and watering places. He was popularly credited with being rather easy-going in the matter of hard work.
    At a meeting of Moslems and Turkish sympathizers here last night the announcement of the assassination was greeted with cries of "Shame!" although there were some cheers. The audience rose as a token of respect for the King's memory.
    The Earl of Selborne, presiding at a meeting of the Royal Colonial Institute, announced the death of the King, and said that all would wish to express their deep sympathy for Queen Alexandra in her bitter loss.
    The Greek legation had received no official word of the death of the King up to a late hour last night, but the two members of the peace delegation remaining in London and many other Greeks called to express their sympathy. The Lord Mayor of London sent a message to the Greek Minister, saying:
    "The citizens of London sympathize with the Greek royal family and the Greek Nation in their bereavement and express their horror at the crime."
    The Lord Mayor also telegraphed condolence to King George and to Queen Alexandra, while the Lord Mayor of Windsor called at the Castle to offer condolence.

Why He Was at Salonika.
    The long stay of the Greek King at Salonika was made with the object or showing Greece's title to the permanent possession of the city. When the war with Turkey began each of the Allies made for the territory in which its interests lay. Salonika was a point at which individual interests were focussed, and the Greeks, Bulgars, and Serbs alike coveted the prosperous port. The Greek army won the race to the city, and, unaided, received the submission of the Turkish garrison. The Bulgarians, however, who were not far behind, sent in a portion of their army, and since then there has been considerable friction and even fighting.
    The Greeks, nevertheless, established, an Administration, and the King hurriedly left Athens for Salonika. He played host to King Ferdinand of Bulgaria and afterward to the Crown Prince of Servia, on their visits to the city. He realized that his presence there was not without peril, for he was surrounded by malcontents — Turks who had lost one of their most cherished cities, and Servians and Bulgarians who envied the Greeks their possession of the place.