Prince George (centre, looking towards the camera), Shanghai, 3 June 1926. Lang collection, AL-s37 © 2015 Robert Bickers
This is Prince George, great-grand uncle of the Duke of Cambridge, who is currently visiting Shanghai. The date is 3 June 1926: Empire Day. The Prince is just about to inspect a parade in the extensive grounds of the old British Consulate-General at the north end of the Bund. Prince George spent 18 months on the Royal Navy’s China Station in 1925-26, and it was from HMS Hawkins, that he had come ashore to take part in the patriotic celebrations. The Consulate General building, which you can see in the background, still survives, but now it houses a very exclusive (Chinese) government guest house, and what was formerly the consul-general’s house, just behind it, is dedicated to sales of a very expensive brand of luxury watch. That does at least mean that a visitor can stroll in and around the building and its grounds — but do affect the air of a customer in search of a timepiece (solar topee no longer required).