His feelings wavered between unconcealed envy and the desire to be part of it all. He recognised that the German monarchy seemed positively parvenu by comparison and also believed that the Berlin court could not keep up with London despite his own considerable efforts. On the occasion of the forthcoming state visit of his uncle Edward VII to Berlin in 1908, he said apologetically to the British ambassador: "It won't be quite like Windsor, but we shall do our very best in any case." That the emperor was supposed to have been completely unpopular in England is an assumption that arose out of the perspective from the time after 1914. During the annual regatta in Cowes on the Isle of Wight it came strained relations between William and his uncle Edward, who tended to act out the personal rivalry through their sailing races, which were usually won by William's boat. In London he was normally given a tumultuous welcome by the inhabitants, and independent institutions honoured him until shortly before the outbreak of the war: the City of London made him an honorary citizen and Oxford University conferred an honorary doctorate on him.