ITEMS OF SOCIAL NEWS.

It is Mated that Princess Mary is now , very busily engaged in perfecting her , knowledge of Italian, and that Queen i Mary is also refurbishing the Italian she , learnt in her girlhood days in Florence. This has revived the rumour that the . Prince of Wales is to become engaged to the Princess Yolanda of Italy. As a . matter of fact, an the i.auan Koyal ; Family 6peak English perfectly. The engagement of Captain Louis Botha, General Botha's eldest son, to a Hamp- ; shire lady will provide the second tie be- ! tween the great Boer family and what has I become its mother country, for the soldierstatesman's sister some years ago married 1 the well-known barrister and publicist, Mr. R. C. Hawkin. Captain Botha has been in Europe for some months, lor ' after serving in the two campaigns in the 1 sub-continent he went over to fight on the western r camp on the Personal Staff. Few recent appointments have given more universal satisfaction than th.ii of Major-Oeneral F. H. Sykes, the new Chief of the British Air Staff. He was one of the handful of men who, when aviation was in its babyhood, looked ahead into ita tremendous possibilities. Experts scoffed when, before the war, he predicted scouting machines travelling 120 miles an hour and battle 'planes carrying pilot, assistant, gunner, and observer. Unlike the 1 majority of prophets, Sykes has seen his predictions fulfilled, and gained merited recognition. The King and Queen are nothing if not practical, even in the smallest matters; and this is shown by the presents, they 1 give to members of their immediate 1 family. On each birthday Princess Mary 1 receives a very fine pearl from her parents | to add to her necklace, and each one, of ' course, increase* greatly its value. To 1 their sons the King and Queen give a 1 peace of valuable plate on each birthday; so that these young princes will in time ; m uire a valuable collection of silver of . ir own, quite apart from anything they may inherit or receive from the State. ' King George has a totally different 1 method of getting through hie work from the late King Edward. Sir Arthur Ellis I once eaid that King Edward would let a great deal of work accumulate, and then, when the fit of work was on him, or when ' he thought the amount of his correspon- ! dence was getting too heavy, would put [ in perhaps a whole day's work, beginning directly after breakfast and working into the early hours of the next day. _ King George, on the other hand, never, if possible, allows arrears of work to acenmu- ' late, and if they do, Hie Majesty is always 1 nervous and fidgety until the arrears are 1 cleared off. The Crown Prinoe Rupprecht of ' Bavaria is securing a pretty and richlyendowed bride in Princess Antoinette of 1 Luxemburg, and it will matter little to 1 him that Barkis is not too willing. As 1 a matter of fact, hit first wife made her marriage lees from choice than necessity. 1 She was his cousin, Duchess Marie Gabrielle, a sister of the courageous Queen ! of the Belgians. Rupprecht'e eldest son died soon after tie outbreak of the war, but he declined to go home for the 1 funeral, declaring that there were things ' of more importance going on at the front I to engage a leader's attention, , The Grand Duke Michael Michaelovitch j has now a grandson, the sod bom to Major f and Countess Zia Werner last week. Hi* ; other grandchild is a daughter, the child ' of the Earl and Counters of Medina. > Doubtless, as His Imperial Highness—for so he is still styled here—and his popular k and charming wife, Countess Torby, con- . templated the chaos in Russia and the , fate of the Grand Duke's cousin, the. late Tsar, they bless more than ever the day , that they decided to make their home in England, in which they have lived for ! over a-ouarteT of a century happily and peacefully. Their grandchildren are en- , lured a life of peace and quiet when the ; present terror has been beaten down. In I the circles of British aristocracy and ; wealthy upper classes they have a far - better chance of happiness than among the seats of the mighty. ) The Croix de Guerre has been conferred i by the French Government on Mrs. ConI greve and on Miss Henrietta Fraser. It - is a military honour which has seldom ) been won by a woman. Mrs. Congreve is the wife of General Walter Norris Congreve, V.0., C.8., M.V.0., of Congreve and Chartley Hall, po. Stafford. . Her eldest son was Major' William La '. Touche Congreve, V.C., D.5.0., M.C., ( who married a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. k Cyril Maude, and was killed in action i soon after. Miss Henrietta Fraser is the ' I daughter of Maior Francis Fraser, of I Tornaveen, Co. Aberdeen; she is, through . > her aunt, who married, first, Major Foote . ■ Morrison, of Greenfield, Alloa, and then , ; Mr. Hugh Veitch Haig, of Ramornie. a I cousin of Sir Douglas Haig. These two , j ladies have had many ana most diatin- ,' guished military associations.

The engagement is announced of Mr. Esrae Fergueson, Coldstream Guards, to Miss Pamela West, daughter of Mr. and Mm. Horace West, and granddaughter of Sir Algernon Mr. Fere-usson is the only remaining of three brothers, who all volunteered for active service at the beginning of tha war. His elder brother, Mr. Allan Ferguseoii, (ell last year in the Guards' ' charge at Martinpuieh and Guinchy, the younger having been killed a month or two previously. Mr. Ferguseon is a nephew of the late Grant Allen, the well-known author. The bride-to-be is both pretty and charming. Her father. Mr. Horace Weat, has been about the Court for a long time, and is one of the gentlemen ushers. .Both he and Mrs. West were in old days noted for their good looks, which their daughter has inherited. A person who occupies a prominent position in Court circles in Holland has received a highly interesting letter from a lady at the Berlin Court, in which ene Bays that whilst the a... immediate danger, it is certain that the health of the Empress is irremediably compromised. Her morbid Mmr *, from the arrest of the Tsar and flie Tsaritsa. During the last few months the Empress has locked herself up in her room daily for hours, refusing to see a soul. She is afraid of the revolutionary contagion spreading to Germany. The Emperor, who never concerned himself overmuch about her, and who has been always on the move during the war, had no time to console her. The assassination of the Tsar and the uncertainty afterwards prevailing as to - the fate of the Tsaritsa (of whom the Em. jr£ss was very fond) completed the undermining of her physical and mental condition. The German reverse on the Western front was the final blow. That Mr. and Mrs. Hines Page are leaving England is a matter not only for regret to all to whom Allied interest are dear, but to the very large number of friends made by His Excellency and his wife while they were in England. The Ambassador—be deprecated the use of the title doctor—is a literary man. Ho succeeded Mr. Whitelaw Reid, and this was a difficult matter in pre-war days when social eminence was put before anything else, and Mr. and Mrs. Whitelaw Reid had reached the top of the social tree. Mr. and Mrs. Hines Page, however, speedily won their way to the hearts Of the British people, while the Ambassador's most able conduct of affairs through critical times has won for him unstinted praise in quarters well qualified to judge. Mrs. Page has shown herself simple, always kind, and quietly dignified. She is the daughter of Dr. 'William Wilson, of Michigan, and her daughter was married in the Chapel Royal in August, 1915 to Mr. Charles Lorin, of Boston. '