THE QUEEN AND PRINCESS OF WALES.

Auckland Star, Volume XVII, Issue 124, 29 May 1886, Page 6

THE QUEEN AND PRINCESS OF WALES.

jars In tno Royal Family,

It is the correct thing at the moment we notice never to mention the Princesß of Walcs's appearance in public without gravely announcing that she looks " pale and thin." Often enough the expression is used when the writer has not set eyes on the Royal lady. But in many cases the remark is made with the idea of preserving public credence in the teports of her recent illness. As a matter of fact, the Princess Is always " pale and thin." Her photographs make her appear fuller-faced than [she actually is. The much chronicled and dom-inented-upon indisposition has been little better than a beautiful fiction ; certainly it has never been of a nature to noticeably affect her looks. The truth is, as we pointed out when the Prjncess absented herself from the opening of Parliament, that one of the periodical unpleasantnesses that invade Marlborough House, as they do less illustrious homes, has been the cause of Har Royal Highness's not accompanying some of her distinguished relatives on recent occasions. "A cold" was sufficient to explain her absence both from the ceremony at Westminster and the concert at the Albert Hall ; but a fresh excuse was needed to account for her non-appearance at the Drawing Room last Thursday. So the Princess decided to pay the postponed visit to the Duchees of Sutherland, and rushed off to Torquay, thus relieving herself of the duty that would have obliged her to call on the Queen at Buckingham Palace, and to attend the presentation ceremony afterwards. It is to be hoped_ we have heard the last of Her Royal Highness's distressing state of health and about her looking " pale and thin." Such statements are silly fabrications that prove either the writer's ignorance or his mendacity.