THE QUEEN'S CORRESPONDENCE.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXII, Issue 17, 21 January 1901, Page 2

THE QUEEN'S CORRESPONDENCE.

I We shall never be fully aware of j t"he importance of the Queen's personal letters to other Sovereigns and rulers' in authority. At many a critical juncture in politics a tactful letter from the Queen has done moro to bridge over difficulties than all the speeches of politicians and the methods of diplomatists. The Queen always has encouraged her Ambassadors and representatives abroad to communicate with her, and some of them send most remarkably full details of all sorts of social and political events which never reach the public notice in the daily press. The late Sir Robert Morier, who was British Ambassador at .St. Petersburg, with such advantage to his country for so many years, had a special gift in the lost art of letter-writing, and if his epistles to the Queen have been preserved they would afford a fund of delightful information of flic most intimate character relating to tlie • Russian .Royal Family and the national life. The Queen lias so many links with other Courts by relationship that fewthings, even of tlie most private nature, of any importance could happen in Etirop e without her being apprised at once. Latterly, her daughters have relieved her of the tedious work of replying to semi-private letters, and, of course, the official letters were never penned by the. Queen herself. THE MORNING'S WORK BEFORE LUNCHEON. The course of each day's movements is usually settled before noon, and all the arrangements for the reception of guests, the despatch of congratulatory or consolatory telegrams, the future plans for visits to be paid and received, have been made with the utmost regard for the Queen's comfort. Perhaps the Cabinet Minister in attendance has an interview, brief and to the point, with the Queen before she goes out for her morning drive. A substantial luncheon is served between one and two o'clock, and this is the Queen's chief meal of the day now. She has always preferred plain meals, and has no liking for fancy dishes or entrees. As a rule at luncheon there are fowls boiled and roast, and very often mutton, for which the Queen has a particular liking. For some years Her Majesty used to take a light French wine, but we believe this has now been given up in favour of a very little Whisky and water. THE QUEEN'S FONDNESS^FOK 0U1?DOOR EXERCISE. After luncheon Her Majesty has a period of rest, and perfect quiet is kept in the neighbourhood iof her apartment; the little Battenbergs are relegated to the nursery and for about an hour all is silent. Then the carriage is ordered and the Queen is accompanied by (usually) Princess Beatrice and one of the Ladies-in-Attend-auee, for a drive of at least two hours. It says much for the hearty constitution of the Queen that, despite her advanced age, she can remain in the open air till f>.3o, or later, even in the chill atmosphere which is common to the Highlands at that period of the day. Some of her Ladies-in-Att en dance perfectly- dread the residence at Balmoral, because of their liability to catch bad c;olds. It is iin understood thing that no member of the Queen's suite presents himself .or herself to Her Majesty's presence when there is any trace of a cold or cough, for the very proper reason of preserving the Queen from contagion.

The way in which .the Queen spends her day varies according- to the place in which she is living. There is more formality about her life at Windsor, for instance, than at Osborne. She has had in recent years a great deal of pleasure in developing the latter estate, and by a friendly arrangement with the district authorities has' considerably added to the privacy of the large grounds surrounding her great white mansion, which was built under the careful supervision of the late Prince Consort. Her Majesty can now drive for about eight miles within her own grounds, and this is a boon which she greatly appreciates. "Jocko" draws his Royal mistress slowly down the avenues, which are planted with beautiful trees, and perhaps the daughter of Princess Christian—who is a particular favourite with the Queen — walks by the side of the pony carriage. When Her Majesty leaves Osborne House for a drive she goes, of course, in more stately fashion. Then the postilion gallops in front of her on fine horses, and the Royal carriage has passed you on the country road almost before you axe aware of its chief occupant.

AN UNEXPECTED VISIT FROM THE QUEEN. A lady once told an amusing incident in connection with an unexpected visit from the Queen. She, had"

never been presented at Court, and was not in that rank of life in which there is personal acquaintance with Royalty, so that she was all the more surprised one afternoon when from her bedroom window she espied the Queen's carriage stopping- at her gate. Rushing downstairs she was just in time to hear the nervous maid servant talking to the late John Brown. He came forward on seeing- the mistress of the house and asked her if she would come out and tell the Queen where a certain sick man was lying ill, whom the Queen wished to visit. Collecting herself, my friend went with tremulous anxiety down the little garden path and had the honour of quite a long chat with the Queen, who was accompanied'by Princess Beatrice. It was characteristic of Her Majesty that she apologised for troubling my friend for information, and seeing her nervousness she strove to allay it by chatting most graciously to her about her garden ami its contents, asking her to pick a few of the flowers for the Queen to take away with her. Finally, she desired Princess Beatrice to show my friend a kitten which was reclining in*her lap. "We are going to take the kitten to the poor man, as it may amuse him during his convalescence," said the Queen. Again thanking- my friend for her information as to the neighbourhood in which the invalid was living the Queen bowed and in a moment the Royal carriage had proceeded on its way. This .incident, needless to say, has only deepened my friend's already great loyalty to her Sovereign, and is a. pleasing instance of the unconventional way in which the Queen takes matters in her Highland home.

TASTING Till-: POTATOES

A former servant of the Queen on her Osborne estate gives an amusing account of a visit paid by Her Majesty to his humble homo, which, it may be added, was the first cottage built after the Queen's arrival at Osborne. "Yes, the Queen an' two of the Princesses —Princess Royal an' Princess Alice, if 1 minds right —have, eaten tit my table. They have. It was this way. My son used to have his dinner set for him alone, 'cause he worked later than me, an' one day the Queen an' the Princesses come into our cottage just as he was a-set down, an' he run away a bit frightened, you know, an' the Queen set down an' tasted the dinner an' give the Princesses some of the 'taties; an' they says to my missus: 'They's better than what we gets up at Osborne.' "

FORMAL VISITS TO HEP. SUBJECTS.

At Balmoral ifc w,as her habit for | many years to pay visits to many of the people on the Royal estate without very much notice being given of her expected arrival. She would, in the case of a more formal visit, send over a messenger about two hours previously to inform Lady Gleneslc, or Madame Albani-Gye, that she would be coming that afternoon to take tea with them. But it wa*i always understood that as little fuss should be made as possible of the occasion. The Queen has had experience quite enough of official dulnesa of etiquette to long to live a more natural life in the Highlands. At the houses of her neighbours at Balmoral she has always been a charming guest, showing the deepest, interest in all that concerned those of her subjects whom she honoured in this particular way. She made, more than one call on the late Mrs Qliphant... the novelist, When the latter was living at Windsor, and never disguised her great admiration for Mrs Oliphant's literary work . Her own literary achievements make the Queen very interested in the success pt others. She has never imagined that "Leaves from the Highlands" possessed much literary ability, and quite realises that its popularity was more due to its Iloyal a\ithorship than to anything else. Lord Beaconsfield only amused the Queen when he called her "the head of the literary profession."

AFTERNOON TEA

If Her Majesty is making one of her annual visits abroad, the afternoon drive is often, varied by a brief pause in some retired part of the district, where afternoon tea can be served by the Scotch* attendants. It is a pretty event, and one that gives the greatest delight to the younger members of: the party, when the kettle and all the appliances for the meal are produced, and tea is served in this al fresco manner. After the g return from her drive the Queen has Another period of rest, in which she can prepare for the State dinner-party, which commences about 8.30. Important guests —including, perhaps, the Prime Minister, a foreign Prince and Prin< cess, an Admiral, a General, one of the Ambassadors, and a Duke and Duchess—have meanwhile arrived and been escorted to their apartments, prior to the time fixed for dinner. The guests are all marshalled in the corridor, and at a given signal the Queen's arrival is announced, and she passes between the lines of personages, and enters the dining-room, resting her arm lightly on the arm of her Indian attendant.

THE QUEEN'S DINNER-PARTY.

Some have called the Queen's din-ner-party a very dull function, and certainly it is.quiet*. There Is only a, low murmur of .conversation, and a certain formality, forbids anything1 like the freedom of the ordinary social gathering-. The Queen partakes of little herself, but shells most hospitable with regard to her quests. Often there is some special dish, concerning which she mentions some incident, such as "This was sent to-day from my graudson, the German Emperor, and is much liked in Germany," or "This is from Osborne.". At Christmas time many of the Queen's relatives send her special delicacies, of which they know she is fond, and these grace the table during1 the Christmas festivities at Court. Everything, needless to say, at the Queen's dinner-parties is of the very best, and is served in fine style.

RATHER A QUIET FUNCTION.

It is noteworthy that thoug-h the wines are of a remarkable quality, the general trend of people's habits has led to quite a large number of the Queen's guests drinking only mineral waters. In one case, where a highlyplaced lady rallied a gentleman on not drinking the Queen's health in wine, her Majesty said instantly: "There is no compulsion at my table." Only a very few of the guests have anything like conversation with the Queen during the meal, and thei*, of course, only in response to a direct question from her Majesty, as it is not etiquette to >egin a conversation with Royalty. One or two men whose wit is famous sometimes amuse the Queen with stories, and as her sense of humour is very keen they always meet with great appreciation.. As a rule Kqw-

ever, the dinner-party is more interesting from the fact that it is presidecf over by Queen Victoria than from anything else. A well-known Bishop "confessed that "he never crumbled his beard except when dining with the Queen," and many others could confess to similar feelings of nervousness.

A LITTLE MUSIC IN THE EVENING

After the Queen and ladies have retired, coffee is served, and occasionally her Majesty returns for a few minutes' conversation with each of her guests. In cases where a theatrical performance or a concert follows the dinner it is customary for the Queen to enter the hall about ten o'clock. If a favoured singer like Madame Albani or Mr Ben Davies is commanded to appear before the Queen, the music is usually held in the drawingroom, and her Majesty is always a most appreciative listener. I recollect hearing- that when Mr William Nieholl sang before the Queen she was so delighted with his rendering of a Scotch ballad that he had to repeat it twice. Her Majesty is very fond of good pianoforte-playing, and was in her younger years an expert performer, as Mendelssohn has testilied. It is said that once when Jenny Lind was singing before her, the accompaniment was so obviously badly played that the Queen herself rose and said: "I will accompany Miss Lind's other songs."

Shortly after eleven the Queen retires to rest, after a well-occupied day, such as few women of her age have lived.