The Duke's Marriage.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 44, 22 February 1927, Page 5

The Duke's Marriage.

Romance Which Began in Childhood. PRINCESS MARY'S BRIDESMAID. But for the European War, which not only diminished the number of possible brides of Royal blood on the Continent, but set British public opinion against such alliances, it is probable that the Duke of York would have been expected, if not required, to seek a mate from among foreign Royal families. The war increased his matrimonial freedom and made the public ready, not merely to accept, but to prefer a British bride. Having given up the Prince of Wales as hopeless, those who take an interest in these matters noted with interest that when the Duke of York with his parents paid a visit to Glamis in 1921, the part of hostess in the absence of the Countess of Strathmore through illness was played by her daughter, Lady Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon, the youngest daughter of the house. They noted too that she was one of Princess Mary's bridesmaids, and that at the wedding breakfast at Buckingham Palace she sat next the Duke. Consequently, when the official announcement of their engagement was made, the wiseacres were ready to declare that they had anticipated it. According to the impression at the time, there was a certain amount of parental opposition on both sides, but only of that mild and salutary character which is designed to make sure that the young people really know their own minds. Lady Elizabeth, it was said, too, shrank at first from abandoning the quiet country life in which she had been brought tip for the glare of- publicity and ceremony inseparable from a Royal alliance, but a certain amount of persistent pressure was necessary on the part of the Duke to overcome her reluctance. However, these things may be, the undoubted.fact.is .that.the.couple, came to a definite understanding one Sunday afternoon at St. Paul's, Waldenbury, the pleasant home o£ the Strathmores, near Welwyn, about 25 miles north of London. The announcement was received by the public Avitb enthusiastic approval. Memories and records were ransacked for precedents of marriages betAveen members of the Royal Family and of the nobility. Apart from

the fact the bride's own family provided one in the old days, it was recalled that the Duke's grand-aunt, Princess Louise, married the Marquis of Lome (afterwards the Duke of Argyll), that his aunt, another Louise, followed the example of crossing the border for a bridegroom (the Duke of Fife), that Princess Patricia of Connaught had married another Scot, and that still more recently, the Duke's sister, Princess Mary, had chosen Viscount Lascelles. So the precedents, in a sphere where precedents are much regarded, were sufficient if not abundant. Embarrassing Admiration. If Lady Elizabeth could have had her own way, the wedding would have been in the beautiful chapel at Glamis Castle, but she was to learn at once that her new position entailed the surrender of a right which in the case of humbler brides, is undisputed. The public, which previously had known her only by name and not at all by sight, was delighted to find that thoagh the Duke, as is so often the way with tallish men, had chosen a small wife, she was an exceedingly pretty one, and during the weeks before their marriage, they were subjected everywhere to an embarrassing amount of interest and admiration. She delighted the public by suppressing a scheme for making her a wedding present from her native county of Forfarshire. The people, she pointed out, had been suffering much from industrial depression, and, although she was grateful for the kindly intention, she would no,t hear of their being subjected to even a voluntary tax on her behalf. Her attitude on that point was commended as wnrmly as was the .refusal of the Duke of York to attend the annual Cutler's Feast at Sheffield on the ground that when so many thousands of citizens were unemployed, it was no time to spend money on junketting. The Abbey Wedding. Following the precedent of Princess Patricia of Connaught and more recently of Princess Mary, it was decided that Westminster Abbey, where for five and a-half centuries no Royal person had been married, should be the scene of the marriage ceremony rather than St. James Palace chapel favoured for such events in the days of Queen Victoria. The old Queen never quite reconciled herself to the interest which the public took in the family affairs of the Royal House, but the present King and Queen have frankly recognised that though popularity has its penalties, these are worth paying. So the Duke and his bride, had to face on the 23rd of April, 1923, the long journey through the London streets to the Abbey and back to the Palace with dense crowds of enthusiastic and excited spectators. The more thoughtful among them could not resist a smile at the historical irony which had brought as a bride to the House of Windsor a charming, vigorous, high-spirited girl, whose ancestors, on one side, had fought at Flodden «ud at Sherriffmuir, and had entertained in State the Old Pretender on what was believed to be u

triumphal march to regain a throne, and on the other side, through the Dukes of Portland, had come to England as followers of the leader of a revolution. No Happier Marriage Made. But all is well that ends well, and no man of his time can claim to have made a happier marriage than the Duke. He aud his wife have known each other from the time when "they were all kiddies together" as the Duke once explained, and though

they taw little of each other for some years, while he was in the Navy and she in the school-room, their love-making ran a rapid and on the whole a smooth course. The public delight was increased when after a disquieting delay it became known, soon utter their return from East Africa, that the Duke and Duchess would have to set up a nursery, though there was perhaps a tinge of disappointment when the occupant proved to be a girl.

The event of the day, of course, was an important luncheon mul presentation to n disting "?hed j«er&onin Fiirfar. With the practical advice of her mother, the Duchess made all the arrant-men!?, and long before clexen oVloek t-hc h:id Ik-cij in conferenr* with the housekeeper and assistants. Satii-fied that everything was in sjife hands, the Duchess betook lierself to the ro>e garden and there bU|<er\iM-d the choice of blooms for the decoration —a tji!rk t-he revelled in.