A MAID IN MAYFAIR.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 147, 23 June 1934, Page 3 (Supplement)

A MAID IN MAYFAIR.

GOSSIP FROM LONDON

THE KING'S STAMP.

(From Our London Lady Correspondent.)

if Kin" George, lam told, is keenly inH in the fuct that ono of the | „ rea test treasures of-his famous postage B etamp collection will shortly be sold in || 0 f the London auction rooms. It is a 1 stamp of \ery great value, and His H Majesty gave it away some years ago 1 ■ 'order that it might bo sold and the I m-occcds devoted to a charity in which he 1 was interested. In due course it passed 1 into tho hands of Mr. Arthur Hind, who I l'cd last year, and whose collection has 1 „Lv come into the market. Tho American I ortion of it has already been disposed 1 of for something like half a million ster--1 l'n2 and another section valued at a 1 iuarter-million sterling is to be sold in 1 London. It includes the King's stamp, I liicli is mounted on a postcard with an 1 autograph inscription beneath setting out 1 the circumstances from whicli it passed | from tho King's collection.

PRINCE'S PLAN. Tho Prince of Wales docs not conteincoin" very far afield when ho takes his summer holiday this year. With Prince George booked for a journey to Australia in the autumn, the Prince will Cavr. a "ood many public engagements +o fulfil 0 and ho feels that ho should not travel any great distance from London Ho has already let it bo known officially that lie does not contemplate a visit this year to his Canadian ranch. The probability is that he will take a few weeks' rest at Biarritz at the end f the London season. He has a great affection for the place where he is able to nlav "olf and movo about freely, without be in" mobbed by any ill-mannered °"" wd On the outward or return journey he will probably make a stay at Le Touquet. Paris lias never made any great appeal to him.

GATE-CRASHING AT ASCOT. TI IC heavy post that has been delivered at the Lord Chamberlain's department is an indication of the keen desire for JsA-ta for the Royal enclosure during Ascot week. I am told that about 7000 tickets for the enclosure are issued by the "Ascot steward. There are bound to be many thousands of disappointments, for the Ascot office in Engine • Court, a peaceful area off Ambassadors Court, St. James' Palace, has received far more applicants than can possibly be granted. Lord Granard's task will not bo an easy one Ho will—like liis predecessor, the late Viscount Churchill have to develop a deaf ear to the representations which will be offered him on behalf of different applicants. Those acquainted with tlio inner working of the procedure tell mo that, despite every precaution, there has not been a single year that some unauthorised person has not evaded the watch on the turnstiles. THE OLD HOME. It will not bo possible for any brass plaque to point out to our grandchildren the house in which littlo Princess Elizabeth was born, for the house itself is now in process of demolition. It occupies part of a site which has been acquired for the erection of a new mammoth hotel which will occupy part of Bruton t Street. Lusty workmen will soon be busy with shovels and pickaxes in the room which was Princess Elizabeth's bedroom. The whole aspect oi the West End of London is undergoing huge changes. The palatial residences or a veneration ag.o are too expensive to keep up, and have come to be regarded as white elephants. Almost invariably their place is taken cither by huge hotels or great blocks of residential fiats. IN LEADING STRINGS. As an equestrienne, Princess Elizabeth, lam told, has now one overweening ambition. When the weather is favourable she rides every day in Windsor Great Park. But she is always accompanied by a groom, and, as a matter oi precaution, her pony is always on a lead. Princess Elizabeth thinks this should not be. And anyone who has seen her delightful little pony will probably agree. It is probably th<j bestmannered little mount any gracious little lady ever bestrode. Eor Princess Elizabeth rides astride—possibly because it is thought that for children this is safer than side-saddle. But what a charming little maiden she would look m a long blue riding habit and a bowler hat.

PRINCESS JULIANA. I lave sound ground for stating that rumours of the impending engagement o Princess Juliana have no foundation in fact It is astonishing what reports are circulated about her in the foreign Press. Some time ago I read an amusing article in a Viennese newspaper about her bavin" fallen in love with a Jewish precentor in an Amsterdam Synagogue. Hie paper even gave details about the secret meetings between the two lovers, lhen it was an Englishman who was reported to have stolen her heart. A couple ot Tears a<*o Prince Bertel of Sweden was to be her consort. _ Onocouldiillagooilsized scrapbook, indeed, with cutting from the Continental Press a b °ut the matrimonial intentions of the }oun b Princess. FILMING SOCIETY. I hear that numbers of popular society folk have already planned parties for the ball which is to bel,ckl . Claridge's on May 23, with the object of augmenting funds for the Runnymede pageant. I fancy the idea of bein 0 "filmed" is the great draw, for at some time during the evening the ballroom will look like a Hollywood studio, complete with projectors and electric cables. Then the guests will be "shot," as well as the players in the "Nightniaio Pageant Cabaret" wearing costumes proper to various historical episodes. In. the cabaret all the figures of history who will be represented at the pageant in June will appear, but all will do the wron" things. A novelty will be seven Henry VIII.'s with only one wife. The Hon. Lady Chichester is on the ball committee, and among her colleagues ore AJarv Countess of Glencarty, the Hon. Lady Harvey, Lady Hewitt, and Air-C'omniodore Blandy.

LADY OF THE DAIRY. I was interested to learn to-day that Ladv Brownlow, the pretty wife of Lord Brownlow, of Belton House, Grantham, and daughter of Brigadier-General Sir David Kinloch, is yet another recruit to the ranks of society women who have started in business. She has excellent opportunities for making good in her Kpccial "line," which is to supply to a large circle of friends delicious country cream, butter, eggs, garden produce and poultry from her husband's beautiful Lincolnshire estate. She spends most of her time there, and personally supervises the business, so it is not surprising to hear that it is prospering exceedingly.