A MAID IN MAYFAIR

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 122, 25 May 1935, Page 3 (Supplement)

A MAID IN MAYFAIR

GOSSIP FROM LONDON.

SIGNING THE BOOK.

•(From Our London Lady Correspondent.)

Before they left Buckingham Palace for Windsor Castle, where the Court is to bo in residence for about a month, the King a"d Queen had the "Callers' Book ,, at the l'alace brought to them, so that -they might inspect the signatures entered in it since the two Iloyal Courts. It is an unwritten rule that every debutante and every lady making a presentation goes down to tho Palace and signs the book as soon as possible after attending a Court, and Their Majesties are always very interested in seeing these signatures. The book is a handBome volume with a padded red leather cover, heavily embossed in gold, and it is kept at one of the small lodges in the forecourt, so that those who go to sign it do not need to come into contact with people going to and from the Palace on duty or on business. The Callers' Book was most in demand during the King's illness a few years ago, when everybody anxious to express sympathy with the Q;ieen did it in this way. M.P.'S DAUGHTER Hiss Nancy Samuel, whose engagement to Dr. Arthur Salaman has brought her a shoal of congratulatory messages, has inherited something of her father's clever brain and a good deal of his public-spirited outlook. Sir Herbert's only daughter, she went on from Bchool to "Somcrville, where she had an excellent scholastic record and shortly after going down from Oxfqrd she represented her university in the British debating team which toured the women's colleges of America. She was away for Bomo" months and had many interesting experiences; but, apart from all that, eiie, made a reputation for herself as a clever debater on the general and political subjects which her team had prepared for discussion with their contemporaries in the United States. Therß is nothing of the "blue stocking" about Miss Samuel's appearance. She is a pretty dark girl with a charming smile and attractive clothes. POLITICAL HOSTESS. While Mr. Anthony Eden was busy in Kussia and Poland, his wife was preparing to carry out official duties in this country, the first of which was the naming, at the beginning of this week of two air liners with which a Yorkslnie air service was inaugurated. So far Mrs. Eden has not travelled about with her husband to anything like the extent that Lady Simon has accompanied Sir John, but she is tremendously interested in his work, and does a good deal of useful entertaining for him in London. Mrs. Eden knows much of political life, for she ie a daughter of Sir Gervaso Beckett, who represented constituencies in Yorkshire in the House of Commons for a number of years. Slender and dark, with pretty hair and attractive features, Mrs. Eden devotes a good deal of her time to two charming little boys, her sons Simon and Nicholas.

VISIT TO SWEDEN. Princess Helene Victoria, unlike her eister, Princess Marie Louise, does not often travel abroad, but she has just been enjoying a private visit to Sweden, ■where she is a great favourite with members of the royal family. She was ablo to offer her personal congratulations to Princess Ingrid, who has always been very fond of her, and, when she returned to this country last week, was able to bring news of the betrothal functions and the latest tidings of the health of the Queen of Denmark, who was taken ill at Stockholm almost immediately upon her arrival there with her son, the Crown Prince, for the formal announcement of the engagement, to our own King and Queen. The Princess expects to have a few days in the country before ehe takes up residence again at 78, Pall Mall, the house which she shares with Princess Marie Louise.

ESSENCE OF PARLIAMENT. A provincial lady in London gave me her impressions yesterday of a first visit to the Houses of Parliament during a sitting. She appeared to be very struck —and disappointed —with the note of informality in the proceedings of the Lower House at question time. It came as a distinct anti-climax after witnessing the stately backward exit of the chaplain after prayers. That the Prime Minister and the Secretary for the Dominions should have Ministerial feet up on the table- which carries the Mace struck her as sheer desecration, and when two members, after bowing to the Speaker, took their seats with shiny top hats on their heade she fled in despair to the Upper House. Here, she reported, absolute boredom reigned supreme as a noble lord droned relentlessly on to an apathetic and apparently slumbering audience of some twenty peers of the realm.

WELCOME HOME. Mies Sybil Thorndike was going about theatreland last week receiving a great welcome from the hosts of friends _in tho profession who are glad to have her back in London after her seven months' stay in the United States. Many well-known English actresses might bo described as popular, but tho popularity which belongs to Miss Thorndiko is of a peculiar kind. She is universally loved on the stage, not only for the courage which she has brought to bear on her work for the theatre, but because of her broad-minded outlook, her real unselfishness, and her exceptionally .friendly attitude to everyone, with whom she comes into contact. No English actress is so free, perhaps, from self-consciousness. Fe\v are so ready to make sacrifices for their convictions, and fewer still will give unBtinted praise to their colleagues in the warm-hearted way in which Miss Thorndike offers congratulations upon successful work.

FASHION LEADER. Thelma Lady Furness, whom London society looked upon sis one of the smartest American women in its midst while she lived in Mayfair, is using her flair for clothes in an interesting way in New Vork, to which she has now returned. Kho and her sister. Mrs. Gloria Vanderbilt, opened a dress salon there a few months ;i<;o, and have found themselves the nij>o. Mrs. Vanderbilt designs original models, blending rich and unusual colours in gowns and evening cloaks, and I.ady Furness supervises the style of the mannequins, realising from her own experience that the way in which a frock is worn, and the carriage of the wearer, makes all the difference in the success or otherwise of an exclusive model. The sisters, who are twins, are so much alike that they were frequently mistaken for each other when they were in London together, but they have never adopted the ruse of dressing alike.