MARLBOROUGH HOUSE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 190, 12 August 1936, Page 14

MARLBOROUGH HOUSE.

QUEEN MARY'S NEW HOME. TELEPHONES IN EVERY ROOM." •' (Special.—By Air" Mall.) LONDON,'JuIy 18. >' Every morning at 10.30 ac.large green limousine drives through tlic gates of Marlborough House in Pall Mall. Policemen salute and passers-by; -\yho catch a glimpse' of'tho''grey-haired, erect woman sitting inside, doff their hats. It is Queen Mary, going 'to inspect the preparation of her new home. She is taking the closest personal interest in every detail of the 'work of getting the two hundred rooms, of the great red brick read# jtfor ' occupation in riMdlei" M^September.' 1 _ w . Every day at Buckingham Palace, Queen Mary interviews designers and experts and officials from the Office of Works, who have charge of the alterar tions, as Marlborough . House is the property, of the Crown. . She has made a score of visits to West End stores to select new curtains and carpets, hangings and decorations, and has made innumerable telephone calls herself to tradesmen, because she believes in choosing everything herself and not leaving it to others.,, A few days ago, for instance, she rang up a famous ftooring company, and said that some of the parquet floors at Marlborough House wanted renewing, while three other rooms wanted only scraping and polishing. A day or two later, she rang up another firm, remarking that certain hangings were not of the exact shade she required, and asking that they should he changcd. Certain parts ot Marlborough House are being furnished in the modern manner. Other parts are being left almost exactly as they were when the first, Djichess of Marlborough moved into her new house in 1709. In the State rooms, the Queen has had the scarlet and green daniask wall coverings renewed, and for her own private sitting room on the first floor she has decided on walls hung in silk of an exquisite pale green. Four magnificent chandeliers of pure crystal in the great entraiice saloon —and three more in the red drawing room —the principal State roonl —have been taken down and every piece of crystal separately cleaned. One of the most modern notes introduced by Queen Mary is the provision of telephones in every room in the house. The Queen is retaining one of her greatest treasures, a miniature of her eldest son, Ring Edward, done when he was six. Queen Mary has always taken the little painting with her wherever she has gone.