MAID IN MAYFAIR

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 150, 26 June 1937, Page 27 (Supplement)

MAID IN MAYFAIR

Their Majesties to Visit Scotland.

GOSSIP FROM LONDON TOWN.

(From Our London

PREPARATION'S are well in hand for the visit of the King and Queen to

Edinburgh in July, when they will have a few crowded days. Xow that the military authorities have completed their duties in connection with the Coronation celebrations, which meant the movement of large contingents of troops to and from various parts of the British hks, it falls to the War Office to make the necessary arrangements for providing Regular and Territorial troops for the Scottish visit. The Sccittish Command i* mainly concerned, but it is the War Oltice i n Whitehall that has to make the final decision* and submit the •H'licral arrangement* to the King. From [lie military point of view, the most important function during Their Majesties' stay at Holyroodhoune, will be the march pa*t of the troops that will have lieen utilised for lining the processional routes. Scottish Territorial regiment.* will, of course, figure largely in this march past, which will nw the King at the saluting base.

Rjyal Bargain. As it is the intention of the King mid Queen to take Princess Elizabeth about with them a good deal to suitable inihlic engagements, they have had to iniike a bargain with her about lessons. In the ordinary way she keeps strictly tn a time-table with her governess, and w.nk that is not done well during "school hours'' has to be gone over again a /lorwards, so anxious are her parents tiuit her educational preparation for life shall be thorough. Two days out of London, such as she had recently* for the Naval Review, mean missing quite

a number of hours of "reading, writing and arithmetic," but the little Elizabeth willingly gave a promise to make up the time after the different public appearances were over. Outings such as her trip to Portsmouth are, of course, an education in themselves, and nobody recognises this more fully than the King and Queen. Colour Echoes. Those innumerable good citizens who even yet have not had their fill of Coronation splendour and regal colour are crowding to the Royal School of-Needle-work. Here are exhibited not only the

.ady Correspondent.)

magnificent attire which filled the Abbey with gorgeous memory at the sacring of King Ueorge VI., but souvenirs from similar historic events in the past. There is something at least worn by every living member of the Royal Family, and a go*d deal associated with past Royal figures, such as Queen Victoria's Prayer Book, the ornate table in gilt and crimson on which she signed her Coronation oath, the suit worn by the Karl of Airlie as page at Queen Mary's Coronation, the Earl of Lindsay's magnificent saddle cloth, and so forth. The exhibition was on view for several weeks, and was visited by a great many people, from all over the country as well as abroad.

Lady-in-waiting. Overseas guests are charmed with the' Duchess of Northumberland, who, ae Mistress of the Robes to the Queen, and therefore her chief lady-in-waiting, is obliged to be very much to the fore just now at the many official functions at Buckingham Palace. She is going about, too, with Her Majesty to the engagements which belong to the Coronation programme, and her charm of manner and ready smile have made her many new friends. The duchess is one of the most human and approachable women in social life. She really enjoys things, and never hesitates to let her pleasure be known. She can see things from the other woman's point of view, no matter what the latter's station in life; and she is a beautiful and graceful figure, always "just right" in regard to clothes, and always attractive. Countess Haig's Breakdown. Her friends were rather concerned when they learnt that Countess Haig had had to go into a nursing home. It is reassuring to learn, therefore, that her illness is not deemed to be at all serious. Countess Haig is really suffering from overwork. She has never spared herself in the interests of the Karl Haig Poppy Fund, and during her four months' tour abroad she made countless speeches on behalf of the cause which she has taken to her heart. Even when she was on board ship she was still hard at work arranging material for a second book on her husband, which will be published ore long. One result of her illness has been that most of the entertaining for her youngest daughter, who will be presented at Holyroodhouse'in July, has been done by her sisters, Lady Alexandra Haig and Lady Victoria Scott. It is possible that Lady Victoria Scott may present her sister if Lady Haig is not sufficiently well to travel north. Gay Party.

Lord Beading's old house in Curzon Street, with its wonderful ceilings, walls and mirrors, was the scene of an animated gathering of women—and men— interested in dress v and in a charity concerned with the welfare of London's down-and-outs. There was a great rally of Russian Royal exiles, for Madame Xenia, who arranged the party, is half Russian herself, her mother having been lady-in-waiting to the late Czarina. Princess Andrew of Russia, was there; so were Princess Xenia, Princess Galitzine, Prince Waldimir Galitzine, the Baroness Buxhoeveden and the Count Perovsky. Among the well-knowns in English social circles were Lady Edward Spencer Churchill, Lady Dalrymple-Champneys, Lady Monsell, the Countess of Bcotive and L.idy Iris Mountbatten, who came out this year and was one of the Queen's trainbearers at the Coronation. There was something of the gay abandon of old Russian days when the violinist and the accordion player wandered among the guests, playing this and that on request. When a Russian nobleman took the violin himself and broke into an oldtime Russian tune the spirit of the music seized some of the company and they burst into the gay, rapid dances of long ago.