OLD PAGEANTRY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 280, 25 November 1937, Page 22

OLD PAGEANTRY.

OPENING PARLIAMENT.

KING'S FIRST CEREMONY. FORMAL SEARCH OF CELLARS. (By NELLE M. SCANLAN.) LONDON, October 27. The King opened his finst Parliament yesterday. Not for three years has London seen the old magnificent pageantry which for so long has accompanied the ceremony. This return to tradition delighted the people, who lined the route and cheered with the same old heartiness. For three months the King and Queen have been in Scotland and the north, and the sound of cheering, which resounded so often during the Coronation eeaeon, has not been heard. So once again the crowd were in "Royal" form.

The first great storm of autumn had blown itself out the night before, and despite the prophecy of rain it was in bright sunshine that the King and Queen set out in their golden coach, escorted by a glittering bodyguard mounted on their superb black horses.

The nret event of the day was the formal search of the cellars beneath the House of Parliament by the Yeomen of the Guard. This has been carried out ever since fSuy Fawkea was surprised among his barrels of gunpowder in 1000. The cellars are electrically lit now, but the Yeomen carried their Janterns just the same. They found nothing. They did not expect to find anything. In modern times they do things differently when a faction wants to get rid of a leader or monarch. But you can't kill tradition in England.

Soon after breakfast distinguished gvteete began to arrive outside the Hcyise of Parliament. Men in top hats and women in their smart autumn clothes queued up outside the door leading to the House of Lords. Here they waited till the doors were opened at 10.30. Meanwhile, peers and peeresses were entering through another door. The peeresses were in full evening dress, with ermine or velvet or mink wraps and capes, wearing diamond tiaras, which always look odd on a grey autumn morning. For som© time they paraded around the corridors, meeting friends, exchanging greetings. The peers, young and old, and some very young, and eouie very, very old, trailed about in their scarlet robes, the long train looped by a ribbon over their arms. Many had daughters or friends in the Royal gallery through which the procession to the House of ■ Lords passed.

Inside this gallery, it was first come, first served, and those who had waited longest got the front row—not to sit, but to stand, for there are no seats. Two Gold Thrones. Inside the House of Lords two gold thrones were erected on a dais, with rows and rows of peers in front, and the peeresses sitting in a narrow gallery that runs around two eides of the chamber. In their silks and satins, velvet and furs, glittering with jewels, they make a decorate frieze. Ambassadors were there in their magnificent uniforms, and their wives in evening drese. The Princess Royal and the Royal Ducheeees of Gloucester and Kent were also present, in magnificent gowns.

There were eeveral little processions before the King and Queen arrived. First the Yeomen of the Guard trooped in and lined the Royal gallery. I see that many of them have availed themselves of the privilege accorded them by King Edward last year. They have shaved oft , their beards. Before that, the beard was as much a part of their uniform as the Beefeater hat, Tudor tunic and huge rosettes on their shoes.

Judges began to appear in their fullbottomed wigs and crimson robe-s with turned-back cape of ermine. Some few wore their robes mercifully long, but most of them appeared to havß shrunk in the washing (not that 1 suppose they are ever washed, but that was the impression they gave), revealing the thinnest shanks in the world. Judicial authority and a muscular calf don't ceem to go together; all their development muet be in their brains. But it's a great pity, as the short frocked judge has a comic appearance, which, detracts from hie dignity. Gentlemen-at-Arma. Then came the K : ng*e Gentlemen-at-Arms; his personal bodyguard. Tall, elderly, mostly grim-faced veterans, their chests blazing with medals, they marched into the House of Lords. Some bore mark* of long and arduous service, and limped as they walked. Their uniform consists of long, tight black trousers, scarlet tailcoat cut straight across in front at the waist (and some few appeared to be straining a little over their middle), a clanking sword, and a fountain of white plumes, at least 18in long, which fell from the summit of their gleaming brass helmets.

The young Duke of Norfolk, in hie uniform of Earl Marshal, passed through the gallery. Once again he was in charge of the arrangements, but the experience of the Coronation has given him confidence and poise. He seemed untroubled by the prospect of this lesser ceremony.

As Big Ben boomed the first stroke of noon, a fanfare of trumpets announced the opening of the door to the robing room, for the King does not drive from the palace in his crown, as for a coronation. A short time before, the crown and sceptre, the eword of State, and the cap of maintenance were brought from the Town of London, and carried in procession to the robing room. As soon as the King and Queen appear, the heralds in their gorgeous tunics of crimson and blue brocade, fall into line ahead of them. I have never had such a close look at these tunics before, but the magnificent embroideries, the gold lions, the Irish harp, and the other emblems of Empire are superb workmanship. The Imperial Crown. The King, wearing hie Imperial crown, and crimson robes bordered with ermine, and the Queen in a lovely gown of gold lame embossed with a rose design, and with a panel of diamante down the front, walked slowly hand in hand. Their trains were borne by pages holding the side of them, and the Lord and Lady in waiting holding up the extreme end. The Duchess of Northumberland. Mistress of the Robes, who held the Queen's train, wore a sheath-like gown of gold sequins, and the famous Marie Antoinette ropes of pearls, with emerald and diamond ornaments. The Queen did not wear her crown, but a splendid diamond tiara set in platinum.

The Duke of Norfolk, Earl Marshal, and the Earl of Ancaster, Lord Great Chamberlain, walked backwards all the way in front of the King and Queen.

The King looked rather serious, but in the best of health, and though hie eyes turned from side to side he did not incline his head in acknowledgement of the- bows and curtseys as he paseed. I think the Imperial crown must be a very awkward headdress to balance; at least it gives that impression. But the Queen •bowed slightly from side to side, and smiled «*> she passed.

When the fanfare sounded, it was a signal for all the lights in the House of Lords to be dimmed, and as Their Majesties appeared in the doorway, the lights were slowly turned up till the whole chamber was ablaze, picking out the glittering diamonds on every side.

Lord HailshanV, the Lord Chancellor, with liis cherubic face, stepped' forward, tripping slightly on hi* robes, and on bended knee handed the manuscript of his speech to the King.

"My Lords, pray be seated," said the King, in a voice that was audible throughout the chamber. And with the Marquis of Zetland on hie right, with the cap of maintenance, and Lord Halifax on his left, with the sword of State, the King read his speech. Foreign Ambassadors. Special seate had been reserved for the Ambassadors and Count (Jrandi of Italy eat next to M. Maisky, the Soviet Ambassador. Their greeting eeemed a little tepid, but they did make an occasional remark during the proceedings The Brazilian Ambassador wae 1 one 'of the most gorgeous with his •herry-coloured eash and heavy gold chains. Hcrr von Ribben rop, the German Ambassador, who has been on a sudden visit to Berlin and Rome concerning the evacuation of foreign troops from Spain and all that troublesome business they are trying to adjust, left Cologne at six in the morning, arrived in London in time to change into evening dress and attend the opening of Parliament and then, after a quick lunch, get back into a working suit for the Nonintervention Committee meeting in the afternoon. There is no go-elow among Ambassadors these daye. Italy has been very indignant with the English bishops recently and hae called them, among other namee, a lot of "old women." However, Count Orandi was very cordial to the Archbishop of Canterbury and other bishops when he met them in the House of Lorde.

The two little Princessee came to the ceremony, arriving ahead of their parents. They wore coats of pale pink with velvet collars a few tones deeper, and were hatlees. They, too, had seats in the Royal gallery.

When it wae all over, and it takes about twenty minutes altogether, the King and Queen once more came out hand in hand. The King looked relieved, as the prospect of making a public speech v> always an ordeal for him. Relaxation. When they had gone the whole scene changed. The stiff ceremonial attitude of Yeomen and bodyguard relaxed and people began to chatter.

A good-looking young officer in scarlet and gold came over to speak to a man next to me.

"What are you doing?" he asked the young soldier.

"Oh, I'm a sort of general bottlewasher," he said with a cheerful grin. "I'm minding that door. All the old boys in there want to come out and talk to their girl friends, and I've got to etop them. You know old Lord Blank, a fiery old bird, well, he tried to get past juet now, and gosh! it was fun turning .him round and heading him down the etairs."

And that about euro* up the opening of Parliament in 1937. Not official language, of course; colloquial, but expressive.