A Maid Looks At Mayfair

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 142, 18 June 1938, Page 5 (Supplement)

A Maid Looks At Mayfair

i Special Correspondent

LONDON. THE Princess Royal who, like her brother King George, attended the Newmarket meeting, is a stickler for the riding habit as opposed ' to riding breeches. She dresses and sits a saddle in a manner that even Sir Walter Gilbey would commend. In social circles there is some speculation as to whether Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret Rose will be allowed to continue to ride astride when they leave their girlhood behind them. If they are they will be followed by many riders in the Row. The Princess Koyal was out riding with the King on Newmarket Heath quite early in the morning. She and Lord Harewood are, of course, the recognised racing experts in the Royal set, and "the Princess Royal iii particular) is jpften consulted by her brothers before they put. a modest stake on their fancy. Lord IJarewood. 1 notice, is putting on weight considerably It impr<tves hint rather than otherwise, -for when he was younger he wa« apt to look somewhat thin and cadaverous despite the habitual tan which comes of his open air^life. When Rulers Dine When the King and Queen go to Paris at the end of June they will for one night be host and hostess to the French President, and Prime Minister at the British Embassy. To mark the occasion one of the State dinner services will be taken over to Paris. The service to be taken will be the latest addition to the State plate—the Garter service and not the famous Windsor gold plate. The latter is usually kept at Buckingham Palace and tlfe Garter service at Windsor. It was jjlie Garter service that was

used at the banquet to the French Prime Minister, M. Daladier, and M. Bonnet at Windsor Cattle. The Garter service is comparatively modern compared with the Windsor plate, and also with the French State plate, which will he used at the State banquet to the King and Queen, given by the President at the Elysee on the evening of their arrival. The French Sevres service is one of the finest in the world, and compares with any in English possession, except from the point of view of antiquity. It comprises over 1000 pieces, and when packed for transport weighs nearly 10 tons. Lady Simon*s Campaign Sir John Simon was able to prepare his first Budget relieved at least of one anxiety. For a long time last year he was deeply concerned about hi* wife's health, which gave him and her many friends occasion for great anxiety.

Happily she is now completely recovered, and evince*; all her old interest not only in her husband's political activities but in his pastimes as well. When he goes out to practise putting on the lawn of his country cottage at Walton Heath she is his frequent companion, and only regrets that she cannot share Ins skating enthusiasm—a sport Sir John Simon enjoys in common with Sir Samuel Hoare, who succeeded him as Foreign Secretary. It was a matter of consider able regret to Lady Simon when Sir John gave up the Foreign Office, for the position he then held in the Cabinet helped her considerably in the cause she has most at heart—the stamping out of slavery in those corners of the world where the horrible traffic still obtains. She has written and worked unceasingly for this object, and it is her greatest joy that, though her work is not complete, it has not been in vain. Going, Going, Gone! Christie's saleroom is such a social institution in London that the retirement of Mr. Lance Hannen from the rostrum after a service of nearly half a century is a noteworthy event which many will lament. It would be interesting to know the value in millions of the property that has changed hands at the tap of his hammer. On one occasion nearly £400,000 worth of masterpieces were sold in a single afternoon. Even Lance Hannen grew a little excited when the famous masterpiece by Romney, now in the Mellon Collection, leaped up in a few moments from 5000 to 58,000 guineas. In the old days, when England was filled with refugees escaping from the French Revolution, the auction rooms would sometimes be crowded with the treasures of some historic old chateau on the other side of the Channel. Lance Hannen, like his predecessors, was no less distinguished as a scholar and a gentleman than as an auctioneer. He tap|K?d his hammer for the first time on his 25th birthday, when lie was not long down from Oxford after rovrlii" i °

Xo. 2in the same boat as Lord Maugham, the present Lord Chancellor. He had many friends amongst his clients, and one who entered the room and gave him a friendly nod unexpectedly found a tray full of jewels knocked down to him. The matter was [nit right at the next sale, when the trinkets were put up once more, ?.nd the unwitting purchaser made a nice little profit out of the transaction. Down Under A friend who is paying his first visit to Australia writes lyrics which would make a sun-baked Australian blush a rosy-pink. But extracted views may be of general interest. In the country disti icts he found himself in a scene that was strange—trees and animals and biids that he didn t know, houses made of wood verandahed all round, and corrugated iron instead of slate or tile for roofs. Nothing of this suggested England; yet the whole thing was essentially English. For long lie puzzled over the anomaly and then suddenly tumbled to the explanation—the children and the flower gardens. Xever, to his mind, could there be more English things than these were anywhere. The names in country places were English and often incongruous. You travelled through Mitcham and Clapham (yes, that order) to Eden. You came across a beautiful rustic scene of peace and innocence, and some wag had named the place Piccadilly. First of all you had to smile or even laugh, and then something far from a laugh or even a smile gripped you as you Realised what these incongruities meant to the originators far from their homes at the other side of the world and with little pros|>ect of ever seeing them again. To walk along Collins Street in Melbourne or Pitt Street in Sydney is to feel more among your kith and kin than to walk up or down Regent Street. London. Every man, woman and child English, and no mistaking it.