A Maid In Mayfair

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 226, 24 September 1938, Page 4 (Supplement)

A Maid In Mayfair

Busy Days.

Special Correspondent

LONDON.

r!E King and Queen delight in small houses, and there is nothing at all surprising in th» report that they are on the lookout for a seaside cottage on the Aberdeenshire coast which will be available for the young Princesses during their stay at Balmoral. The aim is to find a suitable house with a safe beach which will be within easy motoring distance of the cattle, so that Their Majesties may join the little girls during week-ends, when the weather is favourable. Both the Princesses are very fond of swimming, though, up to the present, they have had to confine the sport to the accommodation available at the Bath Club or at the swimming pool at Royal Lodge. Enquiries are being instituted to secure a shooting-bo* or lodge on the coast which would be suitable for the purpose tn mind. Its vicinity to a golf course would be a recommendation to Hir Majesty. There is n f > good golf obtainable in the near vicinity of Balmoral, and when the Duke of Windsor was in residence there he used to fly over to the golf links at Nairn for his favourite game. Barnwell Church. People living near Barnwell Castle, recently bought by the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester as their country home, expect that the new owners will take -up residence some time in November, after their holiday in Kenya. Meantime there is a movement afoot to improve Barnwell Church, which the Dilke and Duchess will attend when living at the castle. The organ is said to be an instrument of magnificent tone, bnt (badly in need of attention. To raise funds for the repairs, Mrs. Colin Cooper, widow of the. late owner of the castle, opened a fete in the rectory grounds recently and has also arranged a jumble sale of things from Barnwell. A few renovations are to be carried out in the eastle itself before the Duke and Duchess take it over, but it is in such a marvellous state of repair and has been so thoroughly modernised that little is needed in this way. There is a heated swimming pool near the ruins of the thirteenth century house, and hard tennis courts were laid down by the late owner. The whole estate comprises some 2700 acres, with good shooting, and the Duke has taken over all of it. Another Exile« Frau Dollfuss, widow of the exAustrian Chancellor, who is at prescent in London, is not expected to make a permanent home among us. She may leave her children behind to be educated, but it is thought that, for a time at least, she will proceed to America, where she has relatives and friends. The change which has come over her fortunes since the assassination of her husband is not likely to occasion her any great searching of heart. Her pension has been withdrawn from her and her means must be considerably reduced. But she always disliked pomp 'and ceremony, and elected, even in Vienna, to live in a flat in preference to one of the palaces which her husband would readily have procured for her. It is not generally known that ahe is a close personal friend of Donna Mussolini, with whom she stayed at one I time in Italy. The two women are much alike in wishing to remain in the | background rather than coming out into the glare of public life.

Princess Alice, Countess «f Athlone, must be looking forward to the peace of her Sussex home, Brantridge Park, after the busy time she has had recently. Most members of the Royal Family have worked hard during the seasoy, but to the Princess goes the palm for fulfilling almost unceasing engagements to inspect various organisations, attending parties for charity, and undertaking the numerous other activities falling to the lot of the Royal circle. She does it all with charming grace, gives no suggestion of weariness, and so, of course, requests for her patronage and presence are endless. She and the Earl of Athlone have been staying with Princess Beatrice at Carisbrooke Castle, and have motored to Cowes for tea on the lawns of the Royal Yacht Squadron. They will be back at Kensington Palace this week, and then, unlike most of their friends who are going North, they are going South, to Balcombe, on the 12th.

At Welbeck Abbey

The Duke and Duchess of Portland, who are entertaining home parties at Welbeck Abbey, must still feel rather eore about the irritation and annoyance they suffered some time ago when they entertained the King of the Belgians. When it was all over, in fact, the Duke had some pointed remarks to make about prying newspaper men and women of the "stunt" Press, and deplored the way in which they had tried to penetrate into the privacy of his guests and his family. Staying with the Duke and Duchess at the same time as King Leopold were their two attractive granddaughters, Lady Anne and Lady Margaret Cavendish-Bentinck. For some reason never made clear, reporters out for thrills decided there was "something in it," and proceeded to link up King Leopold's name with that of one of the girls. The inner story of the way these men and women made a nuisance of themselves will probably never be told, but the condemnation they received ehould hare been sufficient to prove that American hustle manners are still not welcome in our country.