WAITED ON BY PRINCESSES.

Press, Volume LIII, Issue 9314, 15 January 1896, Page 2

WAITED ON BY PRINCESSES.

The Q__*_x at a Fair where Princes And Princesses kept some of this Booths. Harpers's Bazar. The long climb from the town to Cavisbrooke Castle ire took on foot. As ire took a few steps inside the entrance we were confronted by the pipers of a detachment of regulars from a fort near at hand. We pressed on, and the desire of our hearts for ten days past was realized. We begad to buy thing-" of f oyalty. The bazaar was given for the benefit of Princess Beatrice's Isle of Wight Volunteers. So of course it was about her booth that the crowd pressed in eagernes3 to gaze or to buy. As the members of the royal family were not " tagged/ 5 it was difficult to know who was who, and. to our surprise, the gentry that were near us did not know by sight their own royal family. But we quietly persisted, and found that the lady in blue and black— and a handsome gown it was, of black silk much covered with raised white passementarie, and with blue silk sleeveswas Princess Beatrice. She was neither too fat nor too red, as the English woman said she was. Her features are good, her teeth perfect, her face, interesting and animated, and she carries herself beautifully. One of us four, of the "Stars and Stripes," in her eagerness to own a Souvenir from royal hands, forgot to listen to the manner in which the English addressed these exalted personages, and asked, in a perfectly dignified but wholly American way, " Will you please tell mc the price of this vase?" The Princess Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein turned away to hide her smile, but immediately returned to business and gave the price. When it was paid for she called on all the four royalties near to -make change, did the article up in royal " worpse" of paper, and handed it to us with a smile and much less condescension than is vouchsafed us from many of those duchesses who are hired to stand behind our counters at home. This Princess was not pretty, but her gown and hat were. The latter was white straw, and her dress was blue silk finely striped with white, the body covered with real lace. There was a dainty, pretty lady-in-waiting, Miss Minna Cochrane. The Princess called her Minna, and she adorned the booth, besides being of real service.

Prince Henry of Battenberg was quite the life and soul of the day. Before he eatae the articles in the booth were within reason in price ; after his arrival they doubled. He eithed " bulled " or " beared " the market, for match safes at a shilling jumped to two in a twinklingi The Princess and theit little Son, Prince Alexander, as well as Princess Victoria, in offering the fans with bill! fights and dancers as decorations and the pottery and lustre vases for sale, said, repeatedly, .'* They are Spanish ; Prince Henry brought them in his yacht," When he began to give animation to the sale he first removed a plaque with a crack, saying that it was broken, which seemed a singular exhibition of honesty at a bazaar ; for, if I remember rightly, it is not always a conspicuous virtue at Our own fairs. His son —■■ little boy Battenberg," as I head an English woman speak of him—handed change to the purchasers, was happy and full of interest, and met his fathen when he returned from another pal. of the ground, with the information j "Oh, papa, your things from Spain are selling fast! " But the change was evidehtly a trial to all of them, and we had to wait for t. It took some seconds for royalty to discover that half a crown and three pertce would pay for two articles—one at one and six, the other at one and three. This mathematical lethargy aWoke an answering chord in my heart, and when the Princess, Prince Henry, and Prince Alexander struge-led over the trying problem of getting two and six out of ten shillings, I took the handful of silver they gave mc and dropped it without a glance into my bag. I wad not going to spoil my day with arithmetic, arid plunge a foilrth brain—my own untitled one, whose capacity, alas ! I have too often measii-Sd—into confusion and whirl, with addition and subtraction,

Royalty did not really, but they figuratively winked as they said to us, with a smile and a significant look at each other, holding up some trifle : " Very cheap, this rare, choice vase. Only sixpence." Princess Beatrice, however, was re-ally iii earnest trying to sell one article, a book cover, while she said, over and over agains in her pleasant voice: "It was painted by the Queen's granddaughter, the Princess of Hesse. Only three shillings." Royalty is certainly up in manners, and as gracious and simple a. people of the highest distinction usually are, but its art tastes, as exhibited in its own productions, leave room for hope of progress, at least. The Pritices-- own sofa cushion of cross-stitch languished without a purchaser the whole afternoon, and was finally raffled. But it was old-fashioned cross-stitch, dull and uninteresting.

While we at a respectful distance looked on these royal shopkeepers, the Jfi-nglish about us were commenting so that we overheard. " That frock Princess Beatrice has on is not half bad." "Ifoj I t-athef fancy it." These condescending WOmeh Were themselves clad in scant muslin, the flimslness of which suggested a long and active past in the laundry tubs, their slinking petticoats scarcely touching their heavy boots, and fur tippets were fastened tight about their necks. Two other English Women listening to the informal cohversatioh inside the royal booth said, "She speaks English with a German accent.-' "Why, she has to talk to her husband." We thought there was a chance for a smile there but it was no joke to theim Two American m6n, the only ones there, fixed themselves at an angle where they could hear and see, and looked as if this was a daily occurrence in their lives. We knew that, old as they wfere, they Were cohcealing a flutter of excitement, and realised as well as we did that to see royalty in such close proximity and in such an informal way was not an every-day sight on their native New England hills.

To our surprise, the royal booth was not emptied of its contents, as it would have been in our generous land had our beautiful Mrs Cleveland been selling. Prince Henry was everywhere, and proved that every Battenburg has his day. He is honorary Governor of the Castle and honorary Colo&el of the militia regiment. It is true that the regiment is a volunteer one and the Castle half ruined and isolated, but as a German princeling whose income was $70 a year, life had its monotonies before bis marriage. He is very good looking, with his blue eyes, brown hair, and pointed beard, his debonair air, and bis boyish enjoyment of life. He wore a cutaway coat, yellow duck waistcoat, and Derby hat, and he went and came from Osborne on a wheel. He worked very hard to sell things, and attempted to be jocose, trying all the tricky expressions of trade.

" Tink of Ghristmus. Ghristtaus is goming! Two-and-seex for this. Very aheap. That includes wrapping up in bapcr.** Though the booths looked as full when We left as when we arrived, the bazaar was a financial success, for it realised 4,000 doL It is a very great card to have a member of the royal fataily as patron to a philanthropic or charitable entertainment. Poor things, their life is still made a burden to them by this form of torture; still., they usually

remain but a short time. As much as they do In that direction, and as many as there are of them, thero are still not enough to go round, for when I was in London last summer they had to take a wee princeling of tight to lay a corner stone.

While we were enjoying to tho utmost the novel scene we learned that the Queen was coining from Osborne. The Indian tableaux hurried down the road to the ehSrancc, followed by the palmistry ladies, the cafe chantant stars, tho up*to-that-timc mysterious soothsayers, only jilst in titrie to greet the Queen 03 slie drove through the archway. A band played ; the cheering and handkerchief waving went on. The royal carriage was preceeded by a mounted footman oh a superb grey horse. His livery was very simple—black coat, white breeches, white kid tops to his boots. The coachman's black curly hair and solid proportions suggested, as did the Scotch footman on the box, ample rations. Both were in black, and there did not seem to be a line of colour about the carriage. The Queen had with her the Prince*, of Wales ahd her daughter, the Princess Victorias Her Majesty was so gracious, so lovely in the way she received those who Welcomed her personally and the less distinguished who cheered her, that I found tears rising in my eyes aa I remembered her past. Her long life of devotion to duty, the taondtOhOUs detail of her existence, of absolute hard work, and dreary old despatch boxes With official business that follow her up wherever she goes, made my soul full of pity. " Sixty years of despatch boxes daily." I found myself saving as I looked at her fine womanly face, and shuddered at the monotony of her work ; ahd then I thought of her sorrow, and what a " widow indeed " she had been, and all the gay scene vanished for a moment. I saw only the woman who, though Empress of India and at the head of this great nation, will to the end of her life be always alone.

They tell mc here that she is such a martyr to rheumatism that she cannot stand or walk more than a few steps, and yet she is so "game" that she doesn't oWn to it. The Princess of Wales lifted her veil for her when she reached the booths, and it is quite possible she cannot i-aise her hands to her head. Her grey hair was brought down ih smooth bands over her ears, and her face looked as if it had been washed for sixty years with the best old Castile soap, and you could not associate a powder puff with that skin ; and, by the Way, she was not in the least red in the face, a3 she is so often described. Her black bonnet had white primroses at the back and an aigrette in front, but I must own that it was the same old bonnet; The Princess of Wales had the usual arrangement of her golden hair, the style that was composed for her many years ago by the famous court hair dresser. She and her daughter had black English walking hats, black jackets and skirts, and Priheess Victoria of Wales wore a lavender cottoh shirt waist. The Princess had small sleeves. " Her whole jacket might have been cut Out of one of our sleeves at home," was SOftly whispered in my ear.

At the Princess Beatrice's booth she and Prince Henry brought articles to the carriage which the Prince of Wales said were great bargains. The Queen bought a doll, some salt cellars, a vase, and needlework, and then the carriage moved on. She made purchases dt evory booth. As the carriage advanced the people followed, respectfully and quietly, the ladies ih waiting walking With the Queen's equerry and other titled people behind the carriage, and the princesses at the side. It Was a small crowd, as the space inside the castle is hot large, but it was a well-behaved Orte — a two - and - sixpenny crowd, Which was hmch quieter than the sixpenny admission crowd w&ich came pouring in as we left. It was an event ih our lives, to be so near the carriage that we could hear Her Majesty talking, ,