HER MAJESTY QUEEN MARY

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21464, 4 May 1935, Page 4 (Supplement)

HER MAJESTY QUEEN MARY

First Lady in the Land LIFE OF DEVOTED' SERVICE Leader of Nation's Womanhood The celebration of the Silver Jubilee of his Majesty the King-Eiviperor is intimately bound up with a recognition, equally as wide, of the many services rendered to the nation of her adoption by King George's wife, Queen Mary, and of the very deep feelings of love and respect that Queen Mary has inspired in their Majesties' subjects throughout the Empire. Queen Mary is far more than a symbol of wise and successful constitutional monarchy; she has, from the beginning of her reign, taken an active part in deserving national causes, and in a quiet, unassuming way she has established herself as a leader of the nation's womanhood. Queen Mary, the first child of the Duke and Duchess of Teck, was born in Kensington Palace, London, on May 26, 18G7. She was a second cousin, at one remove, of the children at Marlborough House, as the public was quick to realise, and the newspapers of the day hailed her as "an English Princess." Mie was christened Victoria Mary Augusta Louisa Olga Pauline Claudine Agnes, but was destined always to be known before her marriage as Princess May.

From the very first her .life has been crowded with travel and event, and at the age of three months she was at Ashridge with her parents "preparatory to a long tour on the Continent. The family did not return to Kensington Palace until November, and in *he meantime Paris, Rumpenheim, Stuttgart, and Munich had all been visited. The first year was uneventful; but in July of 1868 Princess May contracted a severe chill, and was in serious danger for some days. However, the illness was checked, and as soon as she was well enough the child was removed to Kew, where sir lived for a time with her grandmother, the Duchess of Cambridge. In August her first brother, Prince Adolphus was born, and the family was to be jompleted by the birth of two younger brothers, Prince Francis and Prince Alexander. That year the two children were taken to Balmoral, and it is recorded that Princess May made a favourable impression upon Queen Victoria, who had been her godmother, and this affection continued to increase with the years. Soon after the Queen presented to the Di'ke and Duchess of Teck the celebrated White Lodge at Richmond Park, v/hich had been built bv Geoige 11., and there the Princess spent the greater part . her childhood and youth. The children were brought up in a quiet and secluded atmosphere. Aunt's Great Influence Their friends were their cousins from Marlborough Hour \ But from the beginning the young Princess was strongly influenced by her mother's elder sister, Augusta Caroline, Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg Strelitz, one of the most enlightened and intellectual women of her day, a brilliant linguist and r patron of art and letters, who brings to mind the talented but wayward Elizabeth of Austria. From her the Princess gained a passion for art and a balanced interest in contemporary literature which she has always retained, and these formative years received a further definite stamp through the efforts of her governess-companion, Madame Bricka. Madame Bricka was an Alsatian, exceptionally cultivated and well-read, and v certain ironic tendency of mind had made her a c nite radical in politics. She was by no means reticent about her beliefs, and the Princess, although brought up in what was otherwise a strictly Tory home, soon learned that there might be two sides to every question. Governes; and pupil read very widely, and the Princess soon adopted the Continental- habit of reading with a purpose and carefully questioning all that was put before her. Life flowed by pleasantly at White Lodge: the Princess read with her governess during the mornings, and accompanied her mother on her philanthropic expeditions on most afternoons. It was indeed the fact that the Duchess gave away "just twice as much a3 she could afford" that often brought about a financial crisis in the family. In 1833 the apartments in Kensington Palace were given up, and in the September of that year when Princess-May was 16 years of age the family removed to Florence for 18 months of complete social retirement. The party included the Duke and Duchess, Princess May, and Prince Alexander. The other two boys were left behind in England for the sake of their studies.

don season. In London she met Mr Gladstone, but she was more closely acquainted with Lord Salisbury, and the final party of her first season tood place at Hadfield, the future Prime Minister's home. This period was further diversified by a round of visits to the friends of her mother —among whom must be mentioned the Duke of Newcastle at Clumber House, the Earl of Hopetoun in Edinburgh, Mr Lumley at Rufford Abbey, and Lady Ashburton at The Grange, in Hampshire. Work for C^iarity The great contrast with this round of pleasure was provided for the Princess by the revelation of the life of the poor, afforded by reports of a select committee appointed by the House of Lords, which,investigated sweating conditions in the East End of London. The chairman of the committee was the Earl of Dunraven, a persona! friend of her family, and from him she was able tc get details which did not come before the public. These conversations and her own study of the blue books made an impression that the Queen has never forgotten, and her charitable efforts have been uninterrupted and personally directed ever since.

In her twenty-fifth year the Princess became engaged to be married to the Duke of Clarence, but only a few weeks before the marriage was to take place the Duke suffered a fatal attack of influenza, and the nation was plunged into deepest mourning. After the funeral the Princess retired into the seclusion of White Lodge at Richmond and afterwards to the south of France with her mother. On May 3, 1893, the engagement v/as announced of Princess Mary and Prince George, now th. heir to the throne, and the match was an extremely popular one, both in Royal circles and among the people generally. The ceremony took place at j the Chapel Royal on July G, 1893. The first years of the • Queen's ! married life were passed at York Cottage, Sandringham, and there five of her six children were born. Official duties came thick and fast upon the? young couple, now the Duke and Duchess of York and Cornwall, and they had surprisingly little leisure. In London they lived at York House; but they visited a good deal, spending part of their time a Windsor with the Queen, and meeting society at Aldershot, Goodwood, and Cowes, and in Scotland. In 1901, eight years aftei the marriage, came the great tour of the Empire on the Ophir, a tour which may be said to have been completely successful. The Duchess had a keen zest for travel, and her wide interests speedily enabled her tc find common ground with everyone after the first few minutes of conversation.

Queen Victoria's death came in 1901, and the Duchess became Princess of Wales. The Edwardian years were happy ones. In the intervals of her domestic and official duties the Princess acquired a deep knowledge of period furniture and old china, on both of which she has since become an acknowledged expert. She was never more happy than in exploring the intricacies of Holyrood or of Windsor, and her knowledge of genealogies was singularly exact. She began to read the Georgian diarists, and this interest soon developed into an absorbing passion. The year 1910 was a sad and anxious one for all members of the Royal Family. King Edward's death occurred at a time of political crisis, and to the personal grief of the Prince and Princess there was added their common anxiety about the future of Ireland. After the coronation ceremony and the exhausting social engagements that followed it, the King and Queen, with their family, took up residence at Buckingham Palace. A Visit to Paris But the four years before 1914 were diversified by many state functions, and by the visits to India and the Continent. Nowhere was the Queen more admired than in Paris In 1914; her most brilliant setting was the presidential box at the Opera House, where a gala performance of ''Fete Chez Therese" was presented. A recent biographer has described her leaving the box at the conclusion of the evening, when "she stood at the top of the grand staircase, superb in cloth of gold, and wearing her great jewels as she alone could wear them. Groups of hardened Parisians were gathered at

Florence proved a decisive factor in the education of the Princess. The family lived at I Cedri, -> Ifteenth century villa, some three miles from the city itself, attractively placed on the left bank of the River Arno. Princess May speedily developed a passion for the town, and she was nevei tired of exploring its intricate byways. Her already deep interest n painting was broadened by close study of the treasures of San Lorenzo, of the Duomo, and of the countless other churches and public buildings of Florence.

On her return to England it was soon remarked that, the Princess had gained in confidence, although she never showed that enjoyment of and interest in society for which her mother was famed. She continued to read deeply and devoted six hours every day to widening her education.

The year 1886 was an important one, for it marked her coming-out, and accordingly the Duchess of Teck removed to Lady Ann Murray's house in Berkeley square, for the long drives from London to Richmond proved unexpectedly fatiguing after the social events of the Lon-

the fcot of the staircase, and a swelling buzz of irrepressible admiration went out from the whole house to the spectators assembled at the gates of the opera; a tribute wrung from men and women usually more prone to criticise than to applaud." Bu: the splendour of such triumphs was forgotten in the first year of the Great War. The Queen, with considerable forethought, realised that the sending of parcels to the soldiers at the front would necessitate careful organisation if it were to be carried out expeditiously, and before the end of August, 1914, she had created a central committee v/hich remained under .her personal leadership until the very end. In her hands the committee widened its scone until it was fostering women's activities of every kind. Workrooms were set up and agricultural pursuits planned to meet the crisis. Trades which had been injured by lack of demand were assisted. "All the ingenuity that the brain of women could devise was applied to the purpose of giving work rather than charity. To the organisation of the committee the Queen gave punctilious care and attention. No appointment, great or small, was made without her knowledge; no report was issued without her full awareness. It is impossible to exaggerate the inspiration given by the Queen, with her calm and orderly mind, her genuine interest and concern." However, during. 1915,. the demand for women's labour speedily increased, and there was in consequence little distress during the following years. Work During Wartime A subsidiary activity was provided by the. Needlework Guild that already bore her name. With the war the guild aspired to greater things? and took upon itself the distribution of extra articles of clothing to the troops. Gifts were* sent to Friary Court, St. James's Palace, and contributions came from all parts of the world. In 10 months 1,101,105 articles were received and redistributed, and by November, 1918, there .were 630 branches, with a membership of 1,078,839, not including the branches in the United Stales and Canada. The Queen's public duties were greatly increased during the war, as was to be expected; she visited hospitals, hostels, nurseries, and creches. With the King she went through munition factories, and war shrines,' and inspected the troops. On July 3, 1917, with Lady Airlie, she set out for a visit of 10 days to France. Her

ditch, Wilmer Gardens, Bethnal Green, and with the Prince of Wales she went over the Duchy properties of Kennington to consider and to plan improvements. The Royal estates at Sandringham bear witness to her ingenuity and to her appreciation of the necessities of tenants. In her own person the Queen has definitely enriched that tradition of quiet and enduring service to which the Royal Family are devoted. She has supported the King on all the

headquarters were at Montreuil, and the time was spent in an unremitting personal inspection of hospitals. Lady Airlie said: "However many hospitals her Majesty visited each day, she spoke to every single patient in them," and her fortitude and care excited universal admiration. Another set of duties came when she was appointed Commandant-in-Chief of the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps, everywhere known as the "W.A.A.C.," and she was constantly at the Connaught Club, the centre of activities, directing and supervising. From the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps grew in time the Women's Legion, which was organised in the first place by the Marchioness of Londonderry, and in time effected a revolution in army cooking. By 1916 the legion's, cooks and waitresses were employed in more than 150 camps in the United Kingdom, and in 1917 the scheme was expanded, so that women could do this work in France. The legion had the approval of the Queen from the very first. The last, but perhaps the most enduring testimony to Queen Mary's sense of duty, is to be found in the two military hospitals associated with her name—Queen Mary's Roehampton Hospital for Sailors, Soldiers, and Airmen who lost limbs in the war, and Queen Mary's Hospital for facial injuries at Sidcup, in Kent, Another famous institution often visited by her Majesty is the Queen Mary Hospital for the East End, at Stratford, in London. Message to Women of Empire With the ending of the war the Queen's efforts to head and to console did not cease. In her message to the women of the Empire in Decomber, 1918, she wrote: "A new era is dawning upon the world, bringing with it many difficulties, fresh responsibilities, and serious problems to be faced To-day, more than ever, the Empire needs her daughters, for in the larger world of public and industrial work, women are daily taking a more important place. Therefore, as we have been united in our work, whether of head or hands, in a real sisterhood of suffering and service during the war, let us go on working together with the same unity of purpose for the settlement and reconstruction of our country." Specific mention was made of the causes of housing and education, in which the Queen, like the Prince of Wales, had a definite personal interest. She visited Shore-

necessary formal occasions, even at times when the risk has been great. This was never more fully proved than when both the King and Queen visited Belfast to open the first Parliament of Northern Ireland. "A black pall of the worst kind of warfare was isolating Ireland from the rest of the world, and the Royal visit was a bold adventure only to be justified by its signal success." But it has always been widely realised that the Queen derived or early acquired the qualities and talents which have made her the helpmate as we|} as the consort of a King.