INCIDENTS AT PARTIES

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27985, 4 June 1956, Page 12

INCIDENTS AT PARTIES

DUKE OF KENT DENIES PRESS REPORTS (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) LONDON, June 2. A statement issued last night for the 20-year-old Duke of Kent denied London newspaper reports about him at two parties last week attended by young Mayfair socialites and debutantes. The first party took place on a motor-vessel moored in the River Thames, and the newspaper reports said that the Duke, a cousin of the Queen, was one of the first to throw lifebelts to two young guests who dived into the river for a £5 bet. At the other party in Mayfair it was reported that some of the guests, including the Duke, walked along a narrow parapet outside the house, balanced on a fire escape and poured champagne on people in the street below.

Both parties were mentioned this week in the House of Commons by a Labour member. Mr George Thomson, who criticised them as “hooliganism.’’ The statement, issued from Kensington Palace, the Duke’s London home, said; “It has been stated in certain sections of the newspapers that on the evening of May 24, the Duke of Kent was involved in incidents which are alleged to hav? occurred on board the motor-vessel Royal Princess, and

at a private house later the same evening. “The private secretary to rhe Duchess of Kent is authorised to say that, although his Royal Highness was present for about an hour at the first of these parties, and for about two hours at the second party, he was in nu way involved, nor indeed, a witness to any of the actions attributed to him.*’