ROYAL GIFTS AT CHRISTMAS

Press, Volume XCVI, Issue 28472, 30 December 1957, Page 2

ROYAL GIFTS AT CHRISTMAS

Many Bought From Disabled Men

Many of the Christmas gifts bought every year by Queen Elizabeth, by the Queen Mother, and by Princess Margaret purchased at the annual sale of articles made by disabled former servicemen, which is held at the Lord Roberts Workshops, London. The workshops are host every year to a number of organisations formed to help disabled men, including St. Dunstan’s, all of which insist on the highest professional standards of work. A picnic table —made by Richard Brett, a blind, deaf, and handless man trained by St. Dunstan’s — was one item on the Queen Mother’s list, and she asked that a note congratulating Brett on his courage and skill should be sent to him.

One of Princess Margaret’s purchases was an ingenious bootwiping device which incorporates brushes to clean all round the shoes as well as an iron scraper. Similar boot-wipers have been made for the Duke of Edinburgh for Sandringham House, and for the Queen Mother, who has had hers installed in her Highland home, the Castle of Mey. The Queen Mother also bought two piecrust tables, painted in cream and picked out in gold.