The Royal Visit to Holyrood

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 261, 31 July 1937, Page 4 (Supplement)

The Royal Visit to Holyrood

The Princesses Take Part in Many Activities

“Dominion” Special Service.—By Air Mail. (By Fenella.) London, July I). r DHE King jtud Queen, with the two little Princesses, attended a Festival of Youth in Wembley Stadium in brilliant sunshine. The idea behind the festival was to isliow what is being done in the way of training the youth of Britain in physical fitness. Women and girls naturally played a prominent part in the very varied programme, and there were thousands of schoolgirls in the audience. During the mtrrcli past the King and Queen at the ■beginning of the programme I noticed that Princess Elizabeth grew very- excited as the contingent of Girl Guides in their neat blue uniforms approached the Royal dais. Up till then she had been clutching her lug straw hat with both hands, to prevent it being blown off by the wind, but as the

guides marched past she let go her I hat and gave the guide salute, with a | beaming smild on her face., for she Ims just become a guide herself. She and her sister, botli in pale blue silk frocks and straw lihln trimmed with flower wreaths, watched all the items with interest, especially Maypole dances by 1000 Girl Guides, and mass gvmnastics by women students of phy s'ical training colleges. In their neat white dresses witli divided skirts, the students performed very advanced vaulting and balancing feats, and were loudly applauded. Another popular item was, a ,demonstration of “stretch and suing exercises by the Women’s League of Health and Beauty. Fair-haired I’runella Stack, their loader, in a short, white Greek tunic and broad gold belt, led about 1000 women, some of them greyhaired grandmothers, in a series of graceful exercises to cheerful music from the band of tlie Brigade of Guards. Tlie Queen ui Edinburgh. The Royal State visit to Edinburgh, this week has entailed a great deal of preparation for the <}ueen. She has bad to choose her wardrobe with a view to a very busy round of social and court functions, bearing in mind the vagaries of the Scottish climate with its mists and grey skies. . Altogether, 1 am told, she look with her 50 complete toilets for day, afternoon and court wear, each dress witli its appropriate jewels, among which diamonds and pearls, the Queen’s favourite stones, predominated. Her Majesty’s luggage included seven gorgeous evening dresses in cream, blue, cyclamen and silver, while for afternoon wear there were models in finest lace, chiffon and silk designed in picture styles. For the ceremony of her admission ng Sovereign Lady of the Order of the Thistle the Queen ciiose a dress of thin creamy material, decolletee and ankle-length. This dress was specially chosen to fall gracefully beneath the long cloak of the order. With the King ami Queen were I’riucess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret Rose. It is a very long time since tlie children of a Sovereign have stayed at the Palace of Holyrood House during a State visit, and special arrangements were made for their aceonimoilation, as the Palace has no nurseries. The little Princesses occupied a large suite which their parents used when, as Duke and Duchess of York, they were in Edinburgh on their last official visit. The Scottish capital was turned into a fairyland of Howers and lights for the occasion. In tlie streets the customary coloured bunting gave place to arches and festoons of flowers which at night were picked out in the beams of coloured lights. Edinburgh horticulturists had been working for nearly a year on the floral schemes for the Royal visit. I An Heiress Bride. America’s inost-talked-of bride, Miss Ethel du Pont, who has married President Roosevelt’s son, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, junior, defied superstition on the eve of her wedding by herself taking part in the rehearsal of the ceremony. At first she allowed Mrs. James

Roosevelt, her husband's sister-in-law, to stand in her place at the altar. Then suddenly she jumped from her pew, took the place of her ‘’iiuderMufly,’’ and herself spoke the responses and practised handling the bridal train. At the actual ceremony the heiress to the du Pont millions carried 11 prayerbook printed in France in 1889 and' bound in blue. This, perhaps, was a concession to superstition after all, for it was in accordance witli the tradition that <T bride must, carry “something old. something blue,” to bring her good luck. She made no promise to obey her husband nor did she promise 10 endow him with all her worldly goods. Hur white tulle bridal dress was set off with a Juliet cap which gave a piquant reminder that the marriage lias been referred to as ir jurying of the hatchet by two modern houses of Montague and Capulet, a reference to

the rival political affiliations of President Roosevelt and the great chemical manufacturing family of du Pont, tlie country’s leading “economic royalists."