Royalty Entertains

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 278, 20 August 1938, Page 7 (Supplement)

Royalty Entertains

Thousands Of Guests At Buckingham Palace Garden Party

(“Dominion” Special Service: By Airmail.)

(By Fbneli.a)

London, July 23. JUST as I entered th e grounds of Buckingham Palace —that seem to b e a section of English countryside planted in the heart of West London —• for Their Majesties’ garden party, two people, a man and a woman, brushed past me. The man was saying. I must hurry up and meet the Indians. . . .”

It was'the Prime Minister, accompanied by Mrs. Chamberlain. She was wearing a navy blue crepe dress and coat with a straw hat to match. Mr. Chamberlain had a carnation in his button-hole and carried his grey top hat.

I do not know to which of the Indians the Prime Minister was referring, but I noticed quite a number present.

Some 10,000 of the best-known people in the Empire wandered over the magnificent lawns. I saw beautiful Indian women in their saris, Chinese women in richly-embroidered satin gowns, and English women in their Ascot dresses — a colourful array.

The Queen herself was in black—l thought it suited her particularly well —and the little Princesses were in grey and white. Queen Mary wore a lovely shade of palest pink, and looked very striking as she walked towards the Royal marquee, accompanied by the Princess Royal (in powder blue), the Earl of Harewood, and Sir John Simon. The King, who has been unwell all the week, stayed indoors until the slight rain had stopped, and then came out, unobserved by most of the guests, and joined the Queen for tea. Most members of the Royal family had tea with Their Majesties. The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, who was dressed in a long gown of beige, trimmed with dark-brown, and wore a dark-brown picture hat, walked round chatting to friends with the Duke of Kent. The Duchess of Kent was in Edinburgh at the party at Hollyroodhouse Palace.

After tea the King and Queen stood under the scarlet and gold canopy which was used for the Durbar when the late King and Queen Mary were in India, and received a number of guests. I noticed that -the Queen had difficulty in finding her bag and fur wrap before she left the marquee. Eventually, Princess Margaret found them for her and brought them out.

Just before the presentations the King saw that the Prime Minister and Mrs. Neville Chamberlain had just arrived in the marquee by an side entrance. So he held up the proceedings while he went over to chat with Mr. Chamberlain.

Opinion varied —as it did at Ascot — as to whether long or short dresses should be worn at the garden party. Most women wore short gowns of printed silk and gay little hats which varied from Victorian bonnets to witches’ hats and “toppers.” But nearly all the hats had veils —veils with brightlycoloured pom-poms at the edge, spotted veils, flowing veils and close-fitting veils.

Several debutantes in flowing chiffon dresses dispensed with hats altogether, and wore instead fresh flowers pinned to ribbon bands with little veils flowing behind.