QUEEN MARY.

King Country Chronicle, Volume XII, Issue 1133, 5 November 1918, Page 2

QUEEN MARY.

SOME OF HER CHARACTERISTICS. Queen Mary is undoubtedly a woman of strong personality and tenacity of purpose. And to this she adds a dignity and reserve which, to those who do not know her ways, convey an erronous idea of hauteur. As a child, though living a cared-for life., the Queen was not crippled, cabined, and confined, and as she was blessed with three brothers, her fondness as a girl for boyish games is not surprising. She is an intensely modern woman, and makes it her business lo keep abreast of current affairs. The Queen has an excellent memory, which stood her in good stead when she travelled with her royal husband to our dominions overseas. Before taking these Empire trips she made it her business to acquaint herself with facts of interest about the places she intended visiting. The conditions of life, the customs, and the predilections of the people all came in for a share of her attention, and when she reached the places she had not forgotten the information gleaned beforehand.

The Queen is a home-maker. Her household is, and always has been, ordered naturally and simply, and no detail of domestic economy is too small to command her interest and attention. She dislikes children to be pampered and petted to the extent of spoiling, and she has seen to it that her own children shall not suffer in this respect. She has been a "sensible" mother, and has insisted that they shall cultivate a spirit of independence. As soon as their small Angers could wrestle with tapes and buttons the youngsters were made to dress themselves. There is no more formality observed between the King and Queen and their children than there is between any other parents and their children. The one hour of the day at which mother, father, and children used to be sure of meeting was breakfast. Then was the time for confidences.

Queen Mary is intensely British. On her marriage she insisted that all her trouseau should be English, even to the dainty white satin boots with the hand-embroidered sprays of may. Since then, particularly of late years, Queen Mary has done all in her power, by example and precept, to encourage home industries. She supported home industries in every direction long before the war, and most of her women friends did the same.

As a business women the Queen proves her regard for essential principles. She settles all her accounts every six weeks. If she orders a dress she first obtains an estimate for it. As most women know, Queen Mary's taste in dress is simple. She wears what suits her, and not necessarily what is being worn. Pale blue, mauve, and lavender are her pet colours. Among the Queen's interests is knowledge of antique furniture. She can distinguish a "fake" from a "real" almost as soon as a dealer.

Constancy and fidelity arc two strong characteristics of the Queen. She has a pretty and graceful knack of remembering people she knew as a child — old friends of her mother, for instance —with whom she keeps in touch in oil sorts of ways. Most of the Queen's correspondence receives her own attention. Numbers of letters are answered by her personally. Until the King's accession she signed herself "May," but after that she adopted the more formal ."Mary."