HOME INTELLIGENCE.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XIII, Issue 763, 29 February 1860, Page 3

HOME INTELLIGENCE.

(From tKe ' English Mail,' Dec. 19.) ■." V .-: THE COTJET. ' The Queen. and lthe Prince ; Consort, at the date of pur last impression, /were entertaining a succession of distinguished company at Windsor Castle to meet their Royal Highnesses Prince and Princess Frederick William of Prussia. ' The Queen and the Prince Consort, accompanied by Prince and Princess Frederick William of Prussia, went to Claremont on the 23rd of November, and visited Queen Marie Amelia. The dinner party included. their Royal Highnesses Prince Frederick William of Prussia, Princess Frederick .William of Prussia, Princess Alice, and the Princess of Leiriingen, his Serene Highness the Prince of Leiningen, Earl Cowley, Countess Lynar, Countess Hohenthal; Count-Perponcher; Capt yon Sch\veinitz> &c. The band of the Ist Life Guards played "during dinner. : ■ On the 25th of November her Majesty acd the Prince Consort, accompanied by Prince and Princess Frederick William, of Prussia, Princess Alice, and Princess Helena, went to Eton College, and inspected the memorial window lately erected in the chapel, to commemorate the Etonians who fell in the Crimean campaign, 1854-5. r ,

On the 26th of November the Queen and the Prince 'Consort; accompanied by Prince and Princess Frederick William of Prussia and Princess Alice, paid a visit to Aldershott. On arriving at the North Camp her Majesty reviewed the division, which was formed in line on the parade of the North Camp. The troops received the Queen with a royal salute, and marched past. Their Royal Highnesses the Prince Consort and Prince. Frederick William of Prussia were on horseback. At the conclusion of the marching past her Majesty drove to the permanent barracks, and inspected' some of the rooms at the Riding School. On the 28th of November; Prince Frederick William paid a visit to Woolwjch Arsenal 5 andthe Prince Consort came to London, visiting first the studio of: Mr. Theed, the sculptor, and afterwards the South Kensington Museum,returning to Windsor Castle in the afternoon. , .;. -' On the 29th of November the Queen visited the Duchess of Kent at Frogmore, and aftewards held a Privy Council. In the afternoon the following visitors arrived :—rTheir Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess d'Aumale, the Duke and Duchess of Somerset, the Duchess of Argyll,; and the Countess of Elgin. The Duke of Argyll and the Earl of Elgin remained at the Castle after attending the' Council held by Her Majesty. Prince and Princess Frederick William of Prussia went to Oxford and visited the Prince of Wales. On the 30th of Novemher the Queen, accompanied by Princess Frederick .William of Prussia and the Duchess d'Aumale, walked through.the-Hoirie Park to Frogmore, and visited the; Duchess of Kent. On the 3rd of December Prince and. PrincessFrederick William of Prussia left Windsor for, the Continent, via.London and Dover. Lord Alfred •Paget, Clerk Marshal to the Queen, joined in London, and remained in attendance to Dover. . Her 'Majesty, the Prince Consort, the Prince of Wales, and Princess Alice, accompanied Prince and Princess ..'Frederick to Paddinglon, where the Princess; Royal ; arid Prince Frederick William took leave of the Queen, an.d then proceeded to the Bricklayers' Arms station (escorted by a detachment of the :10th' Hussars), where,a special train was in readiness to , convey the Royal party to Dover. Her .Majesty afterwards returned to Windsor. The • Queen, Prince Consort, Princess Alice, ; Prince Arthur, Prince Leopold, Princess Helena, Princess Louisa, and Princess Beatrice arrived at Osborne on the 6th December from Windsor. . The.'.Queen and Royal^^ Family have been chiefly! occupied, since their arrival at psbbrne, in visiting:; every portion of the domain, to; see the; grojwth iof the rising plantations, and the progress of many ,of , theimproyements in what may be termed the, land-scape-gardening department. Accordingto present. arrangements* everything is to,be held in residence; at Windsor Castle' for the return of the Queen on the'2lst inst. ■>•;■:;■ /■"'• --J"- -■'■'.■;: : ';.: :-: ■; /?'^V . The Prince of Wales has been pursuing, hia studies at Oxford, ■

The Prince of Wales, in addition to his being a member of the Oxford University Boat Club, has • also become.a member or the '.Christ Church Boat Club, and the Christ Church Cricket Club. . ■'.''.. Hia .Royal, Highness, paid a visit to the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough, at Blenheim, Palace, oa the 30th Nov., and spent the day^ in shooting over the^luke's domain. In the evening the duke and duchess gave a banquet in the grand saloon, where covere were laid for thirty-six, " On the Bth Dec. his Royal Highness kindly acceded to .the request made to him by the Mayor of Oxford by planting two of the plane trees forming the avenue in St. Giles's. ; The Duchess of Kent's health is'stated to"bo much improved, and she now looks better, than she has done for a very considerable time. The 21st Nov.^beingthe nineteenth anniversary of the birthday of the Princess Royal, the day was celebrated by marks of attachment oh the part of the public. ' / " There is ai ramour," says the 'Court Journal,' " of an alliance between an illustrious Princess and the brdther of a reigning Duke of Germany. The subject is yet top. young ti)^ be spoken of moredistinctly,on.either side, and we only allude to it as it is beginning to be whispered about, knowing that the report of such matters, in very early days, is not to be given too great credence to." A young lady of the neighbourhood of' Exeter, noted for her talents as ah archer, has been honoured (says the' Western Times') with the appointment of Maid of Honor to Princess Alice. '; . Joyd Ebringtqn, heir to the Fbritesque earldom, is forthwith to be elevated to the peerage. -'■•■' 22nd November the marriage of the Earl ot Dalkeith, the eldest son of. the Duke bf Buccleuch and Queensberry, with Lady Louisa Hamilton, the daughter of the Marquis and Marchionessj of Abercorn, was solemnized '■ at St. George's Church, Hanover-square. A marriage is arranged to take place between Major-Geneneral the Hon. Thomas Ashburnham, brother of the Earl of Ashburnham, and the Hon. Miss Foley, daughter of the Dowager Lady Poley. , Themavriagei'of Lord Charles Bruce, youngest son of the late Marquis of Ailes'bury, to Miss Augusta Seymour, daughter of Lady' Augusta beymour, and Niece to the Marquis of Bristol, will take place in February. The British Minister in Japan, — The ' of the 9th December announces that the Queen.has been pleased: to appoint Rutherford Alcock, Esq., now her Majesty's Consul General in Japan, to be her Majesty's Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary and Consul General in Japan. . '