Wedding Gifts to the Duke and Duchess of Kent

Manawatu Times, Volume 59, Issue 305, 29 December 1934, Page 2

Wedding Gifts to the Duke and Duchess of Kent

The latest English mail has brought details of some of tho wedding gifts to Princo George and Princess Marina. A magnificent ostrich fan was the wedding present to Princess Marina from the Greek community in South Africa. Tho City of York presented as a wedding gift a replica of one of tho most interesting and valuable pieces among tho city’s large collection of silver plate. It is a silver basin given to the city in 1640 by James Hutchinson, who was York’s Lord Mayor in .1643. The members of tho Royal Academy gave an ISth century bracket clock. Sir William Llowcllyn (president) made the presentation. The Duke signed tho marriage register with a gold quill given to him as a wedding present by the Chartered Institute of Secretaries. Princess Juliana’s wedding present was a four-pannelled screen. On each panel is a water-colour by the Dutch painters, Louis Van Soest, J. 11. Van Mastonbroek, Professor H. J. Wolter, and C. Vreedenburgh. Each picture is set in a silver frame. The screen, which is of Coromandel ebony from the Dutch Ea.st Indies, covered with beige silk, is six feet high. Tho County of Kent’s present took the form of a canteen of cutlery for 24 persons. It cost about £6OO. A peasant woman in the mountainous country near Arachova, Greece, sent Princess Marina a tiny vase, saying it is intended to hold tho bride’s tears of joy. A wealthy Greek shoe manufacturer sent a pair of shoes which cost £6O, The Duke of Kent signified that liis wedding present from the Rotary Clubs of Great Britain aud Northern Ireland, ot' which he is the patron, should take the form of a sum of money to be placed at his disposal for distribution as grants to local occupational centres for the unemployed —a form of service in which Rotary Clubs in necessitous areas are strongly interested.