LONDON CHAT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 11950, 26 April 1902, Page 5 (Supplement)

LONDON CHAT.

[FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.] . London, March 14. This evening will be held the first of the new "Courts" introduced by our present King and Queen, which are to supersede ;>V the daylight " Drawing-rooms" favoured by : our late Sovereign. The reform— was first suggested in Gilbert and Sullivan's whimsically delightful opera, "Utopia. Limited," the Savoy success of ;, 1894—has been cordially received by all :, excepting those outsiders who have no real r claim to- visit Royalties, and'who under the new system will find it far more difficult to penetrate that magic inner circle. These forlorn ones—parvenus of various types—now left our, in the cold, weep bitterly and refuse to bo comforted. But the legitimate members of the "Upper Ten Thousand" rejoice, not merely at" the exclusion of many snobs and bounders who formerly used to contrive to get " Between the wind and their nobility, but also because Court functions of this class are infinitely more appropriate and convenient. Evening dress is far seemlier and prettier in the evening. Health and sometimes life was sacrificed to the old custom, which compelled delicate women and girls to face exposure to chill winter frost or biting March east winds in that strangely pronounced form of undress which "society chooses to consider the fullest of full dress And seeing that the hour at which Royal" Drawing-rooma were held virtually precluded all. chance of a comfortable luncheon the need of refreshments of some sort, if ever so light, was often keenly felt. But happily we have "changed all that." I hear that the invitations to this first Court, which is to be held to-night, were all sent out by hand and delivered by one of the Gentlemen-in-Waiting; about 9CO people received invitations. ~ The idea of this being, a purely diplomatic and official Court had to be abandoned, as so nanny people wished to attend, and it does not seem possible to have so many Courts as may be required to meet all the wishes. About 400 people will be present who have no claim to be there on account of official position. The invitation cards are the same size as those issued for a State ball or State concert, and a separate card has been issued for every member of each family, with the special notice that the presence of men is desired. It is stated that "the old idea that everyone who was presented was expected to appear at Court every second season will no longer hold good, even in the case of those, who have a prescriptive right to be at Court. 'Attendance every fourth year will be considered sufficient, except in the case of those who hold official appointment.-'." The unmarried girls who have sent in their names have been courteously informed that they are not expected to attend the. Courts, but that. " this will not interfere with their go. big to Court balls.'' At the former Drawing-rooms Queen Victoria stood at one end of a long line of Royalties, beginning with the Prince and Princess of Wales, and on a level with those who attended or were presented; but to night, "a dais will be raised in the great ballroom, and the King and Queen will stand well in front of the throne, and alone, .with other members of the Royal family ;fa*?ed behind them. On the right hand of I eh" Majesties, where the duchesses' benches are usually arranged, all the. members, of the Household and the suite will be assembled, and, of course, all will be standing. On the left there will be all the Ambassadors and Ministers, and these will probably be the only guests with whom the King and Queen will shake hands. The arrangements for the entree are the same as usual, and all the'Gentlemen-at-Arms and Ushers have been ordered to attend, while the whole affair will be over pretty quickly. There will bo no refreshments served on arrival, but, when the 'general company have passed through they will be ushered downstairs, where "a buffet will be set out with the usual display of gold plate and (lowers, with the celebrated hock cup and everything exactly as it is at the Court balls. The King and Queen will not move from their place, as it is considered that if they began to speak to those they knew "it would be too long and trying an affair. It is for this reason, too, that there is to be little or no shaking of" hands. After the Court is over their Majesties will ,go to supper in a separate room, and) to this some of the most distinguished guests will be invited." According to one account The Royal gold plate has hitherto peacefully reposed at Windsor, and has only been brought out and taken up to London for special events or for any State functions. It will be on view to-night for the first time since it was used at the big luncheon given at Buckingham Palace to Karl Roberts on the occasion of his return from South Africa, when all the Royal family, except the late Queen, were present. Now the headquarters of this plate Mill be at Buckingham Palace. Ito is always called the 'gold plate,' but as a matter of fact the greater part of it is silver gilt, and its great value lies in its antiquity and exquisite workmanship." On the same authority I learn that:' "There will be. little alteration in the rules concerning State balls and State concerts, which have always been more a matter of favour than of high social standing or hereditary privilege. As heretofore, the invitation to a State concert will be a much greater honour than one to a State ball; and, on the other hand, the Royal garden parties and the receptions which will be held in the Coronation week will be more comprehensive. An entirely new feature will be the number of dinner parties which will be given to the more personal friends of the King and Queen, and there is a rumour that these m ly be followed by small dances. There will be no longer the official 'dine and sleep' invitations of former years, 'out mote informal week-end visits to Windsor Castle and Sandringham. During Ascot week, in fact all through the summer, there will be pleasant parties on .he river, and the King contemplates reviving the big picnic parties at Virginia Water, after the fashion which obtained early in the last reign."

Alice Roosevelt, the charming, ii perhaps not strictly beautiful, fair-haired, blue-eyed 18-year-old daughter of the President of the United States of America, has been more in evidence and more talked about than any Queen or Piincess or (Inches.", or any other feminine swell in the civilised world during the past fortnight. Her special nomination by the Kaiser as the baptiscr of his new yacht, her close association with the Kaiser's brother, Prince Henry, in the bitter'*, principal public appearance in New York, her graceful arid self-possessed performance of her formal duties at the yachtlaunching, and all the questions raised and discussed about her proposed visit to our Coronation affair, and then to the German Court, have combined to make this young lady the observed of all observers. Quite a thrill of disappointment has been felt both in Britain and in Germany on its being announced that her father, for reasons of State, has felt himself compelled to disappoint her and to forbid the visit. We all wanted to see this charming young American, and to worship at her shrine, and Ave all feel personally disappointed that she is not to come. lint the visit, in the circumstances, would have ruined her father's prospects of re-elec-tion to the American Presidency. It seems she was " crazy to come." as one paper put it. and her fond father gladly consented to indulge her wishes. Hut then it was announced from England that she must be received with " the honours due to the eldest daughter of an Emperor." Now the fair Alice herself would not at all have objected to this. In fact, she would have taken very kindly to British and German adoration. Rut the democratic Americans, although notoriously themselves the most utter of tuft-hunters, were scandalised that the daughter of their President should be treated with the servile adulation due only to a Princess, And so they kicked up no end of a. hullabaloo, and so pestered her father with puling petitions and worried him with denunciatory letter* that in the end ho gave way and said : " Alice, my dear, von really mustn't go!" So poor Alice 'could only submit. Probably she did a little weep," and then said, dutifully, Very well, popper ; I guess I'll stay in Ammurka with mommer and you (Ibis is not yet confirmed as to its verbal accuracy !) Two new plavs have just been produced m London '. with most contradictory and discrepant effects upon the dramatic critics.

The lucky Mr. Stephen Phillips, who certainly is not a prophet without honour in his own country, not only has " Ulysses" running to crowded houses at Her Majesty's Theatre, but has also " Paolo and Francesca" going with equal success at the St'. James'. Of this latter the Times says:—" Fortune smiles upon Mr. Stephen Phillips. He seems to be the only one of our contemporary poets who knows how to write dramatic poems which will act. But that is merit, not luck. Where Mr. Phillips is lucky is in his recognition by the people who*act plays and produce , them. Within little more than a year he has had three poetic dramas presented with the best histrionic skill, the most lavish and tasteful expenditure, and the most brilliant social eclat, which London can offer. First, ' Herod,' then 'Ulysses,' and now ' Paolo and Francesca' — hare at last, is one of the race of stage-poets not only accepted but acclaimed, and. indeed, if we may use so grovelling a word in so lofty a connection, ' boomed.'* The public seem as though, consciencestricken, they want to make reparation to the poets for their long neglect of the poetic drama. They are delighted with Mr. Phillips because— a little to their surprise they find that he (does not bore them."

But another London critic takes quite a different view. He writes: " Shakespere in old davs was said to spell ruin to a I theatrical manager. We should think Mr. I Stephen Phillips' works would certainly bring bankruptcy upon a manager who put the dreary plays of this modern poet ('!) upon the boards of his theatre, unless a very substantial syndicate of admirers are prepared to support the production. We hope, for Mr. Alexander's sake, this is the case. ' Herod' appeared to us grostesque and dull, ' Ulysses' ridiculous and tiresome ; and both these plays are unrelieved by a grain of humour, or, to our mind, a single line original line. But ' Paolo and Francesca !' The lovely and picturesque dream - picture of the tragedy of twi, lost souls given by Dante is transmogrified into a long-winded, ill-constructed, and inconsequent play, in which we are introduced to a number of characters in whom we cannot take any possible interest, who never seem to get any further, as far as the action of the piece is concerned, and who relate innumerable tedious platitudes in a stilted form of language, which we suppose is styled blank verse." And he winds up: "So this inane and foolish play concludes. The spectators seemed visibly bored, and there was much tittering during the tender scenes and the high-flown speeches of the various charafters. Altogether it was a. very sorry affair, and we do not. think it will hold the stage of St. James' Theatre for many weeks." This is distinctly " rough." One would almost suspect some personal feeling.

'Hie other novelty is by Mr. Harry Arthur Jones, and has come out at the Duke of York's Theatre. It bears the ugly and repulsive title, "The Princess' Nose." This play seems to oe as unattractive as its titleThe Times says : " The general verdict we fear will be a sniff. The players are all cordially , applauded. But when someone timidly cried 'Author!' a sudden silencealmost, as though by preconcerted signal— fell upon the house. A more unmistakable, a more impressive, verdict we do not remember in the playhouse. The public resented the vulgarity of feeling underlying the play. They did not ' boo' the author, but, like the Mikado. ' fitting the punishment to the crime,', they silently turned up their noses at him." This too is scarcely the language of fulsome flattery!