PRINCESS MARY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 20131, 17 December 1928, Page 8

PRINCESS MARY.

BEFORE) THE WEDDING. ELABORATE PREPARATIONS. WAGGON LOADS OF PRESENTS. dazzLing royal trousseau.

BY EVELYN GRAHAM*

(Copyright.) No. XVI. No Royal wedding within the last 50 years excited so much popular interest as that of Princess Mary and Viscount Lascelles. Though this was in a great •measure due to the popularity of the Princess there can be little doubt that be.cause she was marrying a commoner it Was felt to be a real love-match, and thus made a direct appeal to the heart of the British public. The tremendous amount of work that devolves on the Lord Chamberlain's office when a Royal wedding has been arranged is not generally fully realised. From start to finish, from the moment the profession leaves Buckingham Palace to the moment it returns, every detail has to be rehearsed by the various officials who are responsible for seeing that everything .works according to plan. One of the first and most important details to arrange is to mark out on a large plan of the church the exact position the Royal guests are to occupy, and this plan cannot be completed satisfactorily until the invitations have been accepted. The King must, of course, issue a warrant authorising any Royal marriage, and icertainly he never signed a more interesting document than that authorising the marriage of "our most dearly-beloved daughter, Her Royal Highness Princess (Victoria Alexandra Alice Mary, and Henry George Charles Lascelles, comtnomy called Viscount Lascelles." Presents for the Princess.

Though all Royal weddings are producitive of many wedding gifts, the household at Buckingham Palace were (totally unprepared for the avalanche of presents that arrived for Princess Mary. For weeks a special staff was kept busily engaged unpacking the gifts which came from every part of the world, and from donors in every station in life—from Royalty to the youngest Girl Guide. Here are a few entries, taken at ran- ' Horn from the list of wedding presents given to King Edward and Queen Alexandra : From the Tsar—a jewelled gold shield. From three bus drivers —a pipe. From the Sultan of Turkey—a gold {Dpium pipe. . From ten street newspaper sellers—a jcigarette-holder. From five hansom cab drivers—a whip. Thare were also 1000 silver teapots >nd 1400 cruets among the gifts! Princess Mary's gifts presented as great B contrast. There were jewels from Royalties—magnificent presentations from . various public bodies; and countless small personal gifts from private individuals in jthe humblest walks of life. ' The Olanricarde Diamonds. By her marriage Princess Mavy came fnto possession of the magnificent Clanricarde diamonds which, previous to that, had been in the strong room of a London bank for over a centuiy. Two hundred years ago it was prophesied that these ■wonderful gems should be worn by a King's daughter, and when, after they had been reset according to Princess Mary's taste, she herself wore them, the prophesy jwas of course fulfilled. » The Dcncaster Race Committee presented Lord Lascelles with five silver statuettes, representing types of British Grenadiers—his own regiment—from 1660 to 1914, while the West Norfolk Foxhounds, with whom Princess Mary has often hunted, gave her a diamond and sapphire brooch in which a jewelled foxhound figured largely. The citizens of London's magnificent gift took the form of a diamond chain with a diamond pendant attached. This chain, 34in. long, was composed of large single stones, with smaller diamonds intersected and 10 marquise-shaped diamond motifs at intervals. The pendant, consisting of a fine drop-shaped Indian diamond surrounded by smaller stones of the first ,watei>, and set in platinum, measured 2in. jn length. The Girl Guides who purchased their gift by means of penny subscriptions, chose, a strikingly handsome pierced silver cheese tray, 13m. long by s£in. wide. {This tray stands cm silver castors, and was intended to be pushed down the table from joiner to diner. Princess' Wedding Dress. Like her mother, and even her grandMother, Princess Mary had always favoured the materials produced in this Empire for her clothing, and in her trousseau she a,s far as possible followed the principle laid down by Queen Mary who, on her engagement, decreed that for her trousseau "all the silk should come from England, all the flannel from Walfls, all the tweeds from Scotland, and every yard of lace and poplin from Ireland.' The wedding dresses of both Queen Mary and Queen Victoria, as well as Princess Mary's Coronation robes, are now in the London Museum. The wedding dress was in white and silver. The embroidery was lurgely of seed and baroque pearls and tiny diamonds, which gave a wonderful gleaming effect to the gown. Pearl roses rested amid silver leaves, and were twined on a silver trellis work which descended from the shoulders to the sleeves, encircling the jpdges at the elbow. The train was a work of art and a triumph for British workmen and women. It was woven at the Braintree mills, the 'warp being all white silk, 20,000 threads wide, and every Second thread of the weft was silver. It ,was embroidered in silver thread and Bced pearls, with the rose, shamrock and thistle and daffodil (or leek), the lotus of India, the maple of Canada, the wattle of Australia and the fern of New Zealand. There werci also emblems of many pf th' 9 more outlying of the Empire. The Lucky Thread of Blue. The beauty of the train was enhanced fly it being outlined in lotus blossom, and the Delhi silver, with which they .were worked, was given by the Queen. A really human touch was the thread of blue in the centre of each bud, worked there "just for luck," as a recognition of the old belief that every bride must have a touch of blue in her wedding dress. The orange blossom wreath wa3 shaped like a coronet, while the waist wa,s encircled with a frosted silver cord entwined with seed pearls and finished with • a trail of oranga blossom on the left side. The veil was of special interest. Part Of the lace was said to have belonged to Catherine of Arragon, and it is certain that it had been in the possession of the Royal Family of Teck for over a century. The going-away dress was of the Princess' favourite powder-bluo charpieuse, artistically embroidered with coral. The bridesmaids' dresses were of silver and white. Long panels of silver cloth opened at the sides to show the. handmade shadow lace> run with silver thread. The Princess took almost as much interest in the bridesmaids' dresses as she did in her own, and it was by her special wish that the, touch of blue was introduced into their toilette. The Prince of Wales was unalble to teach England In time for the wedding. [He was absent on his official duties for ithe Empire, and even personal matters were not allowed to interfere with the programme. The Princess chose Italy for the honeymoon. When a girl of 16 Queen Mary had, with her father and mother, spent nearly two years at Florence, and was gc familiar with all its beauty spots and familiar with its wealth of art k* tantiimwd dail*.J