PRINCESS ELIZABETH

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22900, 1 December 1937, Page 5

PRINCESS ELIZABETH

ROYAL PATROL LEADER PAYS 2D A WEEK AS GUIDE INTEREST IN THE WORK Every Wednesday afternoon 16 little, girls drive into the forecourt of Buckingham Palace. They aro the members of the most exclusive little group of girls in the world, Princess Elizabeth's own troop of Girl Guides, states a London writer. But though they belong to the First Buckingham Palace Company, and though their patrol leader is Princess Elizabeth, and one of the Brownies is Princess Margaret, these little girls obey the same strict rules as all other Girl Guides. They play the same games, do the same drill, and take the same tests, because the whole idea is to teach the little girl who may ono day bo Queen of England how to live and play with —and like other children. And 110 one enjoys it all more than the eleven-year-old Princess Patrol Leader. The Princesses' cousin, Margaret lClphinstono, Lady Mary Cambridge, the daughters of Lady Cavan, Lady Allendale and Lady Plunket, and the two daughters of Sir Alexander Hardinge, the King's private secretary, aro njembers of the company. Eye For Detail The weekly company meeting begins at live p.m., and in the winter days the Guides meet in the royal schoolroom which is on the second lloor of the Palace, overlooking the Mall. This is their drill and training headquarters. Hero Miss Crauford, the Princesses' governeVs, and her tu - o charges wait to receive their guests. To teach the Princesses and their friends the proper principles of the Girl Guides, a member of the headquarters stall, Miss Sind, comes to the Palace every week. She.goes up to the schoolroom half an hour before the other members of the company arrive and sees that Princess Elizabeth has donned her smart blue uniform —and Princess Margaret her brown one—correctly. Princess Elizabeth lias her father's mind and eye for detail, and rarely makes a mistake of any kind with her equipment. Often she can put her friends right. The proudest possession up to now of the Buckingham Palace Guides is a big handcart, painted in Guide blue, with the name of the troop in gold letters 011 each side. So far the little company has not held its meetings in the open air, though it was i ll the sunuuer-liousci bv the lake, where lving George V. used" to like to work, that the troop was first founded. Spring Hop«s But eager plans are being made for all sorts of exciting training out of doors as soon as the spring conies. Princess Elizabeth is hoping to take her friends with her to J?oval Lodge; so that they can spend a day in Windsor Groat Park practising the tracking signs they have been learning, lighting wood* fires and learning about woodcraft. Already Princess Elizabeth and several of lier fellow Guides are getting ready to take their second-class test, which includes nature lore, signalling, tying knots and making beds. They have already passed the tenderfoot test with the Guide promise: "To do my duty to God and tlif King. "To help other people at all tunes. "To obey the Guide law." The .Royal company, like every other guide company, has its own court of honour, at which the Guides themselves "run" the company's affairs. Princess Margaret as a Brownie is not entitled to attend, and the dearest ambition of her life at the moment is to become a Guide too and hear the "secrets" that the other girls talk about in the "court." Flag Drill Accurate accounts and minutes of the company are kept, and every penny accounted for. Every member has to pay out of her pocket money a weekly subscription of twopence for the purchase of signalling flags, stationery, and other requirements. The long, red carpeted corridors of the Palace make an ideal place for signalling,- and often, outside the schoolroom, Princess Elizabeth can be seen clutching a flag and waving messages in morse eodo to an imaginary guide at the other end of tlie Palace. First aid treatment and cooking are two important subjects in the guides' training, and nothing delights Princess Margaret more "than being the "dummy" for her sister and her comrades when they practise bandaging and dressing "wounds." Camping is an important part of Guido training. Princess Elizabeth hopes to win from her mother permission to spend ti night or two under canvas in Windsor Park next summer.