ROYAL EDITORS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23124, 24 August 1938, Page 4

ROYAL EDITORS

PRINCESS MARY'S SONS

THE "HAREWOOD NEWS"

FATHER'S RACING TIPS

[from our own correspondent] LONDON, August 3 The two sons of the Princess RoyalViscount La see lies, aged 15, and the Hon. Gerald Lascelles, aged 14 —have become joint editors. Their journalistic career dates from Christmas, 1930, when their father, the Earl of Harewood, gave them a typewriter. Nine times a year, during their holidays from Eton, the boys produce, in duplicated typescript, the "Harewood News," price 3s annually, and all profits are handed over to the village hall fund. A special edition on sale this week at the Harewood garden fete was sold out. The boys typewrite and duplicate their own copy. They solicit articles from people in the neighbourhood, including the vicar, the Rev. H. H. Griffith, the schoolmaster, Mr. J. H. Wadsworth, and Dr. H. Cook. Their father contributes racing notes. Dr. Tancred Borenius, who is always in attendance on Queen Mary when she goes north, hands in authoritative articles on Harewood and its art treasures. Since most of the articles are unsigned, it is not always possible to be sure of the editors' contributions, but the cricket notes are certainly theirs. Correspondence is encouraged" and gratefully acknowledged by the editors. Keen Instinct The editors frequently deliver their copies by hand to local subscribers. f I hey are good business men. They write short personal notes to new subscribers congratulating them on sending up the circulation, and warm and encouraging letters to all contributors. By the end of September, 1937, the "Harewood News" had 35 subscribers. By January, 1938, the number had risen to 50, and the editors were able to report a small profit. A regular feature is the "Harewood Corner," containing personal items. For example, it tells of Lord Harewood weeding the cricket pitch, or the arrival on Harewood House terrace of 12 vases from Clumber, the old home of the Duke of Newcastle. Cricket notes are a feature throughout the year. Other items are angling notes, for practice in Harewood Lake has made the boys authorities on this topic, nature notes —sometimes it is a flock of Canadian geese visiting Harewood Lake that they draw attention to; Leeds cinema and theatre notes with the emphasis on pantomime, particularly the comedians, articles on model trains, aeroplanes, Britain's dwindling population. St. George, the Village Hall Fund, mystery stories in serial form, articles on Yorkshire monuments, and sometimes a general knowledge paper. "Name the seven deadly sins," they ask the reader. Criticism Sought

Outside criticism is encouraged, and in one issue the boys print a stinging criticism of their historical articles. In the main, however, the issues are greatlv appreciated by subscribers, who have 'discovered in the "Harewood News" a convenient means of ventilating local opinion over such pressing problems as local traffic congestion or the proposed village hall. The extent to which the boys have identified themselves with local interests, and their anxiety to lend a helping hand to every local cause, be it district nursing, the women's institute, or the Girl Guides, is a pleasing feature of the publications. In the latest number there is an interesting article designed to settle "once and for all' the dispute about the pronunciation of the name of the village—whether it should be "Harewood" or "Har-wood." The joint editors declare in favour of the latter, and facetiously quote a conversation overhead in a Leeds bus between two women, one of whom clinched the argument by saying, "Well. Mrs. 'lggins. they can say what they like, but I shall always call it ' 'Arewood,' with the haceent on the haitch."