RANEE OF SARAWAK

New Zealand Herald, Volume 78, Issue 24104, 24 October 1941, Page 2

RANEE OF SARAWAK

ARRIVAL IN AUCKLAND WIFE OF THE WHITE RAJAH Wearing a pun- silk grey and blue sarong, which was gracefully draped to form a complete dress, Her Highness the Ranee of Sarawak, wife of bir Charles Vvner Brooke, the third white Rajah, has arrived in Auckland en route to Now York and London. Jin; Ranee's first concern on her arrival was to find a place where site could purchase stockings, as she was feeling the cold very much, and when told that her chances of obtaining any were remote her dismay was apparent. The Ranee spoke enthusiastically of her life in Sarawak, in which she has lived for five months of every year for the past 30 years. Her home is a palace built in bungalow style and staffed by Malayan servants and a Chinese cook. The ruling white family, she said, lived

in close contact with the natives, who were a simple but friendly people. During the recent centenary celebra- 1 tions of the State of Sarawak the natives held great ceremonials, unostentatious but very lovely, comprising speeches of loyalty to the Rajah and Banee, the giving of presents, and the holding of torchlight processions and native dancing. The Banee had the unenviable experience of being stranded in New York unable to leave for Sarawak to attend the celebrations owing to the difficulty of exchange of currency. A writer who has written several novels and a history of Sarawak, the Banee promptly set to work to write magazine articles in America until she eventually accumulated enough money to take her to Sarawak for the celebrations. She is now on her way to London to spend the winter there with her three daughters, the Countess of Inch cape, who is driving a mobile canteen in London, Mrs. Harry Roy, who is in North Wales with her two small children. and 31 rs. Gregory, who is living in the country in England.