Society Gossip.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1013, 31 July 1891, Page 11

Society Gossip.

(FROM THE SOCIETY PAPERS)

Never was a season so deeply overshadowed with misfortunes and sickness as the present one. The sudden demise of Mr Henry Brassey puts an end to several contemplated festivities, and the equally unexpected death at Eastbourne, from diphtheria, of Lord Henry Nevill’s only son, Gilbert Reginald u promising boy of 12, plunges the whole of Lord Abergavenney’s family in the deepest mourning. Lord Abergavenny’s eldest son, Lord Lewes, has been foi some time past a confirmed invalid, and after his father, Lord Henry Nevill, the deceased youth was heir to the Bridge estates.

The abdication of King Charles of Portugal may, I hear, be expected at any moment. Although not yet 30, he has grown so unwieldy as to be almost unable to move, and he wholly lacks both the energy and peculiar tact which made Doin Luis, his father, so popular with his subjects. King Charles deeply offended the Portuguese by what they describe as his ‘unseemly levity’ during the pompous funeral ceremonies of his father, and they entertain a rooted belief that their present sovereign (who is, like the King of the Belgians, one cf the lucky Dukes of Saxony) is entirely under the influence and sway of his near relative Queen Victoria.

ivlr Gosclien, son of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who some time ago made his mark in society, is gaining golden opinions in social circles at Sydney, where he is attached to the Government House in the capacity of private secretary to the Earl of Jersey. The success of the gubernatorial receptions and other social functions are, according to the Sydney papers, largely due to the young secretary’s tact and savoir fairs, qualities too often lacking in colonial officialdom.

Ever since Her Majesty patronised the bears in Windsor Park and Windsor Castle, every mangy beast of a bruin forthwith became a Royal Bear; and, as such, seems to have uncontrolled rights over the Queen’s highway. Sydney Smith once said that railway companies would never be made to mend their ways till they had smashed a bishop. Similarly, now that one of these performing bears has caused the death of ‘ a gentleman well known in city financial circles,’ public opinion may perhaps induce our rulers and governors to curb this dangerous license.

The little King of Spain has been sitting to a sculptor for a statue that his Lady Mother desires to have of her small monarch of five years and a half. There was a good deal of difficulty in getting a pose suited to the artist’s taste, until, one morning, as the sculptor was trying to get his little model into an attitude that should be both characteristic and becoming, a regiment passed the palace with the band playing. Alplionso XIII. started up, with his hand to his forehead, crying out, ‘ Listen, Senhor ! There goes the flag of the nation ! Salute V The delighted sculptor.saw at once that no better pose could be chosen in which to represent the enthusiastic little king than in the act of saluting his kingdom’s flag, and told Queen Christina of his decision. The child overheard him, and cried out, ‘ Oh, then, do, please, make me tall—very tall, and with a long moustache !’

The money derived from Imperial and Royal landed property is apt to vary and decrease along with the times; so that it becomes a serious question when Eirst Families increase faster than their revenues. The wealthy ones ought to take counsel together, and religiously put aside a portion of their surplus funds every year, to benefit poor Highnesses and prevent their applying any more for public relief. TJnpaid bills cast a slur on the whole exalted caste, and should be wiped off the slate by voluntary contributions within the pale.

The Russian Imperial Family are, at the present moment, a prey to everincreasing anxiety. Not only does the news about the Czarewitch and his brother cause serious apprehension at St. Petersburg, but the Grand Duchess Alexandra Josephowna, and the Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrowna are all more or less dangerously ill.