London Gossip

Southland Times, Issue 22490, 26 January 1935, Page 15

London Gossip

(From Our Correspondent.) Mayfair, December 6. Interesting Cushions. The craze for decorated cushions is making hostesses search for out-of-the-ordinary ideas. Lady Strathmore, mother of the Duchess of York, hit on the idea of historic cushions, and the first ones made up to her design were among the most popular things on her stall at the Greek Festa at the Dorchester yesterday. They were in tartan, and she tola me that she had the material copied from a coat in her possession that belonged to Prince Charlie the Pretender. Lady Lytton and Lady Violet Benson had also discovered the lure of cushions. Their cushion stall included petit point cushions in Italian design, others of pale gold brocade, chintz cushions for the bedroom at 5/- each, and American cloth garden cushions that the rain does not spoil. , . _ Orchid sprays from Glamis Castle and large bunches of bright greenparsley from Lord Plender’s estate were other items that sold fast. For the Prince.

Last night was also the occasion for a dinner at the French Embassy m honour of the Prince of Wales. There one large table was used and lace mats which are a speciality of this Embassy, were displayed among the priceless Sevres groups. , Among the guests were the Duke and Duchess of Sutherland, the Duke and Duchess of Rutland, the Marquis and Marchioness of Anglesey, the Countess of Dalkeith, the Marquis and Marchioness of Crewe, the Earl and Countess of Cavan, Viscount and Viscountess Gage, Sir John and Lady Milbanke, and Lord and Lady Stanley, Lady Alexandra Haig, Mrs Arthur James, the Prmce de Bourbon, Count an fl Countess Vladimir d’Ormesson, and Countess Bernard de Ganay—making altogether about three dozen. New Careers.

Tenant farming and the teaching of remedial dancing for crippled or slightly deformed children are. two new occupations for the enterprising women of to-day. . , The Hon. Ruth Dawnay, sister ot Lord Downe, is now a tenant farmer on the big estate that her brother has at Hillington Hall, King’s Lynn, not far from Sandringham. This arose out ot the difficulty that many owners of big estates have in securing reliable tenants for their farms, so Miss Dawnay has put aside her hunting sketches and is in active control of more than 500 acres of land. Flax growing, of which the King is the pioneer, is one of the branches of the work. The Hon. Mrs Paul Willert, Lady Cowdry’s daughter, who was a bride early this year, has left her radiography studies to learn remedial dancing, with a view, as soon as she has a certificate, to teaching it to children. A Decorative Screen.

A screen painted on vellum with a secret washable medium, based on the idea of the Italian Primitives, will be placed by the Duchess of Kent in one of the rooms at 3, Belgrave Square. It is-a gift from a school friend, Lady Harcourt, with whom the Duchess studied in Paris. Knowing her fondness for horses as a school girl, Lady Harcourt asked Mrs Beatrice Maedermott for the Chaucer pilgrims’ design showing the Squire’s horse in the foreground.