REARING THE ROYAL CHILDREN

Southland Times, Issue 23180, 22 April 1937, Page 15

REARING THE ROYAL CHILDREN

Unselfishness And Good Temper In The Nursery

Intimate details in the upbringing of the Royal children are given in the following article by Elsie Fitzgerald in the Sydney Morning Herald. She says that in the Royal nurseries, extravagance of any kind does not exist. Before they go to bed, the Princesses are made to pick up their toys and put them away tidily. The Royal nurseries are models ot careful thought and planning, and mothers of children in less exalted positions would do well to follow a similar plan when designing their nurseries.

Extravagance of any kind, even in a little Princess’s room, is completely non-existent. Simplicity, according to Queen Elizabeth, should be the predominant feature of a nursery; and the Queen is one of a family of ten, so she would know, if anyone does, what is the child’s idea of a really good playroom. 145 Piccadilly is the home which the little Princesses will always chiefly associate with their childhood, although they have now moved to their “nursery flat” in Buckingham Palace. The Duke and Duchess of York, as they were then, designed the children’s rooms at “145” in the simplest and most unostentatious way. The Queen is a strong upholder of the importance of environment; she believes very firmly that babies should be surrounded with all things beautiful from the time of their birth, so that their taste may be developed, even if only subconsciously, along the right lines. Decorating a Study Most of the toys have now been transferred to the nursery suite at Buckingham Palace. The suite is on the second floor of the Palace, and consists of a day nursery and night nursery, and separate rooms for the nurses and the governess, Miss Crawford. At first it was supposed that Princess Elizabeth would do her lessons in the day nursery until they became important enough to be transferred to the old family schoolroom in the front of the Palace. But the King and Queen have decided that she shall have her own study on the second floor, and she has been allowed to choose the material for the curtains and covers herself. The Queen believes, very rightly, that children should be allowed to make their own decision in matters of taste. The colour scheme of the new nurseries at Buckingham Palace is pale greenish-blue and cream, with touches of red. The bathroom is a gay sunshine yellow, with a gleaming bath and basin in the same colour. For a while Princess Elizabeth will sleep in the night nursery with her little sister, but

soon she will be given her own bedroom, where she will sleep in her little white bed with its wreaths of painted roses, and have her own set of pmkenamelled brushes on ’ the dressingtable.

Unselfishness and Good Temper.

The Queen believes that _ unselfishness and good temper are virtues that should be stressed above all things in the Royal nursery. There is no superabundance of toys, nor are the Princesses led to believe that they can treat their own or each other’s belongings carelessly. Each night before they go to bed they are made to pick up their toys and put them back in the cupboard or cabinet where they belong. Although they are members of the Royal Family they are not given any excessively elaborate or extravagant playthings; their chief delight as small children, in fact, was always the usual fluffy dogs and lions and rabbits which all babies, of whatever rank, love to cuddle. Both children possess their own table china, an idea which many mothers might copy, both from a hygenic point of view and because babies with poor appetites can often be induced to eat if they have their own special plates and cups, patterned with exciting birds and beasts. Princess Elizabeth’s china is blue and white, with a design of two magpies, and the motto, “Two for Joy, in recognition of the fact that two of these birds fluttered gaily over Hyde Park Corner at the time of her birth. Princess Margaret’s plates and cups bear lovebirds perched on a spray of heather, a reminder of her Scottish birthplace.

Blue and White

The nurseries at 3 Belgrave Square are really good examples of attractiveness allied to practicability. The colour scheme is chiefly blue and white, the Duchess of Kent’s favourite colours and the national colours of her own country, Greece. The Duchess is a definite believer in the old saying that “Cleanliness is next to godliness,’ and all the nursery equipment is chosen because it can be easily cleaned. The walls are enamelled in a soft creamy shade, and can be washed from top to bottom. The floors are covered with blue and white checked cork, which is warm and soft to walk on, and is very easy to clean. Over them are scattered brightly coloured washable wool rugs. All the angles of the room are rounded to prevent any dust from lurking therein, and the windows are large, and open night and day. As a result the baby Prince Edward and his new little sister are growing up to be the happiest and healthiest babies imaginable.