WOMAN’S WORLD

Taranaki Daily News, 11 December 1926, Page 19

WOMAN’S WORLD

A MAID IN MAYFAIR.

GOSSIP FROM LONDON TOWN. THE DUCHESS'S TROUSSEAU. (From Our Lady Correspondent.) London, Get. 2'B. The Ducliese of York, in spite of her many engagements in London, is doing quite a lot of shopping in readiness for her Australian tour. Many attractive day and evening dresses and pretty hats are being made for her in materials suited to the climate, for there will be endless social functions to attend during the months that she is away. Much of the lingerie which she will, take with her has been specially made, in the most delicate colourings and with Nottingham lace to trim it, at the Royal School of Needlework, of which the. Duchess is now the President. Experienced friends are helping her in her choice of travelling necessities. The Duchess had with her on her African Dip a camera, and a diary, and brought back records of her experiences, and she . will do the same during her journey with the Duke through Australia. AT KENSINGTON PALACE. Kensington Palace is a very busy social centre again since the Royal Princesses and other people who occupy suites of apartments in it have returned from holiday visits. Princess Beatrice, of course, has the Queen of Spain there with her just now, and in the ordinary way she and Princess Louise each entertain a wide circle of friends at the Palace, So also do the Dowager March; ionees of Milford Haven, and Lady Bertha Dawkins, the latter of whom has a charming suite in Prince of Wales* Court. Princess Helena Victoria and Princess Marie Louise, who have nearly as many charitable engagements in London as has the Queen herstlf, live together’ in a house in Pall Mall, and the Princess Royal lives very quietly in Portman Square, in a house full of interesting and historic furniture, pictures, and ebjets d’art.

WINTERING IN YORKSHIRE , It is probable that Princess Mary will be hunting again with the Bramham Moor Pack, as she intends to be at Goldsborough Hall for the greater part of the winter. Her Royal Highness’s love of country life is well-known, and she takes an eminently practical interest in its. activities no less than its beauties. Her home farm is a source of special pride and pleasure, and as it is equipped with all the latest improvements, it is justly regarded as a model for the surrounding neighbourhood. Every morning the Princess makes a tour of inspection, and invariably has one small companion who has inherited his mother's love of her Yorkshire home. Master George, who will be four next February, is growing into a line sturdy little laddie, and is tremendously interested in all the farm animals. IMPERIAL FEMINISM. There is one subject likely to be mentioned during the present Imperial Conference that concerns the feminists.' At present the United States docs not confer nationality upon the wife of an American subject born outside the Republic till twelve months after the marriage. This remains the case even when the alien wife petitions for recognition. Now quite a fair percentage of Canadian women are marrying Americans, and thus, for the full period of one year, these ladies remain in the legal sense utter Ishmaels. They possess no nationality whatever, having lost that of their birth through marriage with a foreigner, and, by the special regulation of the U.S.A, being debarred from their husband’s nationality for the period named. It is true this may in most eases be of small practical moment, but eurcumstances must and do arise in some instances where great hardship is inflicted. It is proposed, I understand, to bring influeuce to bear through Washington on the American Government to get the flaw put right. .SOCIETY WHISPERS. London Society, thrilled from day to day by announcements of engagements, is finding fresh iiHeres.L this week in rumours concerning two well-known Society girls. One is the step-daughter of a well-known peer who passed away recently. The young lady is said to be seeking her mother’s sanction to her engagement to a young barrister who is coming to the fore at the Law Courts. The other lady whose engagement is whispered about is distantly connected with the Royal family, and is one unofficially engaged to one of our younger il.P.’e. Both lades are debutantes who only came out recently, and both were expected to make brilliant marriages. HER LADYSHIP EXPLAINS. The manager of one of the oldest banks in the eity—transactions can be traced over 150 years,'for no correspondence is destroyed—tells me there are still women who have no idea of banking methods. Only last week he wrote to a certain elderly Peeress, pointing out a little matter of an overdraft, only to receive her reply that he must be wrong as she had four cheques left. This lady has been drawing on her own account for twenty-four years, and, thanks to a very large income, had never overdrawn before. Yet in spite of these years’ experience, and in spite of all the jokes that have been manufactured about banks and cheque books, she still thought she could go on drawing cheques while she had any to draw! Any my manager friend did not really consider her reply as anything unusual. A FLORAL TALISMAN. My florist devoted five, minutes to explaining solemnly, the other morning, that the eucalyptus flower is a sure talisman against the ’flu. Quite apart from a medicinal property it may or may not possess in its natural state,' there is a fascination about this tropical pcto among the plethora of ehysanthemunis. The graceful foliage, lader with the bloomy berries that are neithe: grey nor* green nor bluoj but hint ai

all three, lends itself particularly happily to decorative schemes. I find that all the London pavement flowersellers share the anti-flu theory, and make the iuost of it when they proffer the aromatic branches to passers-by. They are doing quite as big a trade in the berried sprays as in the bronze and gold glories of their chrysanthemum baskets. MRS. AMERY AS HOSTESS. Since the present Government came into office, Mrs. Amery, the Wife of the Dominions Secretary, has held a series of weekly receptions during the Parliamentary session. In view of the Imperial Conference they have .been resumed earlier this autumn, and many visitors from Overseas have flocked to the draw-ing-room of her pleasant house in Easton-square. Mrs. Amery is herself Colonial born, being the daughter of the late Mr. John Hamar Greenwood, and a sister of Sir Hamar Greenwood, M.P. The ■ political differences between her husband and her brother, which have long disappeared, were mere nominal than real, and produced no discord in the family circle. Mrs. Amery has not the speaking gifts of Dame Caroline 'Bridgeman, Mrs. Neville Chamberlain, eleven Mrs. Baldwin, hut she is- a woman of great charm and has friends in all parties. - A ROYAL STALLHOLDER. To lire delight of the organisers, the Duchess of York has consented to aet as stallholder at the big December sale of the Royal School of Needlework. The Duchess will play no merely ornamental role. The zest and graciousness she brings to the countless public functions Her Royal Highness is called upon to attend will ensure the success of the forthcoming sale of work. The Duchess is particularly well versed in nursery needs, and it is safe to prophesy that she would make baby garments “go” like wildfire. Her sense of humour thoroughly approves the modern fashion of introducing plenty of fun into the nursery wardrobe, expressed in cunningly embroidered, quaint animals on wee frock and junipers, and the humourouis side of nursery lore and legend.

Y.YV.C.A. CLUB FOR GIRLS. The Duchess of Atloll took the chair yesterday at a dinner on behalf of the scheme to erect a club in London under the auspices of the Y.W.C.A. for business girls and women, The building is to cost about a quarter of a million, a site between Tottenham Court road and New Oxford street has been secured—and the promoters still have to raise about £l6o,fiW. Such an institution is much needed, for a bleaker and lonelier life than that of the girl who has no home of her own in London it would be difficult to imagine. It is both dull and dangerous. The chairman of the Appeal Committee is Lord Forster, the late Governor-General of Australia, still affectionately known as Harry Forster, University and county cricketer, Parliamentary whip, and golfer. He tells me that he hopes the great business firms which have large staffs of girls will support him. The much-denounced living-in system had its faults, but it had also its advantages, and these the new club is meant to provide. A HILLTOP HOME. “G. B. Stern,” who in private life is Mrs. Geoffrey Holdsworth, has been visiting the French vineyards with a view to writing a book about them. She and her husband- are happiest, however, in their beloved Italy, their definitely adopted land. At Diano Marina, they have bought a whole hilltop, where they have built a delectable home, and where work is fun, either individually or in collaboration. The. other “G. 8.5. as she is sometimes called, has written many short stories with her husband as part-author; and the lighter medium makes a pleasant variation in the more formidable Jewish “saga” themes that made her a name of. conjure with in the world of contemporary fiction. THE PRINCE’S TUTOR. Barrie Oliver, who performs the Charleston with such vim on the stage, is no less perfect a ballroom exponent of the übiquitous dance. According to this expert professional, most of us have a totally wrong impression of the inherent character of the steps and rhythm. Really, it should be as “lazy” as the tango, whereas most people dance it as if it were an exhibition of physical endurance. It is not surprising, by the way, that the Prince of Wales lias nothing more to learn of this imported measure. Enthusiasts declare he is a joy to watch; and His Royal Highness himself would be the first to admit that he owes his prowess mainly to Barrie Oliver, whose privilege it was to put his royal pupil through his terpsichorean paces. CHEZ KARAWAY 7 . After a clever performance by the students at the Etlinger Theatre School in Paddington Street, I dropped in Karaway’e with some of the young artists who have discovered, with others, the Karaway specialty of home-made scones. I noticed that Alma Taylor and Isabel Jeans, who also came in for afternoon tea, had both adopted the new alliance of navy and black. A smart navy toque with a black coat is the ultimate chic Alma’s chosen touch-of colour round the brim was red: Isabel’s white, and while the former wore a grey fur, the latter had one of the new soft beige wraps about her shoulders. But what everyone particularly admired was the wonderful jabot that finished oft’ Isabel’s toilette; and the natural beauty-patch—a perfectly-shaped ami perfectly—placed mole at the side of her pretty mouth —which accentuated the loveliness of Alma’s complexion.