A MAID IN MAYFAIR

Taranaki Daily News, 6 October 1928, Page 19

A MAID IN MAYFAIR

GOSSIP FROM LONDON TOWN. A ROYAL EXAMPLE. (From Our Lady Correspondent.) London, Aug. Id. People who were at Cowes last week for the yachting festival have been commenting since they got back to London upon the Queen’s economy, in the matter of clothes. Most of the women in the yacht parties took huge wardrobes with them and changed their frocks half a dozen times a day. This year, too, a good many of them departed from the neat navy or white jumper-suit tradition and wore bright dresses of quite elaborate design. Not so the Queen. She went ashore every day in a smartly eut very serviceable cream gabardine wrap and a close-fitting blue toque. I believe the Queen’s one weakness is for nice gloves! She never wears a pair more than once, and they are always of the softest and finest skins. Pale grey is her favourite colour for gloves. THE QUEEN'S HOSTS, Lady Shaftesbury, the Queen’s hostess at St. Giles’ house in Dorsetshire, is the sister of the Duke of Westminster. A bright, gifted woman, she loves music like the Earl —he is a very good singer —and performs well, although she has not, I think, had any offers to appear on the variety stage as he has had. .She is also a good amateur actress. The family has connections with Northern Ireland; Lqrd .Shaftesbury’s mother is the only daughter of the 3rd Marquess of Donegal!, and Lady Shaftesbury is a J.P. for Belfast. St. Giles’ is a 17th century place with beautiful gardens; it has fine tapestries also, and carved rococo furniture which should interest Her Majesty, since she is an expert in such things. Lord Shaftesbury is Lord Steward of the Royal Household. A UNIQUE PORTRAIT FRAME. At Highcliffe Castle, not very far from Lord Shaftesbury’s place, there is a portrait of Louise Lady Waterford, which has the lady’s own hair plaited round the frame. A statue of the same belle- of ’ by-gone days stands in the entrance hall of the castle, which has come down from Lady Waterford to Major-General Stuart-Wortley who now lives there. His wife was formerly Miss Violet Guthrie, and she has written a book about the connection of this ancient castle with the Stuarts to companion her book “A Prime Minister and the Stuarts.” It is expected that the Queen will visit General and the Hon. Mrs. Stuart-Wortley while at St. Giles’; if so, she will be' pleased with the Highcliffo collection of china, and the flower paintings done by Lady Canning in India. Perhaps the' two stained glass windows presented by the ex-Kaiser when he stayed at Highcliffe in 1907 will also interest her Majesty. WOMEN WHO STEER. Not ail the women who go to Cowes are there merely to see and be seen. There are a great many really keen yachtswomen among them who sail their own boats, and Were steering the smaller yachts to victory last week in some keenly-contested races. A charming yachtswoman who has just had a beautiful schooner built in an Isle of Wight yard is Madame V. Heriot, a delightful little Frenehowman. Yatehtsmen know her very well and remember her recent victories on the Clyde. Her new boat is called Ailee, and it has a unique rig, for all the sails can be handled without calling the watch from below, and all the eanvas ean be spread in ten minutes. Mme. Heriot is the proud possessor of the French Legion of Honour—one of the few women to whom it has been awarded.

MARQUISE D’HAUTPOUL. When the King and Queen with their respective suites are both aboard the Royal yacht Victoria and Albert, the limited accommodation leaves little room for guests. Yet every year one “hardy annual” is amongst the invited guests of their Majesties at Cowes Regatta. This is the Marquise d’Hautpoul, Lord Camoy’s aunt whose mother was Queen Alexandra’s favourite lady-in-waiting. King George and the Marquise played together as babies at the Palace, and the early association has never been forgotten. The Marquise is one of the Royal Family’s oldest and most intimate friends, and is said to be the only lady outside the Royal circle who addresses His Majesty by his Christian name. FLYING FOR FUN. I expect we shall have numbers of smart young women coming back to London in the autumn with certificates lor proficiency in flying in their pockets. Aviation seems to be society's latest craze, and there is now an exclusive "Mayfair Flying Club” which aids and abets those who want- to take it up seriously, and who are in a position to buy, and fly, a small plane of their own. Lady Heath has done a great deal to stimulate interest in flying, and I think the way she has emphasized the difficulties which women have met in the matter of equality treatment from the authorities has done more than anything else to make her sex enthusiastic. After all, modern women do love a fight for “rights.” A great many of the learners are now taking instruction in the country, and making it part of their summer iioliday. A SWISS HOLIDAY. Mrs. Amery, the w. , f the Secretary -for the’ Colonies, lias gone off to her beloved Switzerland with Mr. Amery and their two boys. She likes to get there each winter sports season if she can, and to have fitted in this extra Swiss holiday has given tier great joy. Ail Cabinet Ministers’ wives give their husbands a good deal of useful rapport, but I do not know one who is □ore keenly interested in her husband's ,ob' than Mrs. Amery. To forge links between the overseas Dominions and the 'ionic country is one of the greatest interests of her life, and she has evolved more than one practical scheme fcr

bringing overseas folk into touch with those who will welcome them and be useful to them at home. Since her tour of the Dominions with Mr. Amery, Mrs. Amery has developed into an excellent public speaker, and she ean paint a graphic word picture of life in the Colonies. DEAUVILLE AGAIN. Everybody thought last yeai - that Deauville day was over and that its popularity was on the wane. It became so crowded, and is so easily got at from England that its exclusive air departed, and society found itself sharing favourite haunts and rubbing shoulders with a more cosmopolitan crowd than it had known in earlier days. So there wir much discussion as to the most suitable centre to take its place. So far, however, nothing has come of the suggestion that it should bo superseded, and it is filling up as rapidly as ever with the yachting, pleasure-loving section of society. Lord and Lady Birkenhead have just gone across in their little motor yacht, the Mairi, and the younger yachting folk are expected during the next few days.

THE NEW “SEASON.” Although society has hardly been out of London a fortnight I hear already of plans for social functions in what their promoters describe as “the autumn season.” And from all I can hear this is to open towards the end of September and go on gaily until Christmas. The Ice Club is to be one of the busiest social centres, and skaters are already seeing themselves in imagination cutting fantastic figures on the rink and carrying off wonderful prizes. There is still a long waiting list for membership, which means, I imagine, that a second rink, to be opened at Richmond in October, will prove very popular. Charity dances with elaborate cabaret shows are to be another feature of the autumn season. QUEEN MARY OF SCOTS. With the object of raising .£l5OO for the preservation of Queen Mary’s house, Jedburgh, a bazaar and fancy fair is to be held there in October. It will bo opened by Sir James Barrie and the Countess of Dalkeith. Since the far-off days when Mary, Queen of Scots dwelt within its historic walls, the house has remained in private ownership until recently, when an offer was made to the town to purchase the property for the sum of £750. Mr. F. S. Oliver, of Edgerston, generously offered the purchase price on condition that a sum of £l5OO was raised by Jedburgh to throw open to the public this romantic mansion and its adjacent lands. The committee are appealing to all friends of this ancient and royal burgh to assist them. Alice Lady Stratheden, of Hunthill, Lady Margaret Kerr and Lady Usher Wells are among the holders of the bazaar stalls. SOCIETY SHOPKEEPERS. Society shopkeepers are not so concerned as they used- to lie about the dose of tho London season. In other days an empty Mayfair meant absolutely no trade. But nowadays the shopkeepers jnst pack up their stock and follow the smart set wherever it goes. Very often they make more money out of London than they do in it. The really efficient shopkeeper looks well ahead, and just before society is ready to establish itself in some fresh centre— Cowes, for instance, Melton Mowbray when hunting begins, and so on —she rents a small empty shop there. Novelties are added to the stock she has in hand, and, a day or two before the local “season” is about to open, she sets out her wares in her new establishment. As her friends arrive, they find her ensconced, with the latest local gossip to retail. Her little shop .at once be-

comes a fashionable rendezvous, and generally remains so until society is ready to leave that particular centre. THE FOLICE COMMISSION. There is just at touch of genius about the selection of Miss Margaret Beavan, the woman Lord. Mayor of Liverpool, to serve on the police commission of inquiry. 'Women social workers in London are very gratified that she should have been chosen, for no woman, probably, is better qualified for the task. Miss Beavan has devoted the whole of her life to improving conditions of living for women and children, and her name is a household word in the poorer parts of the great seaport. Infant welfare has been her main objective, and the almost unbelievable progress which has been made in Liverpool in this respect is constantly being quoted by experts as an example of what unceasing effort, backed by wholehearted enthusiasm, will accomplish no matter what the odds against. Miss Beavan’s welfare work has brought her constantly into touch with women and girls needing police protection and her experience in this respect will be of the greatest assistance to the commission, THE PRINCESS'S REBUKE. That Princess Mary possesses great charm, of personality is well-known; that she has also a kindly, sympathetic nature was proved some time ago when she visited a certain home for mothers and babies. The committee, with chairman, vice-chairman and other important officials, met her on arrival, fussed about her and presented various local big-wigs to the distinguished . visitor, Finally they ushered her into the seat of honour, ignoring the neat, , grey-clad figure of the matron, on whom rested all the working responsibility of the home, The matron stood quietly at attention, her quick eye roving over the room, seeing that everything was. all right. Then the Princess caught sight of her. Without a moment’s hesitation, she leaned towards an official and asked in elear, ringing voice: “And am I not permitted to meet the matron ?” NEW HAIR ORNAMENTS. We are all going to wear flowers in our hair at night when the autumn arrives and smart “first-nights” begin again. ' They will not be real flowers—much as women seem to love roses and carnations' as coat buttonholes and corsage posies just now—but the very' smartest will bo made of coloured oilcloth. Society experimented with this highly 'varnished oilcloth for a series of “China” ; tableaux done for charity last year, and tho effect was delightful. The stiffness was a novelty after all the draped and drooping'effects‘of the last few seasons, and, apparently, the dressmakers think that stiff-looking -rosesand daisies will bo new ■'and fascinating to women who are busy growing their hair. .Some of the roses I have seeii look as if they were made of porcelain. NO KITTEN KICKS! I saw two teachers give a private exhibition dance a day or two ago. When I asked what new tortures in. the way of complicated steps, nerve-racking turns and sudden stops they had in store for us next season, the professionals seemed quite surprised. Nothing iconoclastic is contemplated, it appears, tho modern trend in dancing being towards the older, more graceful rhythm rather than to the newer, more jerky one. We have to thank middle-aged dancers for this change. Though they are keener than ever on dancing, they refuse to be bothered with difficult new-fangled steps. And since these people are the really profitable pupils, taking a dozen lessons where the youngsters will only take three, most of the teachers are willing to fall into line and teach modified versions of the exotic steps imported from America and the Continent.