A MAID IN MAYFAIR

Taranaki Daily News, 13 August 1930, Page 13

A MAID IN MAYFAIR

GOSSIP FROM LONDON TOWN. *LL GONE TO ASCOT. ' London, June 19. The West End of London has been almost deserted from the social point of view this week.. Everyone is-'at Ascot, either staying in one of the scores of house parties which have assembled in that pretty corner of Berkshire, or spending the day, after a comfortable journey from town by one of the “race specials,” at the racecourse. People who arc not the least bit interested in racing in the ordinary way never miss an Ascot meeting, and it is perfectly true to say that many of them never see a racehorse properly from the beginning to the end of ,the races, 1 . They treat the whole affair as a social event —the gardenparty which it undoubtedly is. Many members of the older generation indeed consider it a yearly -reunion where they meet all their friends. It is, without doubt; the pleasantest function we hasc left in the season’s calendar. . KING A DINNER GUEST.

' The King and Queen will revert to I their old custom of dining out with i favoured hostesses as soon as they arrive back at thc.Palace .from. Windsor r They will not do a great deal of going out, but they have definitely promised ' to attend a dinner-party at the Spanish Embassy .next Tuesday, and plans are being made for them to accept other - nr’itations. The Marchesa Merry del “ Vai will be their hostess next week, 5 and her party is being arranged in i: honour of the King of Spain, who is now i on liis way to England for one of his c usual brief visits. King Alfonso has had , a very trying time in Spain in the last ' few months, and will be glad.to have-.a 1 restful holiday in this country. ’ The King and Queen have watched the news of events in Madrid very keenly lately, and are looking forward to hearing from King Alfonso a first-hand story of all j that has been going on. PRINCE AS A GOLFER. .-.lt is, I am told, one of the keenest ' ambitions of the Prince of Wales as a golfer to get his handicap down to somewhere near the scratch mark. This probably explains! the keen interest he displays in the doings of the .American i kolfers over here for the championship, i Incidentally he is copying their: methods, i and thinks nothing of going out on to ; the links with a couple of dozen balk i to practise assiduously for three or four hours on end. With the American : golfers, from Bobby Jones downwards, he is a prime favourite. They have many tales to' toll •of his kindness, cf’ heart. He was chaffing one of the .Javers on the gay golfing shoes he was wearing. When he learnt that a strugcd’um manufacturer was most anxious to popularise them in this country, the Prince readily promised to sport a pair himself. He not only kept his promise, but gave a vogue to the new shoes which endures to the present day. TIARAS IN PLEDGE. Now that we are getting buck to the more stately manners of pre-war days, the fashion for wearing tiaras has been revived. For a good many years Jow they have come forth only on great State occasions, like the Royal ipenuig of Parliament. All this has now changed, and the fashion of wear’ng them on informal occasions is causing a little embarrassment to the banks. For it is ; a well-known fact that in some . instances these''family; jewek are literally in pledge. In’the majority of cases thev have been deposited with the bank as security for ’money heeded to pay off d-mth duties. It is eloquent of the confidence the. banks, have in their clients ' that no difficulty is made about their being temporarily withdrawn. In the case of two or three banks, at least, all that •is asked is a verbal promise that the jewels shall be returned in the course of a day or two for safe custody in the strong rooms. HOTEL RUMOURS. The latest rumour about London’s post-war construction is that a gigantic new hotel is to be built near Trafalgar Square. Jt is to cost aljout £3,000,000, and have a thousand bedrooms. Canadian enterprise and perhaps American dollars are said to be behind the scheme. London-is nowadays a greater tourist ahd "visiting centre, both for' the Continent and 9 America, than ever before, and there is no doubt'a lack of adequate hotel accommodation of the highest standard. But we are, even supposing this proj ict materialises, still far behind New York in hotel building. The American hotel king, Mr. Boomer, has come over to study our 'methods. He is credited with a proposal to build a new Waldorf Astoria in New York which will have 25,000 rooms. LOST PYJAMAS. I Everyone is sorry to hear that the Senorita de Alvarez will bo unable to play at Wimbledon next week owing to a strained ankle. There was a time when everyone hoped to see her carry off the ladies’ singles. She herself took her chances very seriously two or three years ago—even to the length of giving up cigarettes and late dancing! It is feared, however, that the pre-eminence of Helen Wilk has taken much of the heart and ambition out of our leading lady players. “Bunny’'’ Austin, in his book published this week, mentions that the Senorita is fond of practical jokes. Once a number of leading players were down for an exhibition match at Cromer and the men all lost their pyjamas! The Senorit had also “changed round the shoes outside the doors of the rooms of the other inmates of the hotel, so that the dainty, shoes of Mrs. Brown were seen near the riding boots of Mr. Blue.” The Seriorita once played tennis dressed as a man.

THE QUEEN AND SVZANNE. “Bunny” Austin, I notice, returns once more ii/his book to the occasion tvhen j Suzanne gave offence to Queen Mary by I keeping her waiting at Wimbledon. The j true story of this incident has novel been told, and probably never will be. But “Bunny’/ Austin is quite right in thinking that Suzanne was not to blame. Everyone knows that she is highly strung and temperamental. On this occasion she was really ill and the committee ought never to have asked her to go into the court to play.- when the situation was explained to her, and she was rebuked by the officials for net ploying, she took violent' hysterics, and doctors had to be called in. It was extremely unfortunate that one ot the Queen's ladies-in-waiting was not asked to explain the whole matter to Queen Marv. As it was Her Majesty felt herself affronted, and an incident, which might have been so easily explained a wav, resulted in Wimbledon being vir'tualiy boycotted by Royalty for sev- | oral, years. | ' THE QUEEN OF RUMANIA. !’ Jt is surprising what a tremendous I amount of interest ' there is in this i country in the movements of Queen 1 Helen-of Rumania. Women watch the I foreign news closely to discovc.r. hqw I far the negotiations for reconciliation •‘have progressed, and, considering that the young Queen is not a Continental Royalty who is very well-known in this country, the sympathy for her in her present difficult situation is intense. Throughout the (roubles of the last few years '"she has maintained a dignity ot bearing which English women have admired tremendously, and the tact and forbearance she has shown in regard to

her son, the small Michael —especially in her dealings with Queen Marie—have been- worthy of the highest praise. SOCIETY'S POPULAR BRIDESMAID. No bride at St. Margaret's, Westminster, has ever looked more radiant than did Lady Lettice Lygon this week, when she walked up the aisle with her bridegroom, Mr. Richard Cotterell, after a beautiful wedding ceremony conducted by Canon Carnegie. Lady Lettice has walked in so many bridal processions in London's favourite wedding church that there was nothing strange to her about the procedure, and people commented after the ceremony upon the perfection of all the arrangements. The bride looked like some fairy figure in her flowing satin jobes, which were veiled by the loveliest old Brussels, lace. A tulle veil was thrown back over her fair hair, and a pointed coronal.of orange blossom held in place a filmy “shawl” of lace’arranged to fall over her shoulders. Three of her sisters and her- cousin attended her, looking very pretty in frocks of parchment crepe romaine, and- with wreaths of roses on their hair. Each carried a bouquet of different coloured roses—one red, another white, a third yellow and a-fourth deep pink. ROYAL GUESTS. Pour Princesses were among the wedding guests—Princess Beatrice, Princess Helena Victoria, Princess Marie Louise and Lady Patricia Ramsay (Princess Patricia of Connaught)—and the peerage was well represented in the congregation and at the wedding reception, The young Duke of Norfolk was an usher, and his mother, the Duchess, dressed in blue satin, was a guest. The beautiful Duchess of Northumberland, in a spotted rod gown and a red hat, was there to see that her smallest boy, Lord .Geoffrey Howard, carried out his duties as page to the bride, and the Duchess of Richmond and Gordon arrived with a party of friends. Katherine, Duchess of Westminster, . was another guest, and here and there one caught sight of members of the Grosvenor family, to whom Die bride is related on her mother’s side, Marchioness Curzon of Kedleston, Lo,d and Lady Desborough, Lord and i ady Alington, the Fitzwilliams, the

Slanlevs, and a host of oilier wellknown people. AN ATTIC STUDIO. Any day just now, in the glorious sunshine of the London parks, a lady may be seen making careful studies of our English flowers. She is the Baroness Hertha DobloholT. An exhibition of her pictures is to be opened in London by the Austrian Ambassador to-morrow. The Baroness is a member of one of the oldest families of the Viennese aristocracy. Before the war she studied art merely as a hobby,' little guessing the value it was to be to her later. From a ■ life of security and luxury she was suddenly plunged into struggling poverty.. When Communism swept brntal- • ly through Vienna, the home of her an- ! cestors, one of. the most beautiful piiI vale palaces of the capital was convcrtjed into a mean tenement house. In this house the Baroness and her husband j are allowed three rooms, one of which lis her studio. The studio windows look i out upon the square before tlie Palace of I Justice; from them she witnessed some of the fiercest street fighting, and,watched the Communist masses cut down the police from their horses, trample them under, foot and pour lighted benzine through the windows of the adjoining j Parliament houses. '• : _/.-■> 1 - yachting HOSTESSES.’ I The prospect of hot,, sunny week-ends 1 has imbued owners of yachts with the I notion of taking their friends for short I cruises from kriday to Monday. . the Duchess -- of Westminster is one of the leading yachting hostesses, and she has [planned a series of week-end parties on i the Cutty Sark, the Duke’s famous luxi ury yacht. The Duke and Duchess of •Sutherland are going to entertain on I their beautiful Sans Peur, and the GuinI Hess family, who adore -.life on theii i romantic-looking barque, Fantome, have already shared its delights with their friends in Isle of Wight waters. Lord and Lady Beatty are planning cruises, too, and Lady Helena Eitzwilliam is. to bo "one of their guests in a yachting party shortly. ' THE SAD SIDE OF “SLUMMING.” What tortures women will suffer to 1 obtain the fashionable slim silhouette; Eiglitcen-day diets, all-lemon menus, orange! cures, skipping ,physical jerks to gramophone, tunes —all have been tried by those who imagine they weigh a few-.pounds too much. But I should think -the', greatest, trial of. all. is the “slimming process,” which requires the patient to lie for some considerable time in a bed of wax, which gradually sets firmer and firmer until she feels like, an exhibit at Madame Tussaud’s. Thus trussed up, and further enveloped in nice warm blankets, the poor lady grows hotter and hotter; When she is hot enough, she is removed from her wax case, plunged under warm or cold water, slapped; kneaded and generally reduced to pulp. And at the end of it all she may lose just a pound or two. , BING LETS AGAIN. ■ ! The latest Victorian revival is the ringlet. The very smartest hair novelty for evening consists of a bunch of short ringlets gathered up at the back of the neck, and two prominent cork-screw euris, one over each ear. The originator of this style, a Mayfair hairdresser, has made a great hit with it, largely because it goes well with ’the long frilly dresses in chiffon and organdie which everyone is wearing in tiie evening. Ringlets, however, are for the very young alone, and at present are .worn only at night. They come, “out of the box,” and there is no pretence that they are anything but-an artificial, addition. " AFTERNOON TEAS. ’. • ’ In the London hotels there is still a sameness about a dinner or supper party, but chefs and cooks in private establishments seem to be surpassing themselves lately in the -matter of tempting repasts. The greatest revolution, however, has taken place in regard to afternoon tea. It has become one of the most attractive “meals” of the day. Since the warm weather set in. the thoughtful hostess provides her guests with food and drink which is. a positive delight. Iced coffee is as easily available as tea, and ’there is the alternative • of drinks made with grape fruit, oranges and other refreshing fruits. Sandwiches made of moist brown bread, instead of the chippy white variety, and cake novelties copied from the Continental patisserie are the,; rule rather than the excepion nowadays, j BACKLESS BLOUSES. Backless blouses and sweaters for sunbathing are proving one of the most popular lines of the season. It seems that sunbathing this year is concentrating attention on the back. The wearer of° a backless blouse or jumper, while sitting or working in her gi’den or playing games, can snatch off her coat and give her back the benefit of every ray of sunshine. This is supposed to be energising. It lias certainly enabled desi'-nicrs of blouses and jumpers to make a change in design, and is also very welcome to manufactmeis, and sellers of anti-sunburn preparations. At the same store the manageress of the beauty department was making a special feature of anti-sunburn cream to prevent the hard lines which the wearing of sunbathing blouses or jumpers produces on the back.