A MAID IN MAYFAIR

Taranaki Daily News, 4 December 1930, Page 13

A MAID IN MAYFAIR

GOSSIP FROM LONDON TOWN. ( ! — THE KING’S HEALTH.' p 1 (From Our Lady Correspondent.) ; London, Oct. 9. People who have seen the King since his return from the north are full of the improvement shown in his health since he. was last in London. There i«s no doubt that the Highland air has gone a long way to complete bis . convalescence. A few mejnths ago attention to his official duties was a positive labour; now he manifests all his old ’ interest in public affairs. The fact that he is opening the new session in person io eloquent proof of his re--1 covery. If all goes well, His Majesty 1 has no thought of spending the winter abroad. He dislikes travel) and though the Duke of Connaught has repeatedly urged him to pay a visit to the Riviera, ' he always protests that he is never so happy as when he is at home. If ')ie has to go away he will probably elect 1 to visit one of our.southern .watering places. But it will not be Bognor. 1 PRINCESS ELIZABETH’S DREAM. I am told that little Princess Elizabeth is wildly ambitious to accompany ’ the Duke of Gloucester to Abyssinia. She has heard sb much about his impending visit that her childish imagination has been fired. AU the members of the Royal family indeed are taking the greatest interest iit the Duke’s journey—interest not entirely unmixed with envy. The Prince of Wales and the Duke of York have both seen a good deal of Africa, but the Duke of Gloucester in Abyssinja will be breaking entirely new ground. He himself is looking forward to the visit with keen anticipation —pleasure in no way damped by the playful stories with which he is regaled of having to eat raw meat when he is on safari. The Duke’s letters home should- be worth reading. He has a keen sense of humour and his lively pen may be trusted to do full justice to the scenes of barbaric splendour he will- witness. PRINCESS INGRID’S FIRST MEET. I believe it is typical of Princess Ingrid that she should choose to go out huntino' on foot to make acquaintance with-the ways of following hounds in England. • She is a thoroughly democratic little lady, and someone who was with the hunt, when she was introduced to it told me that the Princess enjoyed it all immensely. She is used to a good deal of country walking and rambling, and ‘she scrambled through woodland and took stiles in her stride with great joy, always;remembering, however, that Princess Helena Victoria was with her and could? not do quite so much climbing and jumping. Princess Ingrid’s host, Sir .Harold Nutting, was very anxious to mount her for her first meet, but she begged to be allowed to go out on foot, probably feeling that she would be able to watch procedure better, and take mental notes of the etiquette which rules hunting in the Shires. F.E.’S DOG. Jane, the late Lord Birkenhead’s pet sealyhani, is tragically disconsolate at the loss of her master. If Jane obuld talk, what secrets she could divulge. There were very few places to which she did not accompany Lord Birkenhead. The Cabinet was barred, but often she accompanied her master to ths clubs, and on one occasion, to my knowledge, occupied a seat as an “honourable guest” just in the rear of Lord Birkenhead’s seat at the table. She always slept in. his bedroom, and has been present at many of the important secret conferences eminent statesmen have held with her master. Jane is a well-mannered pet, but she was quite vicious if anyone attempted to interfere with any property which she regarded as belonging to her adored master. Life is very dull for her now. She spends most of her time in Lord Birkenhead’s room, waiting in sad per- ■ plexity. HIGH LIFE BELOW-STAIRS.

The other day I heard a pretty story of a real live “pompous butler.” An acquaintance, a widow living alone, happens to possess a good-sized ( London house, and to be under the necessity of keeping it tip. She keeps it up with the help of a dozen servants. She lives very quietly and goes abroad for two or three months each year, during which time the house is kept going as, for the benefit of the staff. She entertains very seldom, but during the summer season she invited her daughter, son-in-law, and a youthful granddaughter to stay with her. Imagine her astonishment when, after the - guests had been in the house two or three days, the butler appeared- with a request for permission to engage a couple of additional maidsi “as a temporary measure.” He pointed out, with utmost gravity, that the three visitors, and one of them a child, imposed a severe strain on the household staff, and he felt his mistress would appreciate the necessity for extra assistance. FAREWELL TO AN AMBASSADOR. . Social, diplomatic, and musical London will miss the German Ambassador and Frau Sthamer, who have just bidden goodbye to the German Embassy Nobody grudges them their well-earned retirement from diplomatic life, but there are many of their English friends who will wish they might have been spared to the Corps Diplomatique for a little longer. Their great love of music and Frau Sthamer’s famous musical parties made them many friends in the artistic world. But they were loved and’respected best for the tactful way in which they faced a very difficult situation after the war. It was no easy matter, in the face of a good deal of illfeeling, to take Up life in the Embassy and carry on quietly and tactfully as though there had been no hostilities. But they did it with the best possible taste, and without making enemes. ' AN ARDENT TRAVELLER. 1 I imagine that the. late Lord Curzon's eldest daughter, Baroness Ravensdale,

is determined to see every corner of the globe before she dies. She has only just returned from a cruise of the northern capitals, and this week she is off again to foreign shores, her journey this time being to Abyssinia, where 1 should think it highly probable that she will meet the Duke of Gloucester. She has, I believe, already done a round the world trip, and in the last few years she has picked out countries hero and there for a visit, being away very often—to the disappointment of her large circle of musical, artistic, and hunting friends —for months at a time. c It was expected that she would be at her charming little place in the Shires for cub-hunting during the next few 6 weeks, but the wander-lust has appare ently been too strong for her again. iTHE BACHELOR GIRL. e 'I Women long ago annexed th® term ” “bachelor” along with other oncen masculine possessions, but they still cling to tire woman-and-home ideal. V Grappling with the problem of comr bining the two they have evolved varied h and ingenious homes, which will be on y view at an exhibition next month for '■> the benefit of the bachelor girl. In the 0 new Horticultural Hal] she will see flat--0 lets devised to provide her with all possible comforts at the least outlay = of labour; one will be run by electricity, another by wireless. She will also - have an opportunity of showing her “home” side by entering for cookery competitions, thereby winning suites of ■ furniture for her bachelor home. On f each of its ten days the show will be •• opened by a woman famous in work or ” play —Lady Astor, Betty Nuthall and ■ Winifred Brown, winner of the King’s 3 Cup, are among them. ? s THE QUEEN OF SPAIN’S VISIT. 1 1 Much interest is aroused by the visit 1 to England each year of the Queen of f Spain and her daughters. Not only are • London’s social circles affected, but 5 a huge group of professional and 1 better class tradespeople benefit cnorT mously every time the beautiful 1 Spanish Queen “comes home.” She has ' her dressmakers, her milliners, her ' jewellers, and her photographers in this [ country, and most of the expensive ■ suites in. a Kensington hotel much ’ fa-’oured by Royalty are taken for > several weeks together for her entourage. Queen Ena spends money, ungrudgingly during her visit. She does not just fling it here and there or try to give an impression of wealth. But she 1 buys dresses and hats for herself and ; her daughters which are suitable for all kinds of occasions in Spain, and she “shops” in dther ways as she could not do in her adopted country. She is expected in London this month. MRS. SIDNEY WEBB. ; The editor of the Court Circular is always a stickler for etiquette. In last Friday’s issue, amongst Their Majesties’ guests at the dinner given to the Immperial Conference delegates, Mrs. Webb is described as “the Lady Passfield.” bfow all the world knows (and has smiled) that when Mr. Sidney Webb became Lord Passfield his wife announced her desire that she should continue to be known as Mrs. Sidney Webb. At the time that desire was expressed some of us felt there would be occasions when that wish could not be gratified. Lady Passfield she is and must officially remain, whatever her personal idiosyncrasies may be. She is not the first to kick against the pricks of fortune, in this manner, for Dame Margaret Lloyd George, when awarded the G.B.E. wished to continue to be known as Mrs. Lloyd George; but she received an intimation, from a quarter t.iat could not be disregarded, that she had accepted the honour, and henceforward she wag Dame Margaret.

DOING EUROPE. A friend of mine who has just come back from a holiday on the Continent was telling me of the' amazing huetie accomplished by'some of the Americans. He met a party of them at The Hague who had come out on a month’s journey from New York. That meant that they had had about a fortnight to epend in Europe. He asked one old lady who was very lame what she had seen. “Well,’’ she said, “we have eeen eo much I can hardly tell you. But we have contrived to visit seven different countries.” My friepd elicited the fact that they had “done the Alps” in one day and had even contrived to pay a rush visit to Venice and the Lido. At The Hague they had only a few hours to spend before they embarked for America. But they contrived to “do’’ Rotterdam in the interval. LADY CYNTHIA IN RUSSIA. An impressive number of Socialist M.’sP. have been improving the shining recess by travel in far countries, and thus, let us hope, broadening their outlook. Only a few have ventured to ; sample Soviet rule in Russia, however, amongst them Miss- Jennie Lee and Lady Cynthia Mosley. It will be really interesting to see how these two contrasted feminists react to the Moscow mummery. Lady’ Cynthia; by the way, is a relation by marriage, to a former British Ambassador at St. Petersburg under the Tsarist regime. This is Sir Charles Whitworth, whose -I'ther ’was a . niece of an 18th century S ; r Oswald Mosley. Sir CharleA was appointed in 1704, and six years later successfully undertook a most ticklish diplomatic mission. It was his task to pacify the noble rage of no less formidable a person than Peter the Great, hugely ■ incensed by his London Ambassador’s arrest in the public streets for debt by two common bailiffs. MEMORIES IN MAYFAIR. That corner of Mayfair where the housebreakers will shortly be having their fling must be very full of sentimental as well as historical associations. For the old houses in Berkeley Square and Bruton Street, which have just been sold, were the scene in the good old days of brilliant functions. Many notable society women can carry their minds back to coming-out dances in the gilded ballrooms, which are so. soon to make way for board-rooms or trade salons. In one of the unsold houses last week there was a small tea party, ami a woman, now a grandmother, asked her hostess if she might be allowed to ’ peep into the house nextdoor. A flight of steps in the connecting I

paved yard led up to a small drawingroom with glass doors. “I’d like to' go alone,” ehe said. On her return she told the rest of the party that her husband had proposed to her in that room. “I felt I must have a last peep at it,” she said. A ROYAL CATCH. Kinw Boris of Bulgaria, whose betrothal to Princess Giovanna of Italy has been officially intimated, is 36 now, and was, therefore, only 24 when he succeeded to the throne in 1918 on the abdication of his father, King Ferdinand. But it is inaccurate to describe him as the youngest reigning monarch, because the Emperor of Japan claims that distinction. He has also been called “the loneliest monarch,” but he has, at any rate, now taken happy insurance against that sinister title. His bride is the youngest and much the prettiest of the King of Italy’s daughters, and by all accounts a really charming young Princess, highly intelligent, and splendidly educated, a great horsewoman, and blessed with an. infectious vitality. The marriage may, in view of Signor Mussolini’s Balkan policy and feud with Czecho-Slovakia, not he without its political repercussions. WITCHBALL JEWELLERY. The witchballs, which .have been so popular lately as a form of household miniature to form the newest necklaces decoration, are now being produced in and earrings. They ar© made in all colours of the rainbow, and are said to be the success of the season. Witchballs lend themselves particularly to the “off black” colours, which are the smartest just now. Blue-black, greenblack, and purple-black witchball sets ar r sold with frocks of the same colour. Gold arid silver witchball jewellery is the newest and certainly the most striking way to finish off a frock in a severely plain white or black. ,