EVEN KING LAUGHED

Taranaki Daily News, 31 December 1935, Page 9

EVEN KING LAUGHED

famous remark recalled.

SIDELIGHTS ON ROYALTY.

When the King and Queen paid a State visit to Dublin immediately after the Coronation, my father-in-law, the late Lord Londonderry, acted as aide-de-camp to His Majesty. This was the first time that an ex-Viceroy of Ireland had acted in such a capacity, writes the Marchioness of Londonderry in the London. Sunday Graphic. 'A Court was held in Dublin Castle, and an investiture of the Knights of St. Patrick took place in the celebrated St. Patrick’s Hall in the castle. The late Lord Kitchener and Lord Shaftesbury were, remember, the two mew knights invested on this occasion. At the Court my mother-in-law, Theresa Lady Londonderry, was a brilliant figure, as ever. She wore a gown of white satin covered with exquisite Cariekmacross lace. She headed a deputation of Belfast ladies bearing a gift of laCe to Queen Mary. The lace was of the most beautiful texture and design, Youghal point?, and cost over £6OO. “I accept it with very great pleasure,” said the Queen when the' presentation was made, “not only because it is a gift from yourselves, but' also because it is a beautiful specimen of that workmanship which has made Irish lace so celebrated.” It was the last time that the King and'Queen were able to visit Dublin, for the course of political events in Ireland unfortunately made further yisits impossible. For a time it looked, indeed, as if Ireland would be lost to the Empire through rebellion and civil war. ’ - ' TENACITY OF THE NORTH. However, through the tenacity and intense loyalty of Ulster, a compromise was at length agreed upon, and the conflicting parties came to terms. Their Majesties set the seal upon the settlement when they visited Belfast in 1921 to open the first Ulster Parliament, Never before have I i heard such tremendous cheers, except perhaps during the days of the jubilee this year. The reception almost moved the Queen to tears. Everyone realised, I think, that it required great courage on the part of Their Majesties to visit Ulster at such a time and to drive through the streets in an open carriage, and their bravery was applauded on all sides. After their 1911 visit to Ireland Their Majesties, together •with the Prince of Wales <md Princess Mary, went to Wales, where they spent the week-end as guests of the late Lord Londonderry’s brother, Lord Herbert Vane-Tempest, at Plas Machynlleth. “Bertie Vane-Tempest” was not only a personal friend, of King Edward, but he was one of King George’s most intimate friends. as well. He had an inexhaustible fund of wit and humour, and his laughter and, gaiety were the most infectious I have ever heard. A career of pranks was begun at Eton, and included the overturning of a grocer’s car, complete with groceries, into Barnes Pool, for which he received a sound swishing. He was a magnificent shot, and in his early manhood he was a fearless rider,and won the Meath Hunt Cup. He actually fell off at the last fence, but was pushed on again and won the race!

Bertie Vane-Tempest was the author of a now famous sally. One day King Edward told him she was going to make a mutual friend a member of the Victorian Order. "Serve him right, Sir, serve him right,” was the swift rejoinder, and no one laughed more than the King. AFRAID OF MISSING WAR. During the years of the Great War Providence mercifully watched over »ny husband, He was already seconded from his regiment for Parliamentary duties when hostilities broke out. He volunteered at once to rejoin his regiment, but at that time the Household Cavalry were only sending out one regiment, the Ist. and 2nd. Life Guards and the Royal Horse Guards. Consequently, when Sir William Pulteney was sent out to France to command the Third Army Corps, on August 24, and offered to take my husband as his A.D.C., he accepted at once, anxious to get out as soon as possible. He, like so many others in 1914, was afraid of missing seeing anything before the war was over! A sidelight on the critical state of affairs in the early stages when the Germans were sweeping down on Paris is illustrated by this little episode in. which my husband figured. General Pulteney took over the command of the 3rd Corps during the retreat. Everyone was preparing to leave, and there was a good deal of confusion. The Corps Commander was moving pretty quickly, and it turned out that there was a brigade of Uhlans actually between the headquarters staff of the Third Army Corps and Paris. A THRILLING EPISODE. They kept coming across these Uslans on several occasions, in fact at any minute the Corps Commander might have been surrounded and taken prisoner. My husband was ordered to get what troops there were, together with the officers' servants, chauffeurs or anyone for the purpose of forming a bodyguard for the Corps Commander. They did actually fire several shots at Uhlans galloping through the forest unaware of the prize that lay so near them.

How close the corps headquarters were to being captured they will never know, but Lord Londonderry’s experience in ; turning out his improvised bodyguard and placing in their hands rifles which some of them did not even know how to use, was very thrilling.