THE PRINCE AND HAT FASHIONS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18045, 4 January 1927, Page 3

THE PRINCE AND HAT FASHIONS.

“ GOOD THING THEY CHANGE,” HE SAYS. (Special to the “ Star.”) LUTON, November IS. Plain, hard-working Luton took the Prince of Wales very, boisterously to its heart fhen he came to the “ Town of Hats ” to-day to present new Colours to the 2nd Battalion the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment and—because Luton is just now celebrating its jubilee as a borough— to see some of its prosperous industries in working order. In an open car—-he declined to use a closed one, though the rain which fell almost throughout his A-isit glistened on the tiniform of colonel of the Welsh Guards which he wore—he rode through streets made nearly impassable by immense crowds of madly cheering people. Extra forces of police had been borrowed by the town to help to keep the enthusiasm of the people within bounds, but even with the help of these all efforts to formalise Luton's welcome to the Prince speedily collapsed. First t ogreet him on his triumphal way were thousands of school children, whose shrilled “Hurrays!” had the. sound of a rising hurricane, and their excitedly- waved handkerchiefs were like a sea whipped to white fury. But, unlike their- elders, the children kept their ranks, and the Prince was able to smile his thanks for all to see. Drove at Snail's Pace. Presently his car was in the rush and swirl of a huge mass of cheering, shouting, streamer-waving men and women, and it was only by' strenuous exertions that the police managed to clear a way for the car to proceed at a snail’s pace. When the Prince arri\-ed at the town’s War Memorial to inspect a parade of ex-Service men, he found himself in the midst of a great crowd, which, struggling desperately to get a close view of him, overflowed on to the tops of the motor-cars following in the official procession. Girls clambered on to the bonnets of the cars and clustered thickly on the runningboards. At the football ground, where the ceremony of presenting the new Colours took place, there were more big, cheering crowds. Without an overcoat the Prince stood in the steadily-falling rain for about an hour. A Change of Clothes. When he appeared in the Winter Assembly Hall, where he was entertained at luncheon, the Prince had changed his very wet uniform for civilian suit. At the end of the meal he declined cigars and smoked his pipe instead. In his reply to a speech by Alderman Albert Wilkinson, the Mayor of Luton, the Prince said he hoped that the A-isit of the 2nd Battalion the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment to the town would stimulate recruiting, “ especially'- in the Territorials.” “We are not looking out for any more wars,” he said, “ but it rie\-er did anybody any harm to do a little peacetime soldiering.” Next Spring’s Fashions. During his tour of the town the Prince inspected the hat factory' of Messrs Currant and Creak, and observed the process of hat-making from beginning to end. In one department he was shown Avhat cAery* woman in the land would have giA-en much to see—next spring's hat fashions. The Prince noticed that there were few hats that were not for shingled heads. “Yes, sir, women take sizes in hats nowadays. just like men,” one of his guides explained. “ They’ must be giving you a lot of trouble, then,” the Prince laughed. Coming to a table on which specimens of old-time men’s hat fashions were displayed, the Prince picked up and examined what looked like a comedian’s stage hat. " What on earth is this?” bs asked. He was told that, it was a hat fashionable among men in 1857, and that it was probably’ the “ ancestor ” of the modern soft felt hat. “ Awful! ” the Prince retorted, shuddering. “ It's a good thing fashions change.”