LONDON LETTER

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18186, 20 June 1927, Page 10

LONDON LETTER

The Season Opens—A Charming Eg Idea—Political Tactics—Miss Lloyd George—A Change jygj at the Admiralty—The Prince and !aj| Fashion. SarO n=n n=n n=n iF-n iFTL^iti'Piu^iuaue

ue=ii u=u u.=ti ue=u ud\ uc=u ucdj u«= CSpecial to the “ Star ” by Reuter’s Agency.) LONDON, May 5. The London Season. The -unfurling of the Royal standard from the flagstaff of Buckingham Palace as the King and Queen drove i in on Monday from Windsor was the symbol of the opening of the London season. It was a wonderful day in town, a warm southerly breeze replacing the cold north-easter of the week-end, with the sunshine as brilliant, as ever. Everything appropriate to the merry month seemed to have its “opening.” The Royal Academy admits its first ‘ crowd of paying visitors. Grand j Opera began at Covent Garden, the | New Zealand cricket team started prac- j lice at Lord's, while a Guards batta- i lion marching through the streets with drums beating and bayonets fixed, to take a new spell of duty at the Tower, supplied a touch of martial pageant. Even Parliament had its “ opening” event—the beginning of a long debate on the Trade Unions Bill. An especially gay London season is foretold this year. Royalty will be strongly in evidence, for several European Queens may visit our capi- j tal during the next two months. The Queen of Spain, who may bring j her pretty eldest daughter, the i Infanta Beatrice, to take her due place in the Royal circle at the Courts, | is still looked upon by the elder genera- ! tion as belonging .to England, although ! she has so wholeheartedly adopted Spain that the average man-in-the-Street thinks of her as a foreign Royalty. During the war the Queen of Belgium, who is also expected, won great popularity here, but the beautiful young Marie of Jugo-Slavia, granddaughter of the late Duke of Edinburgh, who was the King’s uncle, will, if she comes, be almost a stranger. There are hopes of a visit from Queen Withelmina of Holland, and from the Queen of Norway, who will probably be j here for some part of the season. She enjoys revisiting her native country, and will be warmly welcomed by Lon- j doners. With the French President pay- j ing a visit to the King and Queen, and i the French Fleet at Portsmouth, there will be much ceremonial. The number | of balls to be given for charity is greater than usual. There are at least ten j important events announced of which j the chief are Lady Carlisle’s effort for j the British Hospital for Mothers and; Babies, one for the “ Queen Mary i Wing” of the Royal Free Hospital ‘ (which is run by women), and the League of Mercy Ball which the Prince J of Wales is to attend. The Royal Academy. . Society has had its field-day at the ’ Royal Academy. The “ private view,” I which never seems to lose its attrac-1 tion, is over, and for a week or two the j pictures will be subjects of discussion at West End tea-tables and dinnertables. Only a few of the visitors pay serious attention to the exhibits and for the majority it is merely an agreeable social reunion. The crowd is too big for an effective study of the pictures, and visitors are content with the sight of each other, which they seem to find a satisfying study. The more fashionable artists are, however, in great demand. To be taken in tow by one of these and specially shown his or her works is a flattering attention that never palls. This is a favour which can only be enjoyed by a limited number of people, and the general interest lies in living personalities and their dress. A Cabinet Minister, a prominent judge, a great financier, a leading literary man, a distinguished artist or a well-known beauty—these are the objects on whom attention is concentrated to the neglect of the pictures, which are a mere minor detail of the occasion. For the next few months there will be a steady inflow of the public to Burlington House, and the exhibits will be studied with great freedom. Chelsea artists complain that the hanging committee of the Royal Academy was chosen this year entirely from artists with studios in North London. The complaints suggest that as a result Camden Town and Hampstead artists’ pictures have made more appeal to them. Despite the strong influence of Mr Sickert and Mr Steer on the “Camden Town School” of painters, one would not expect contemporary art to have such definite territorial bounds, but that Chelsea has gained few positions in this year’s Academy, is undeniable. Whatever Chelsea may say, however, this year’s exhibition is most interesting and above the average in artistic merit.

Some of the Pictures. , The Hanging Committee have shown that they are no respecters of persons £ by rejecting portraits of Mr G. Bernard , Shaw (who treats it as an affront) and f Mrs Baldwin. But in asserting that the i importance of the sitter should have < no influence on the selection or hang- ( ing of a portrait, it is obvious that } Royal portraits are subject to a rather different consideration. - The‘Royal Academy derives much of its authority from the Sovereign, who ] still occupies an important part in its , constitution, and to whom its proceed- • ings are habitually submitted. So we • cannot be surprised if portraits of Royal personages have prominent posi- , tions assigned to them, and one’s only ; regret is that so few artists seem to rise to the height of their powers : when confronted with “ the divinity that doth hedge a king.” Mr Jack is a sound and capable painter, a really good craftsman, but in his State portrait of the Queen many critics consider that he has fallen considerably below his modest standard. There is little character, even less vitality, the subject is invested with hardly any distinction, and it is difficult to see more than respectable craftsmanship in the portrait. Sir Arthur Cope has not been much more successful in painting the King. The colour is pleasant, but it is undistinguished work, and a loyal subject must feel some regret that their Majesties have still to be worthily portrayed. The tale of Royal portraits , is not complete with these examples, for HR.H. the Duke of Connaught has | been painted by Mr Dingli, a Maltese artist. As a sample of how a “State j portrait can be made a work of art, visitors should see Mr J. M. Cohen s full ( length of Sir Austen Chamberlain in his ! robes as a Knight, of the Garter, for, in spite of all the panoply of office the figure has a dignity of its own. and the face is not drowned in decorations, -t ; has been painted for the Cordwaxners : Company. The artist has depicted the Foreign Secretary in a stiff official \ gijjfien. . Another picture of a very dif-

ferent kind which claims mention because it is one of the best things shown of its particular class, is Mr Fred Roe’s “Changing Guard at Buckingham Palace,” a record of an everyday incident, but valuable as an illustration of the pictorial possibilities which are presented in commonplaces of modern life. In Memory of the Queen Mother. The charming idea that occurred to the promoters of the National Memorial to Queen Alexandra—to persuade the owners of the beautiful private gar- | dens of England to open them one day ' in June to the public on behalf of the Memorial Fund—has met with an immediate response. All over the country j the idea has been taken up with enI thusiasm, and more than 350 gardens—- [ many of them never before seen by the f general public—will be opened at a I charge of one shilling to swell the sum that is being raised for the Memorial. Queen Alexandra’s name has long been associated with “Rose Day,” for her love of flowers was an absorbing interest, and was linked up in many ways with her schemes for charity, notably in helping hospitals and all causes for alleviating suffering. The King and Queen have given a lead ; to owners of gardens by opening the , gardens at Sandringham, and among | the notable people who have joined in the scheme are the Duke of Devonshire, ' Duke of Northumberland, Duke of I Westminster, Duke of Beaufort, Earl j of Carlisle, Lady Curzon of Kedleston, and Lord Shaftesbury. I Among the gardens famed in the [ North of England, naturally less nui merous than in the South, that will be opened to visitors there are eighteen in Yorkshire, five in Lancashire, six in Durham, five in Cheshire, eight in Derbyshire, two in Northumberland, ten in Westmoreland, nine in Cumberland, and twelve in Lincolnshire. All throughout June the great owners have fixed dates for throwing open their grounds, and the public will have new anq beautiful territory to explore. How to Oppose. The struggle on the Trades Disputes Bill has opened, and we have yet to see what the outcome will be, but it i seems already plain that the Labour j Party has to learn how to oppose most | effectively measures which may be obnoxious to them. I Mere clamour is not an effective ParI liamentary weapon, and the skilled Par- ! liamentary strategist who lays himself | out to kill a measure adopts other I tactics. To oppose a Bill with any 1 success an Opposition must make quite ! as careful a study of its provisions as j its promoters. Denunciation and disIlike are not sufficient. An Opposition must have the contents of the Bill at its finger-tips, and the ,Labour Party will have to devote a closer study to the Trades Disputes Bill than they l have hitherto done. Old Parliamen- | tarians can recall the days when Mr Jostph Chamberlain was fighting Mr ! Gladstone day after day in one prolonged duel on the Home Rule Bill. Day after day Mr Chamberlain turned up at some fresh point which had hitherto been overlooked, and day after day Mr Gladstone had to spend much time and trouble in finding an answer to the latest conundrum. Mr Lloyd George ’is to-day the member of the Houre of Commons who has had most experience of opposing and of being opposed, and Mr Clynes and Mr Thomas might wall apply to him for counsel and advice. Mr Lloyd George’s conduct of the famous Budget was an amazing Parliamentary feat, and hardly less amazing was the fight waged by the small Conservative minority. Night after night, right through the summer and

autumn, the House used to c it un+il two o’clock in the morning, and tne astonishing thing about this struggle was that there was nvy-r a disorderly scene. Mr Lloyd George preserved his good temper to the very nd, and the Opposition, despite the heat engendered by the fray, showed no less restraint. A Political Debut. Miss Megan Lloyd George has made her debut as a political o ator in London. and by common consent she did remarkably well. “Men,” she said, “always have admitted that we outwit them, but now that we are going to outvote them as well they are becoming a bit nervous.” There was a touch of her father’s sprightly wit in this remark, which provoked some laughter. With heredity to support her, Miss Me- j gan ought to do well on the political I platform. She is accustomed to big j meetings. Often she is by her father’s » side in his great public utterances, and evidently there is a keen sympathy between them. She ought to have some intuitive knowledge of how to approach the new “flapper” electors, who are to be the great political problem of our time. Perhaps Mr Lloyd George could draw some inspiration from her for his forthcoming campaign. We may even see her standing as a Parliamentary candidate herself. The spectacle of father and son together in the House of Com- ! mons is not altogether unfamiliar, but , the sight of father and daughter there j would be quite new. It looked at one time as though we might see Lord Oxford’s daughter, > Lady Bonham-Carter, in Parliament. I but apparently her inclinations do not 1 run that way. There is room for Miss ! Megan Lloyd George to set a new ex- ; ample in personal ambition—ev n posi siblv to take up the man tie. of leader- ■ ship when Mr Lloyd Geo: ge 'eventually • drops it, for it is not to be exp < ' ] | that oui pohLieai ieadc.s shall }be of the male sex. There is, indeed, \ quite a prospect before her if she cares * to pursue a political career.

A Chang© at the Admiralty. Admiral Sir Charles Madden, who has succeeded Earl Beatty as a Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty and Chief of the Naval Staff, is a brother-in-law of Earl JelHcoe. He is an expert on gunry,anAa master strategist. He was inPhW t 0 Admiral CommandingSefonrfdr 14 ' 16 ’ 1916, and He ha. ,d° mmand Grand Fleet 1917. Fleet bn? commanded the Atlantic Tevlral ,h E3Ve Up the a PP°intment Seven tee , ears ag ° t 0 Admir al Oliver. &e\enteen years ago he served at the has m had ty a a Fourth Sea Lord, but he has had no Admiralty experience since. Critics have said of him that he belongs to the older school of naval officers, that he is rigid and conventional, and that he is a believer in the big battleship rather than in the light cruiser flotilla. But that he can adapt himself to changed modern conditions he proved abundantly during the war in the battle of Jutland and elsewhere, and he is probably the most effective organiser that could be chosen for the post of First Sea Lord. He has, moreover, always enjoyed the full confidence of his subordinates, and although a strict disciplinarian, with his piercing deep-set eyes, closely-trim-med beard, which does not conceal the lines of a determined jaw', he might be said to be the type of the strong, silent man.

Admiral Madden is extremely reticent and he hates any publicity mongering.

Admiral Beatty has served over 40 years in the Navy, and Kis career was a notable instance of the rapid promo- 4 tion which sheer brilliance and hard work can achieve in , the Navy. At the beginning of last year he had broken a record by holding the position of First 'Sea Lord for over six years, but for some time past he has wished to retire and has only consented to retain office until a suitable successor could be found. His name has been unentioned in connection with important pro-consular and vice-regal posts, but in political circles it is thought that he will be invited. to accept one of the principal Dominion governorships. Their Majesties at the Pictures. The King and Queen set the hallmark on the efforts pf British film producers by being present one evening this week at a gala performance of “The Flag Lieutenant,” a film version of the famous play made by Mr Maurice Elvey. In. the vicinity of the Marble Arch Pavilion, where the film was to be shown, people were waiting eight deep on both sides of the road, and a strong police cordon had to be drawn around the entrance. As their Majesties, accompanied by Princess Mary Viscountess Lascelles, entered the vestibule of the cinema, cheers echoed aTI down Oxford Street. When their Majesties came to the front of the Royal box the audience stood and gave them a hearty reception. Princess Mary sat between the King and Queen. Her Majesty wore a white dress ornamented with silver tissue and diamante. “The. Flag Lieutenant” is one of the outstanding British films of the year, and was produced with the assistance of the Admiralty and the Royal Navy. The picture opens with excellent views of battleships, and then unfolds the story of lucky Dick Lascelles, ably played by Henry Edwards, who after enduring many adventures which are part and parcel of life in the Royal Navy and in the Marines, clears his name marries the girl he loves—an admiral’s daughter. Our sailor King must indeed have been interested to see the excellent views of the life in the British Navy. As the bulk of the actors were sailors and marines merely doing their daily job in front of the camera, the effect is excellent. The enthusiasm of the audience was boundless as this rollicking sea story developed, and when the end came with the flagship lined with sailors to “cheer ship” on the King’s Birthday, everybody stood up and joined in the song. When the film had away they sang “God Save the King” over and over again and turned to the Royal box, where their Majesties acknowledged the cheers. Following the Prince.

An American is waiting in London for the return of the Prince of Wales from his Continental holiday. He simply wants to see his clothes. Mr Edward H. Smith, the buyer of men’s clothes for a great Philadelphia department store, says:

“What the Prince wears goes in America. Men in America just copy everything the Prince of Wales wears. That that ‘guards’ coat he wore two or three times last year—dark blue with a half-belt at the back. That simply caught fire in America, and went all over 'the country. Then this year he went to one or two race meetings wearing a Raglan coat; that was enough. Raglan coats are going strong in America now. Take spats again. Smart people left off wearing them three years ago, just because they were getting so commonplace. But now they’ve seen that the Prince wears them, spats are back again. What else have we copied? Why, scores of things. Let me see. Canary-yellow sweaters, butcher-blue ties with white spots, wing collars with bow ties—and. of course, the Prince’s styles. If America sees that the Prince has got a new shape in lapels, or a new dinner-jacket tie—does he still wear that butterfly tie of his?—or a new sort of \est, then America has those things quick.”

Mr Smith went on: “Derby hats are coming back. Bowlers you call them. A census of Harvard University showed that two-thirds of the boys are wearing Derbys instead of soft hats now. That’s going to spread, too. Why not, either? Have you seen the Prince of Wales wearing a soft hat any time these last two years?” The attitude of this American visitor is only in keeping with the experience which the Prince endured on the occasion of his visit to the United States He found the close attention all over the country so embarrassing that he is not likely to repeat a visit under the same conditions. When he goes West it will be to enjoy a holiday on his ranch in panada.