MAYFAIR JOTTINGS.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20477, 1 December 1934, Page 29 (Supplement)

MAYFAIR JOTTINGS.

Princess Marina Smokes ir Public. OBLIGED TO GIVE IT UP. (From Our London Lady Correspondent.) I do not find much encouragement for the suggestion that the Prince of Wales mar give up York House in favour ol Prince George, and go into residence himself at Marlborough House. Th« more pretentious surroundings of the latter residence have never made any appeal to him, and though repeated efforts have been made to induce him to occupy what has come to be regarded as the official residence of the heir to the throne, such efforts have always been unavailing. Moreover it is a little doubtful whether Prince George himself would welcome such an arrangement. Princess Marina does not love anything in the way of display. According to report she would much prefer a modest pied-a-terre in London, with a house in the country surrounded by pleasant grounds, to a residence in town which would be costly to maintain and would involve a considerable amount of entertaining. MY LADY NICOTINE. It is suggested that in one particular Princess Marina is looking forward to her impending residence in England with just a little misgiving. It is to be feared it will oblige her to give up the promiscuous cigarette smoking to which she is addicted in common with nearly all the members of her family. Prince Nicolas in particular has almost earned the designation of a chain-smoker, while Princess Marina herself is in the habit of smoking quite openly when she is out motoring, and* even when she is walking in the street. The members of our own Royal Family have fallen for the cigarette to a moderate extent, but they are not expected to smoke in public. This rule is so strict that at the last garden party at Buckingham Palace the Court officials w r ere positively scandalised when some lady guests were caught smoking in the grounds. THE TWO HELENS. Lawn tennis fans are immensely tickled by the suggestion that Miss Helen Jacobs and Mrs. Helen WillsMoody should sell their amateur status and join the professional ranks. Fred Perry, from all accounts, has also received an offer of £IO,OOO to go touring with a professional troupe. The idea, apparently, is that the two Helens should become sparring partners in the lawn tennis sense and play a series of exhibition matches in different parts of the United States. The idea of these two extremely keen rivals going into double harness in the manner suggested is really ludicrous. There is not the 1 slightest likelihood of their accepting the invitation. Both ladies take a quite pardonable pride in their amateur status, and both have embraced professions which have nothing whatever to do witli their favourite pastime. Miss Helen Jacobs hopes to “make good'’ as a writer of short stories, while Mrs. Helen Wills-Moody is a really accomplished black-and-white artist. Her o; iginal drawings of well-known tennis players in action are the best things of their kind I have seen.

THE BIARRITZ SEASON. Holidaymakers just back from Biarritz tell me that the Prince of Wales* visit had little effect on the number of English visitors to the resort. One of my informants was there all through last month and tells me that the average number of English visitors could not have exceeded a hundred. Indeed he regarded that as rather a generous estimate. The small purchasing power of the pound is, of course, largely responsible. My friend sought to be reasonably economical, but, even so, his expenses worked out approximately at £25 a week. Biarritz has been full notwithstanding. But in the main the visitors have been French, though there has always been a goodly sprinkling of well-to-do Spaniards. The Prince of Wales, by the way, when he left for his yachting cruise in the Mediterranean, must have experienced one of the worst nights of his life. The yacht was caught in a terrific storm a few miles out and battled for hours with the elements. CHAMPION WRESTLERS. The sporting world of London is not quite certain whether it is to regard as *n attraction the championship wrestling bout which is to take place between two women on the I2th of this month. Hitherto this form of physical combat has been looked upon as exclusively a man’s affair, and if women have occasionally given displays of the sport it has been entirely outside the auspices of the British ring. The forthcoming contest, however, is to be decided under all the regulation formulae that are in operation at a men’s match. The contestants are two well-known gvmnastic instructresses, and their decision to do battle for a women’s championship in wrestling has been reached in order to form a public protest. Their complaint is that at present women who want to be wrestlers are obliged to look for sparring partners among the male members of our wrestling clubs. Whether their exhibition will inspire other women to take up the sport remains to be seen. BRIGHTER BATHING. There is no sign, of cessation in the rivalry of our seaside resorts in providing better and brighter facilities for bathing. Pools of such enormous dimensions and such lavish luxurj' of fitment are being so generally constructed as to make one wonder whether the sea itself was ever intended for bathing. Bridlington is the latest resort to announce its intention of making the sea a back-number for bathers, and the pool which it intends to construct is to offer many novelties. The Bridlington authorities intend to offer particular attraction to sun-bathers, and are even catering, amid a proper degree of seclusion, for the nudists. Special compartments for men, women and married couples who like to take their solar medicine in the “altogether” are to be provided on the sun bathing terraces which are to he built so as to have the chalk cliffs of Flamborough to form their background.