The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1858-01-12 00:00:00

court NetoS.

THE MARRIAGE OF THE PRINCESS ROYAL.—The ar-
rangements for the marriage of the Princess Roysl are
nearly completed. Two or three hundred workmen are
employed in papering and decorating the old Palace of
St. James's, and great are the changes which have been
made in it. The public will be admitted to the Chapel
Royal by tickets, on the Wednesday after the ceremony,
and the two following days; and to the chapel and state
apartments in the following week. These tickets will
be issued at the Lord Chamberlain's office on Tuesday,
the 26th instant. The Princess Royal will be attended
to the altar by eight bridesmaids, whose names, says
rumour, are: Lady Cecilia Lennox, Lady Susan Pelham
Clinton, Lady Susan Hurray, Lady Catherine Hamilton,
Lady Emma Stanley, Lady Cecilia Molyneux, Lady
Constance Villiers, and Lady Sarah Spencer. The death
of the Earl Spencer will doubtless cause a substitution of
another name for that of Lady Sarah Spencer. It is
understood that there will be a general- illumination on
the night of the nuptials; and we expect that in all the
great towns in the empire the event will be loyally
celebrated.

THE CORPORATION AND THE MARRIAGE OP THE
PRINCESS Roy AL.—We are informed that preparations
are being privately made by the civic authorities for the
purpose of giving the Corporation of London, and the
citizens through that body, an opportunity of offering
their compliments of congratulation to Her Majesty, the
Prince Consort, and the Royal pair the celebrainon of
whose nuptials Is appointed to take place on the 25 inst.
The civic referee has, we are informed, been for some
days engaged in searching for precedents, so that the old
customs of monarchical etiquette and civic dignity may
be observed. Necessarily these arrangements demand
some time, but the result will be shortly announced.

THE ROYAL TWELFTHCAKE OF 1858.—This annual
specimen of confectionary art was placed in the Royal
banquetting room at Windsor Cottle on Twelfth Night,
and the artists were justly oomplimented by Her Majesty
on the great artistical skill displayed both in the
modelling of its ornaments as well as the elegance of its
proportion and srrangetnents. The cake, with its deco-
rations, stands about five feet in height, it weighs 1 cwt.,
and is placed on lookingglass in a plateau of gold. It is
made in four divisions, each diminishing in size as it
rises to the top, the base being circular and decorated
with beautiful medallions and silver-embossed borders.
The second division is octagonal, each angle being erns-
inenkt,d with an oval-shaped mirror let in, and sur-
rounded by a richly embossed border; the figures stand-
ing out in front of this compartment represent ladies
and gentlemen in dresses of the Court of Louis Quinze.
The third tier is a square, its angles having medallions
in their centre, and surrounding this compartment and
between vases of miniature flowers are grotesque figures
representing hoary winter. The fourth division is in
form of a richly ornamented pedestal, on which is placed
a cup of chaste design filled with flowers. This upper
division is surrounded by figures, also of the Court of
Louis XV. The whole is an elegant specimen of ability
in the confectionery department, and does honour to
the taste and skill of Mr. Constant Pagniez and Mr.
Hawkinson, the royal confectioners.

THE CROWN JEWELS.—The paragraph lately going
the round of the papers upon the subject of the Crown
jewels contains an important inaccuracy. The jewels
constituting the Regalia at the Tower are not those
respecting which there has been a question between our
Court and that of Hanover. Some jewels belonging to
George 11. and some in the possession of Queen Char-
lotte were, it seems, the subject of a bequest to the
Crown of Hanover. Under that bequest they were
claimed, and, Her Majesty having submitted the claim
to competent authority, its validity was admitted. The
Crown of Hanover, however, has nothing to gay to the
Regalia, which will remain as at present.