New-York tribune., 1883-06-03

freely about in the space, and there Is no
d,plomatist worthy the name who would miss the
| chance of paving his court to the many great Ia
dies on the opposite side of the aisle. Am to say
who thew werei Is it permissible to utter Lady
Harconrts name and to declare that she wore black
yelvetf May mention Mrs. lowell in velvet and
furf dor that is what an English May brings
them to.) Is 1t conventional 10 speak in pnnt OF
the Countess of Duce, or Is Mrs. Gerald Leigh. OF
| whom yon may read weekly in the fashionable IN
tellicence. or Mrs. RoDads. who is with her, as
usual. within the rule which allows women of cele-
| 5rtv TO be pointed outf Is beauty title TO pub
n,;ty, and may Madame dAunay be quoted? Or
the Countess of Dalhousie: and may it be added
that Z the women whose loveliness London most
admiies she is the most brlliantf These questions
seem 10 me so difficult that / pass without an
swering them either way.
The more so that while we are lingering and con-
versir G. great things are going on outside, and the
lmpo rtant moment of the day is near. The Prince
and the Princess of Wales have already left Mari
boroueh Honse-"by command of the Qneen and
OIL Her Macstys behalf to open the international
Fisheries Exhibition at South Kensington" The
Queen herself would have done il but for that uD-
lucky slip the stairs at Windsor Castle near SIX
weeks ago, Everything is done that can be doue TO
make ND for the Queens enforced absence, but 1t is
Queen seldom the rest of the royal family
often; and BESIDES the Queen is the Queen
The streets remained uudecorated and un-
crowded. though the priuccly procession Is An
in,posng one, and all, nearly all, the available
ROYALTIES in London take part in 1t, and the Roya
Horse Guards out. and other troops Of all that
batpened TO these great pcrsonages on tber way
or of their doings INSIDE the building before they
reached the gallery whore we were waiting ior
them, can say nothing We gathered that they
were duly received at the entrance to the coa-yard
apo on inquiry | learned that at the last moment
the pool of mud was covered over with red cloth
filled up. too hope with something solid and dry
We guessed also that the royalties were amusing
themselves in the different galleries. little at our
expense. They to arrive puactua!ly at noon
but princely punctualty was. for once, at fauit j
sat next British dame of dgb descent aud degree
whom I knew b. sight, and who twice askel me
what o'clock it was. FIRST it was ten minutes to
10 upon which she declared we had exactly ten
minutes and more TO wait. The Prince "erT
with feminine emphasis keeps us waiting" Ihe
ten minutes passed and another ten. and even
twenty. and wien the question was repeated held
up my watch which marked twenty-five minutes
past noon "Oh yes" SAID tins great lacy, out
your watch is not royal tme'-whieh was perfectly
true but Greenwich time, which Is reckoned good
enough Tor common folk
1t was in fact, half-past II when the strains
of Il believei God Save the Queen announced the
arrival of the royal procession. Official per
sons of merit the architect the con
tractors. the committee, the commissioners,
led the way. Then came the Lord steward
of the Queens Household and the Lord Chamber
lam. known in everyday life as Lord Sydney and
Lord Kenmore, each with long, slim wand IN ms
hand. marshailing the royalties the way tney were
to 90. And then the royalties the Prince ahu
Princess of Wales in front There was roil oi
drums and peal of song from the choir that nicd
the tiers OF seats at the further end as the brilliant
line appeared. and there was ample time to look AT
everybody in it IN the slow stateiness OF ITS move
ment. The Prince and Princess walk side by side
He is one blaze OF scarlet and gold and azure The
Princess is in dark velvet. lower-strewn and sable
trimmed. with a small bonnet, whca | believe
takes its name from her, quiet in shape and hue,
with a birds wing of glowing red. Ii / had my
foreigner on bis first visit here, should show him
first the Princess and then the tall, handsome boy
who follows not Tar OIL and ask him to guess what
relation the two bore TO each other But II 10
him tie bic boy was one OF the six children oi th'
lovely Young creature in the howercd AMI Sabed
velvet should lot the least eApeci to be believed
vet what told him would be true.
In their eagerness to do homage TO the Queens
children or for some other equally good reason.
tle company on either side the aisle, who had risen
before they approached, presently mounted the
chairs Warriors with piumes waving IRON the
hats they carried in their hands, solemn statesmen
fine gentlemen in silk stockings, the dipomatists
themselves. especially the shorter ones. nay the
ladies too, clambered alot and stood there looking
down Oh the royalties 10 whom they are supposed to
look up. Ny neigbbor was Dukes daughter. bat
up she went with the rest No rank nor station nor
splendor was proof against the curiosity To see. l
cannot remember that in this capital OF convention
alities ever before beheld or heard of so daring
defiance OF decorum. But nobody seemed to care.
The Prince looked up at the faces blooming above
his head and laughed. The Princess smiled. Neither
Lord Steward nor Lord Chamberlain rebuked any
body. or used their sticks. Whether they who came
after or any of them, were scandazed cannot
cav Behind the Heir TO the Throne and his wife
walked the Duke of Edinburgh, his brother, whose
wife was only daughter to the murdered Car of all
the Russias She certainly did not smile. am not
sure that ever saw that sombre face light up. 1t
grows harder with years. and the pride Of the
Romanofis looks haughtily out of those grey dull
ewes She knows well enough that she Is not popu-
lar; does not care to be popular they say
and from the beginning was haf-doubtful whether
she had not lowered herself by marrying
into family which consorted socially Oh something
like even, or at least easy, terms with commoner
clay. with mere Dukes and Duchesses in whose
veins runs no royal blood. To-day, she passes as
only one figure among many of as good royalty and
more ancient lineage than her The Duke of
Connaught, the Duke of Albany and their wives
come next then that stout old Duke Of Cambridge
whom the unrespectfu call too Familiarity the
Royal George. All of them are in scarlet, the
Romanoff's husband excepted, who wears his uni
form as an Admiral of the British Navy really
cannot catalogue all the rest When they are once
upon the dais, they find their places with quiet
ease in the midst OF the group of great officers about
them and when the Prince sits and gives the al
most imperceptbe signal usual to him, his brothers
l. 4 IL L.. Aa..I