The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1888-04-20

The Sluee.. 1880 t3
4 LONDON H-rter-writer gives tho fol
lowing account %! life in the royll - 1 10,
1.-THE mai of honor 20 the ~ " .l'l
every penny o the t'r,e hunIr Il
u year which S thar stipan 90
very III lcIlt p bsitlon. WITH g.
intentions and with the kin
the worll, the queen exp c5 % :. ,
from h 'rself in The way -. - "a
90 h tor busin,s dnd plea, 49,
may perhaps be Scusest iDr sIh lld'S
forS ting that th> = 81, esp.c ally arij
tor TIC Lcsh, is weak. Tno ma is Of
honor are on duty or y month a time
and at the end OF Tive 10 18th tley ar.
generally lit subjects Tor q cours oil ,oni
treat II MT While on iuly IN y cannt
call their soul, their own. Alter break
fast, which they must take in their own
roo ns, they have To hod tho nseives IN
Instant rea .lness to obev tn, quaen's
81 mons which comes the moment Sir
Henry Ponsonby quits hr majesty s
presence, with tn big red morocco
despttch box, contliain.; has days work,
un .rr his arm.
After brief good morning. the
euren suggests little rea .lna aN the
dut;!ul .nald llresS, IS lerscI TO the pile
for her ma esty hearing have already
been marked by H.r Henry. Through
co.u ms an columns OF Parliam n AIRY
DEBATE, leading article, AMI correspond
ence has The poor lady to intone her dis.
m Il way, often having to repeat passages,
Tor the gu en never leaves sui, ect till
She has thoroughly mastered it, and is
not at all sp ring in her Commands to.
Just read that again, please. The maid
. OF honor Is so busy ninding her stops and
trying 10 molulate her voice that she
has Little chance of understanding 1.-THE
OIL what she is reading, and yet the mo-
ment the reading is over she has to rush
OF ami get ready for drive with her.
royal mistress, during which she will be
exp Tted t. make lucid remarks ON the
topi s she has just read aloud.
AIT r luncheon is tho only real time
the m IDS of honor have to themselves,
an rv n that is spoiled for them by the
uncertainty as to whether they will be
wrnt' to drive or walk with the queen
lat III tie afternoon. They must stay
in tn ir apartments, for if by any chance
they shoLli be sent for and were not TO.
be lound at the moment, their life for a
day or two would not be happy one, so
that stroll in the grounds Oh their own
four o'clock, when, il the queen has de-
parted on drive without them, they are
free till six, at any rate. On the queens
return there is more reading aloud, this
time of ponderous works on heavy phi
losophical subjects or else the arranging
OF sketches, photographs, or, it may be,
the charity needle work is brought out
till such time as her majesty goes to dress
for her nine o'clock dinner, where, to the
relief of the maid OF honor, she is not OK.
pected to be present. BY this time she
is not infrequently faint for want OF food,
for when not at court she would naturally
BE- finishing dinner at the hour when it
is the pleasure of the queen to COM
mence it.
"Ioung ladies do not, as rule, Jump
at the post of maid of honor to the queen
till they have given themselves q fair
chance of obtaining an establishment
1t is not till season after season has been
drawn blank that disconsolate ladies have
recourse to the dignity, minus the leisure,
OF joining the household 1t follows
that, though by no means IN the sere and
yellow leaf, the majority OF the maids of
honor are not in the first blush of bud
ding girlhood. The present senior maid
is the Hon. Harriet Lepel Phipps, :;
cousin of the Marquis OF Normandy.
Miss Phipps will never see her fiftieth
birthday again. The Hon. Frances
Drummond, a daughter of Viscount
Strathallan, is thirty-nine. The Hon
Ethel CadOgan was born in 1853, and the
Hon Maud Okeover, niece OF Lady
Waterpark, by whose influence she got
the appointment, is only twenty.seven."