The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1897-02-27
STORIES OF THE QUEEN
HER HOBBIES and F4NCIES SNOW
HER VOM4NLP INSTINCTS.

A Bargain in Sunshade Which Shows
How Nearly She is Related to Her Sex
Present Giving in England's Royal Fam
ily-Games at Windsor and Among the
Royal Heirs.
The present will be quite a Queens
year, and already one finds everybody
in society discussing the Queens hob
bies, commenting upon her wonderful
capacity for work, and, relating stories
illustrative of her generous thought
for those about her. One such anecdote
was related to me the other day, only
a short time after the incident took
place: The mother of one of the SEN
tries at Windsor Castle was seriously
i'll, indeed in dying condition, yet the
son was required by his superior officer
to be on duty as usual. Her Majesty
knew of the woman's illness, as, indeed,
she knows about everything relating to
the family life of her servants; moth
ing is too trivial for her notice Assum-
ing that permission would of course
have been given to the young sentry to
so to his mothers dying bed, the Queen
issued no special order to that effect her
self. In the afternoon, when returning
from her usual after luncheon drive,
she noticed that the sentry was in his
place at the Castle entrance.
Instantly Her Majesty ordered her
carriage to be stopped, and, leaning out
to where the young fellow stood, she
said with terrible emphasis. What.
you here?" The sentry, my informant
relates, not understanding the drift of
the royal inquiry, was ready to drop
with fright, and possibly expected to be
sent to the Tower straight away Need
less to say, he was too alarmed to speak
Soon, however, he learned that the
| Queens indignation was not against
| him but against those who had kept
| him at his post when a beloved mother
| was dying. Her Majesty told him to
| hasten home without delay and after
| ward caused special inquiries to be
| made as to whether he was in time to
see his mother alive, which happily was
| the case.
Her Majesty has all her life had a
| curious penchant for trifies. In the
| course of her travels on the Continent
she will frequently purchase some cheap
little thing which has caught her fancy,
and insist on having it about her, and
| sometimes viii wear some fancy article
picked up in this way, to the infinite
concern of the Princesses. During one
of her visits to the South of France the
Queen noticed in a shop in Nice, l bell
| eve, very pretty little black and
| white sunshade exhibited for sale at
the low sum of one shilling. A sunshade
for a shilling, and such a pretty one,
too! Her Majesty was charmed, and
for one in her life experienced the thrill
| of securing a real bargain. l have 1t on
authority that rarely had anything
so cheap been seen even at a clearance
| sale
Alas, for the feelings of her mortified
daughters, the Queen carried that
"odious'' little shilling sunshade in
season and out of season the whole
summer through. She even desired to
return to her first love with renewed
ardor the following year, but by dint
of much coaxing and persuasion from
the Princess of Wales, to whose gentle
| influence the Queen is very amenable
she was induced to relinquish it upon
| general occasions although we believe
| that she gave 1t an airing as a special
treat Ito herself) occasionally. There is
no disloyalty in repeating such little
stories for do we not honor and rev.
erence the Queen because of her simple
hearted womanliness, and we love hel
none the less that she has her little
ways" just like other dear old ladies
whom we love-
ROYALTIES are very fond of present
giving, and it is perhaps owing to the
Germans blood which runs in that they
like to celebrate every little family
event by the exchange of gifts The
Queen has a wonderful memory for the
birthdays of all her friend and relatives
But it is also a memory which she cul.
tivates, as | believe she refers to hel
birthday- book every day of the year
and gives orders that a trinket, letter
| q telegram or message of congratulS tior
should be sent to any fortunate in
dividual whose name is found write,
therein. At Christmas a. huge assert
ment of pictures, china, }inickknack'
and toys is forwarded to her and sht
chooses herself present for each mem
Der of her family down to the third snt
fourth generation. A 'Victoria cake,
too, is always baked and sent to ever!
birthday man, women or child. Abon
sixty of these cakes are baked at {
time, and owing to their richness the,
keep we'll and are always ready TO
dispatch.
The Prince and Princess of Vale
; are particularly generous in presen
giving, and never forget their friends
however distant or humbly placed il
life. Both their Royal Highnesses nav
original ideas, and are really cleve
at designing articles of furniture, pic
ture frames quaint and pretty jewelry
, and so forth. The Prince is eager as
boy over the packages which reacl
him on his birthday and a. Christmas
and insists on opening them all himself
refusing even to have the strings unite
for him His sanctum at Marlborougl
: House is as full, | can declare, o
{ statuettes, pictures photographs an
articles of "bigotry and virtue as tn
: Princess's own boudoir. While tn
: Princess chooses all her Christina
7 presents from the piles sent her b
London tradesman to Mariboroug
House, the Prince, who likes a littl
ipdaner1dance (ayp and NAV even h