The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-03-28

bouquet now so popular here, but brought
from England in the present generation.
Not only have the queens daughters, but
her granddaughters and her daughters-in-law,
carried the myrtle. The Prince of Wales,
upon his marriage to the Princess of Den
mark sent her handsome sprays of the Eng
lish good fortune plant, brought again from
the Isle OF Wight and one by one az Lorne,
Hesse' Christian of Schleswig Holsten and
Battenburg took the royal daughters the myr-
tie made its Journeys to England.
When Alix the eldest daughter of the
Princess Alice. was to he married to the
coming car of Russia, all was forgotten in
the sadness which afflicted the royal family
Of Russia, for the lay dying
But in the midst of the SORROW Queen Vic
toria remembered that it was. after all. 4
wedding, and not funeral, to which her
dear granddaughter was looking forward,
and so there arrived on the day Of the we'd
ding, Nov. IS 1894, special envoy bearing
basket of myrtle
Consuelo, the new mistress of the robes,
has many beautiful state duties Her ap-
pointment is misnamed Instead of being q
, woman who attends to the robes the head
attendant, as has been enormously stated at
dlTerent times, her duties do not lie in the
direction OF the wardrobe in any way She
! has the highest appointment possible TO- the
queen.
| There are ladies-in waiting, maids OF
! honor, ladies of the bedchamber, and. finally,
mistress OF the robes The last named is
by far the most important, and Though her
| duties are lighter. she takes precedence over
them all.
There are years in which the mistress of
the robes need not her sovereign at all.
Her attendance is required only upon occa-
slonS OF great ceremony and, when there
are no public occasions, she can be excused
from the royal presence. This accounts for
the fact that Consuelo can continue to live at
Blenheim, in Woodstock, more than half the
year, while her majesty lives at Windsor at
Sandrngham, at Buckingham, at Osborne,
in Scotland, in Denmark and in Italy, the
two meeting only at stated times.
AS it happens, the friendship between the
two women the little young American and
the elderly queen, is so great that they really
do meet very often, but Alexandra is very
diplomatic, and does not go often to Blen-
helm for fear Of offe nding, it is said, the many
duchesses and dowager duchesses, the count
esses and dowager countesses, all of whom
own country places aud who would expect
their sovereign to favor them with her pres
ence if once she were to take to visiting.
But Consuelo has town house, Warwick
house, st. James S. W., and she loves to be
in London when the royal family are in
town. -...... .-.t.
tend her majesty at the coronation and on
any other great occasions that may occur
between now and that time. She is the
queens chosen companion, and almost equal
on these occasions, and is the consultant
upon all matters OF great personal interest
One Of the duties of the former mistress
Of the robes was to go shopping with the
queen. AS many know, it was the late
queens custom to have the shop brought
to her and spread out in one Of the parlors
of the palace The salesman would arrive
and spend several hours. with" his assistants,
in laying out of the goods.
Then he would await the royal pleasure.
dining meanwhile with the employees of the
palace and sleeping in a very nice apart
ment. breakfasting next morning with the
secretaries. the bookkeepers, the auditors aud
the stenographers. By and by, the summons
would come, telling him that he might pre-
pare for the queen, and, at a certain hour,