The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-11-22
CURRENT TOPICS IN PARIS

Paris, November 21-Among those who
 have graced Paris with their presence
 and delighted the Parisians. who possess l in spite of their protestatons-a love for
 royalty. is Queen Helen of Italy. She is 1 the daughter of remarkably handsome i, parents, and resembles both. She has vastly improved in appearance since saw
 her at the diamond jubilee of Queen Vic
 toria, and all that then struck me in her
 appearance as too aceentuated and foreign
 to the eye of west European has been softened down. The great, deep, dark,
 lustrous eyes are less mournful. One must not look for beauty of the pretty sort in | her appearance, or of the kind that har-
 monizes with a fashionable Parisian bon
 net or that lends itself to lively irritation. l It Is the beauty of the woman content to remain in the seclusion of the home and l to attend to domestic tasks though if her l lot were cast in, say. Macedonia, she could
 run bullets while her husband defended l his house against Turks or brigands. She
 has regular features. a small, pretty
 mouth. big. black. lambent eyes, which ] perhaps lack variety of expression, and an l astounding luxuriant head of black hair. The tall figure-taller than that of the 1 Princess of Wales, and perhaps as tall as 1 the Crown Princess of Denmark Sis f1ex- l ible, well proportioned, harmonious, and
 withoute1attery could sustain compari- ! son with the Venus of Milo. The queen 1 has the cleanly outlined pilar-shaped 1 neck of that famous statue. but without : the fierce pride in the port of the head i Her smile suffuses the whole face, but ] she does not often smile, and I fancy that l in giving audiences she must often be at
 loss for small talk. She looks more the
 woman of feeling than of observation, and
 is at the very opposite of the bright
 witted, cool-headed American young lady
 who, like the grey hound. goes by sight
 and not by scent, and is swift to seize an i advantage. In observing her at the opera J house could detect nothing in physiogno- 1 my, demeanour, little actions, or play of l eyes that betrayed cabotinage, now pre- vailing mania in courts and fashionable society everywhere. She is not a bit the atrical. which dare say the king is. He l certainly looked so, standing on the steps | Of the Hotel de Vile, and saluting with
 a military and very amp1e gesture the | crowd in the place before him.
 l Queen Helen entered Paris on Wednes-
 day, wearing a light grey silk and velvet
 dress. silver emproidered and trimmed in | the blouse style with guipure. The fiat | stole of swans down that served as a | boa rather hit the eye on account of it's | extreme whiteness and lightness, which l would be more suitable to a smaller and | more animated person of a fair complex 1 ion. The hat-a velvet toque of the same 1 shade as the gown and feathered a la 1 Renaisance-rose too high above the bon l net of Mime. Loubet, who sat with the l queen in the carriage and four in which l they followed the president and king into l Paris from the Bois de Boulogne station. Madame la Presidente went everywhere
 with Queen Helen as her equal, a prece-
 dent that will be hereafter followed and
 lt will be formally sanctioned by the com
 mission charged td revise the Napoleon
 lc protocol of etlquettes of Messidor,
 which has not been found to work in re-
 public that leans towards democracy It ] did very we'll in a republic that went on l towards empire.
 The royal toilet at the Elysee banouet l in white satin embroidered with pearls i and gold, might have been a duplicate in l all but texture and color of the crimson i velvet robe worn by the Princess of Wales l at the coronation. The great length of
 train obliged the king and Mime. Loubet 1 to keep their distance. but the queen ap- | peared, thus detached from the rest of
 the company. soft majestic being, and l that without the slightest pose. Her 1 shoulders slope gracefully The straight neck above the river of diamonds and | three-row necklace of large pearls She
 had on that magnificent and very graceful
 tiara which King Humbert presented to
 her as wedding present. It is differently | shaped from those stiff, fender-like dia- l dems which British peeresses wear.
 1 The wealth of jet black hair turned back Tn the present fashion enhanced the effect of the crowning ornament. The painters
 and scuiptors at the banquet are enthusi- 1 astlc about the appearance of this modern | Helen At the opera she appeared in blue silk and again wore the tiara. and, on en- | terfng and leaving. a white mantel of | velours epingle bordered with ermine and | having high ermine collar. Could Mime 1 Loubet have heard of this garment before | the visit through some diplomatic source? 1 Her opera cloak was also bordered and
 'coilared with that regal fur Standing l at the door of the opera house in a blaze 1 of electric light the queen must have l seemed in her long mantle divinity in | a temple I did not see her there, but | could hear the cheering. This reminds me
 that fol. every 'Vive le Roi'' we heard at | least dozen cries of "Vive la Reine" She | carried all before her. and opened eyes to | see the advantage of free healthy, uncon- ventonal education | l think highly of the royal pair. They | are not only we'll meaning but do their best, and with intelligence. to keep In the right course. She certainly does not stand l in her own light, and keeps her head level | The upper-class Italians would like her to ! be more the leader of fashion, the patron-
 ess of literature, of art. of girls schools,
 of bazaars-the graceful, gracious. smiling | sovereign lady. ever ready to pay a state l visit to any of the chief towns. Margaret helped to reconcile so many of them to the i house of Savoy that she may be regarded i as having completed the work of Victor Emanuel IT., and established standard | of queenly excellence. The Italians have | yet to learn "que les reines SC suvent ct
 ne SC ressemblent pas" They prefer sub | tile charm in a lady to frankness which l they think well enough In a contadina. | The diplomatic woman who lets herself he admired without causing strife or making
 her husband a laughing stock is what they | like.