Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1905-08-17
LADY DIANA DE WE'RE SEAu.
CLERK.
EnglishWoman Who Was One OF
Queen Alexandra's bridesmaids.

Queen AIexandra's bridesmaids.
London COrrespondenCe.--If one
were to set to work to invent a name
for dukes daughter in novel,
could one do better than Lady Diana
de We're Beauclerk"? Life turned the
name in due time to Lady Diana
Huddleston," but it had been one of
those that fall naturally into d more
friendly form, and when Bishop Will
berfQrce wrote in his diary for De
ccmber is, 1872, ITO All Saints,
knightsbridge, to marry Lady Di,'
one sees how inevitable the nickname
has become. 1t had witha a gallant
sound full-blooded, and a little reck-
lessness which must have appealed to
those who saw in her features a re
semblance something more than fan
cilul to the remarkable ancestress OF
her line, Nell Gwynne.
The name, too, harbors a jest for a
bitter social critic. Baron Huddle-
ston had no intention of allowing the
remembrance of the DE We're Beau
clerk to be obliterated by the mere
disappearance of the name, and devel-
oped so strong a habit of calling at
tention to the words and deeds of
Dir that when he became a Judge
and took a coat-of-arms, Bernal Os-
borne suggested for his motto "Nev-
er say Di."
Lady Diana Hudd,eston. who was
one of Queen Aexandra's eight
bridesmaids, died last week at the age
of Ga, after some months of ill-health
which the most slilful specialists
were unable to alleviate. Daughter
of the ninth duke of ST. Adams and
aunt of the present duke, Lady Diana
was born Lady Diana Beauclerf in
1871, and married Baron Huddleston
in 1872. She never recovered from
the loss of ner husband in 1890, and
everywhere she went the ashes of the
baron, who was cremated at Working,
accompanied her. The small bronze
urn containing them always rested on
table beside her bed
1t was his wish that he should be
buried with her, and that was why
she would not allow his remains to be
placed in the family vault while she
lived. Lady Victoria Scott is the
only other bridesmaid of Queen Alex
andra who has died. The remaining
six are all married. except Lady Vic
toria Howard, aunt of the present earl
OF Suffolk, who is the proud husband
of Daisy Letter. The first duchess
nf CT A1hnnc M
ter of the last earl of oxford. Hers
was good old English family This
cannot be said of the first duke. He
was an illegitimate son of Charles II
and Nell Gwynne, at least Neil
claimed the king as father and de-
manded that something be done for
the boy. whom she had named Charles
Beauclerk.
The king made him noble by Civ
ing him an earldom and also made
him the royal fa,coner at a comfort
able salary. Later. when the boy
grew up, Nell Gwynne asked for more
favors and the king gave him a good
political job as register of the court OF
chancery and also created him d Ike
of ST. Adams. These two jobs, which
Nell Gwynne had wheedled ont OF the
king, were, by a stroke of the pen,
made hereditary, so that the dukes Of
the present day occupy the positions
of grand falconer of England AMI reg
lister of the court of chancery The
family are obliged to bear on their
coat-of-arms, however, the bar sinis-
ter" which teiis its own tale of IT,
legitimate origin.