Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1905-08-23
LADY DIANA DE WE'RE BEAU
CLERK.
EngIishwoman Who Was One of
Queen Alexandra's Bridesmaids.

Queen Alexandra's Bridesmaids.
| London Correspondence.-If one
were to set to work to invent a name
for dukes daughter in a 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 a more
| friendly form, and when Bishop Will
berforce wrote in his diary for De-
cember Is, 1872, ITO All Saints,
Knightsbridge. to marry Lady Di,"
one sees how inevitable the nickname
| has become. 1t had withal a gallant
sound, full-blooded, and a little reck-
llessness which must have appealed to
those who saw in her features a re-
semblance something more than fan
ciful to the remarkable ancestress of
her line, Nell Gwynne
| The name, too, harbors jest for
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 habit of calling at
tention to the words and deeds of
'Di' that when he became a Judge
and took coat-ofarms, Bernal Os-
| borne suggested for his motto 'Nev-
err say Dr."
Lady Diana Huddleston, who was
one of Queen Alexandra's eight
trademarks, died last week at the age
of Ga, after soc'e months of ill-health
which the most skilful 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
1S41, 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
OF st. Adams was a De We're. daugh-
ter of the last earl of Oxford Hers
was a 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 Nell
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 a noble by Civ
ing him IN earldom and also made
him the royal falconer 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 dake
of st. Adams. These two jobs, which
Nell Gwynne had wheedled out 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 and reg
lister of the court OF chancery. The
family are Obliged to bear on their
coat-of-arms, however, "the bar sinis-
ter" which tens it's own tale of Il.
legitimate origin.