Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1910-10-30
BRITISH ROYALTY INA SILN
Servant Problem is Giving King and
Queen Some Worry.
LEGACY FROM THE LATE RULER
Edwards Large staff of F"Vorite
Household servants Exhibits Re-
sentiment over Certain
New Rules.
; my LADY MARY MANwARING.

BY LADY MARY MAN w ANN
LONDON. oct 9.-(special to The Bee.)-|
Even royalty is not exempt from the eter-
nal servant question King George and
Queen Mary, or at least those officials
who look out for such things for their
maiestles. are strl hard at work straight
eninp ont the servant troubles caused
by the death OF King Edward and by rea-
son Of the great army Of those VINO minis
ter In humble capacity to the needs OF lhe
royal family il may be said that the PROB
lens presented are complex and most Dim
cult Of solution.
When King Edward came to the throne
he made practically a clean sweep OF all
who had been in the royal service IN
his mothers reign bestowed on each
a substantial pension, and brousnI
the staff of servants en- bloc from MARI
borough house, who. Of course, were thor
ourhly versed in the manner in which
his late majesty wished them 70 perform
their duties, and fell readily into the rou-
tine at Buckingham palace.
But King George, even, II he had wished
70 do 80, could not have followed ms
fathers example in this respect for the
simple reason that his majesty kept a much
smaller staff Of servants at Marlborough
house than did King Edward! Numerically
II would not have been sufficient 10 EN-
tciently stall Buckingham palace. His ma
testy. therefore decided TO retain a num-
Der Of the servants in the present royal
household.
some Are Retired.
Come of the chief servants in King Ed
wards household have, Of course, beer
pensioned and placed ON the retired list
but those who remain in the royal service
Of "a
latlons recently introduced which do moi
exactly harmonize with their preconceivec
notions concerning the extent and char
acter Of their duties.
The fact is. King George always though
Buckingham palace was over-statted VIII
servants and has been of opinion that the
dignity Of sovereignty could be efficiently
maintained without keeping two men t
perform one mans work. The servants
chiefly affected so far by the new regula
lions are those rather grand ff.cials know
as the Grooms Of the Chambers and tn
Pages of the Back Stairs
From these It has always been the Gus
tom TO select a certain number for wha
is termed CLOSE wait attendance on tn
sovereign The servitors on close wait, how
ever. have always had an extremely cas-
time of Il. They are only on duty in tn
corridor into which the personal apartment
OF the king open, and their work consist
merely in ushering visitors into the roys
presence or summoning any member c
the household to the personal apartment
whom his majesty may desire to see.
A comfortable sitting-room is provide
for the attendants on close wait wheI
hitherto they have had their meals, II
GLIDING an excellent late dinner at 7.SO p. n
End of the Snap.
Under the new regime, the number
servants to be put on close wait will
reduced by half, and they will have the
meals I'm the breakfast room attached
the men servants quarters, and when n
on close wait. they will be put on ordinal
duty in different parts OF the palace.
But apart from these regulations, Il
prospect Of the court being more fr
quently at windsor castle than was hit
ertO the case is rather disturbing to tho
somewhat luxuriously-minded grooms al
pages who have always regarded Winds
as an excessively dull place. In the la
reign. the staff of servants kept pc
manently at Windsor was comparative
small but i'm the future It will be We
much larger, and a number OF the pala
servants, whose services can be dispens
with, will be dispatched very shortly