Evening star., 1911-06-04
LONDON SOCIETY.
,ecial Cablegram to The Star.

Special C1OieSEu" 10 1ue our.
LONDON, June 3.-The Countess of
Granard Is now securely established as
the chief official hostess of the liberal
party and has entirely eclipsed Mrs.
Lewis Harcourt. nee Burns, in that ca
pacity. Her royal dinner party in honor
OF the kings official birthday was made
especially gorgeous by the presence of a
number Of Indian PRICES wearing won
derful barbaric costumes and jewels.
One dusty potentate. the Maharajah of
Bikanir. bemoaned the loss of a mag
nificent pear-shaped diamond which
dropped from his turban during a shop
ping expedition that day. 1t was returned
nearly q week afterward by humble
messenger who found it in Pail Mall.
The royalties present at the Countess
Of Granard's dinner were the Duke and
Duchess Of Connaught. the Prince and
Princess Christian Of Denmark. Princess
Henry Of Battenberg and Prince Alex
ander of Teck. All the colonial pre-
miers came to the reception.
Lady Granard, who was among the first
to offer her beautiful home, Forbes
House. to the government to lodge the
coronation guests Of the nation, Will not
be obliged to turn out after all. She has
been asked by King George to entertain
the Duchess d Aosta Of Italy. This does
not prevent her from inviting relatives
and friends to visit her for the corona
ton week.
The Duchess d'Aosta was the beautiful
Helene d'Orleans and as a girl was very
much in love with the late Duke Car
ence. who was not allowed to marry ner
owing to religious differences. Dowager
Queen Alexandra has always shown
great affection for the duchess. who is
still very handsome.
Lady Naylor Leylands is one OF the
Americans who will donate her house to
the government for coronation week. 1t
will be occupied by the French mission.
Lady Leylands' magnificent dwelling Is
exactly opposite the French embassy ana
was chosen for this reason.
Prince Henry OF Prussia Will occupy
Lady Hindlips house in Hill street. May
fair Lord Ridley is giving up his house
in Carlton House terrace to the SerVlan
mission. Prince George of Saxony Is to
be quartered in Lord Iveagh's house IN
Grosvenor place. Lord iveagn Is ,,a 1ne ie
seriously i'll and will not take part In the
coronation festivities.
Mrs. Sam Newhouse, the pretty Amer
| lean who has been regular visitor
during the London season for many
years, has been compelled to cancel all
social engagements for the present. She
fell while skating In the Princess ice
rink and broke her arm. She is SUI
fering great pain, but hopes she will be
able to witness the coronation process
sion.
Americans. as usual. have been much
| to the fore In the past few days. Mrs.
| Cecil Bingham gave her first big dinner
party since her marriage. The American
guests included Mrs. Spender Clay.
| daughter of William Waldorf Astor; Mrs
William Leeds, whose famous pearls are
| about the size Of pigeons egg and Gre
ate q great sensation; Mrs. Walter Burns
| Cunard and Lady Lsterkay. a sister OF
| Mrs. George CORVALLIS West.
| At q premiere opera performance Mrs
| Bradley Martins jewels attracted lively
| attention. She wore a wonderful green
| gown, the corsage emblaZoned with i'm
| mense emeralds and a pair Of long EN-.
erald-green ostrich plumes. tipped with
| diamonds.
| Mrs. Leggatt, another popular Amer
Duchess Of Rutland. whose daughters
! she frequently chaperons.
| Mrs. John Jacob Astor, Lady Essex and
| Mrs. Robert Grosvenor have all been en-.
| tertafning, but every one misses Mrs. An
thony Drexel. who is still on the other
| side and apparently not eager to come
| to London, where her marital troubles
have not yet attained publicity. Hel
son, Anthony Drexel. jr.. and his wife
| who was Miss Marjorie Gould, are moi
| expected here this season. Howard Gould
| who has been staying in London, has left
with a small party for Scotland to ge,
| some salmon fishing. He has rented q
| sporting place at Dunkeld. London sees
very little Of him. He cares nothing fol-
social life.