Arizona republican. [volume] (Phoenix, Ariz.) 1890-1930, 1911-06-21
LONDON NIGHT
Of SPLENDOR
Great Banquet and Ball al
Buckingham Palace
GORGEOUS DECORATIONS
Costly Plate, the Collection
of Centuries, Whose Value
Is Measured by Millions
The Reception of Royalty
and Representatives.

London. June 20.-The most regal
banquet the palace of king or an
emperor ever witnessed and gorge
Gus Shakespearean ball under the
auspices Of noted society leaders, stand
forth as shining features Of the sec
ond day of coronation week. The
banquet in Buckingham palace to-
night was a scene of imperial gran
deur. SO far as the assembiage Of
royal and eminent personages and a
setting Of costly magnificence and
beautiful decorations could make 1t.
The king and queen entertained Wis
iting and English royalties and all the
special foreign delegations. foreign
ambassadors and ministers, officers
of state and the household. members Of
the cabinet and former cabinet mem
bers. heads Of church and the ju-
dietary and of the army and navy.
Two of the largest apartments in
the palace. the ballroom and the big
picture gallery which adjoin, were
utilized as q banquetting han. on
the tables were displayed the royal
gold plate. used only on historic oc-
casions. the cost of which is esti
mated at $15.000,OOO and its weight
eight tons. This plate for the most
part was obtained in the reigns Of
the four Georges. and the principal
piece is a massive peacock captured
in one of the Indian wars. whose tail
is studded with diamonds Cut glass
worth a fortune, ivory decanters hun
dreds Of years old and old wines
dating back more than a century were
on the board.
The gallery holds 500 pictures. The
decorations of both rooms were large
ly gilt and the background was en-
bellished with banks of palms and
giant lilies. while orchids. roses and
ferns were stacked on the tables.
YeOmen Of the guard were ranged
about the halls and all the diners
wore their richest uniforms. gowns
and jewels
The Shakespearean bah was held
in Albert hail. which was elaborately
decorated. The dancers numbered
thousands, while 300 boxes were Oc-
cupied by the representatives of for
eign nations and the most prominent
officials. As many as twenty-nine
quadrilles were dancing simultane-
ously. the participants representing
groups of characters from Shakes
peare's plays.
Leading actors and actresses took
part in these quadrilles along with
the leaders of the smart set. The
Duke and Duchess of Connaught.
Prince Louis and Princess Victoria of
Battenberg. Prince Alexander of Teck.
Prince Henry of Prussia and the
princess. the German crown prince.
Frederick William. and the crown
princess. the Turkish, Russian. Aus
trian. Japanese. Greek. Danish and
American representatives were pres
ent.
These functions were only part of
the days events. In the morning the
king received most of the foreign en-
voys formally. and in the afternoon
with the queen he went through a
rehearsal Of the coronation at the
abbey and later gave a special au-
dience to John Hays Hammond, who
presented to his majesty a letter from
President Taft.
The king also received the Chi
nese, japanese Turkish and Persian
envoys, who presented decorations
from their sovereigns. The. other i'm
800 'tant events of the day included
Inches to the Dominion premiers and
mayors. a party by the Duke and
Duchess of DevOnshire and a review
of the colonial troops by War Secre-
tary Haldane.
London's parks and open spaces
have already taken on the appearance
of armed camps in preparation for
the accommodation of the 1000 troops
who are to line the streets during the
royal professions on Thursday and
Friday. In Hyde park, Wormwood
scrubs. Regents park, Battersea park.
Kensington gardens. canvas cities con-
sisting of long. straight lines of white
tents have been erected bv advance
parties of soldiers from the various
regiments. At Hampton court the In
dian contingents are to take ND their
quarters. for they have To be kept
separate from the British regiments
and their food prepared by their own
cooks. owing to religious reasons.
which forbid the touching of their
rations by any but those of the same
faith.
Six regiments of cavalry have their
headquarters at Wormwood scrubs.
besides number of batteries of horse
and field artillery. At Regents park
there are To be six infantry brigades
each of three battalions. In Ken
singtOn gardens there viii be an in