The Washington herald., 1911-06-18
IN CHARGE OF CORONATION

The hardest-worked man in Great
Britain .o-day is the Duke OF norfolk.
upon whose shoulders. IS earl marshal
rests the entire responsibility for the sue
cess Of the coronation. He Ii In reality
the stage manager for q pageant-perfor-
nance including thousands Of characters.
He IL the master OF ceremonies In which
the King and Queen. the princes and
great mobiles, foreign royalty and disni-
tariss have to play their parts. He Is
called upon to solve thousand prob
lens Of precedence and to find places for
all those. who. by right Of rank, have
claim to be present In Westminster
Abbey Tradition ana history are the
dukes Textbooks still, human nature has
&c be reexoned with, and human nature
Is very troublesome thing.
The general public have but a remote
idea OF what the immense organization
for the stage management o corona
ton means. The earl marshal. 1t is true.
has many assistants, but the entire corps
is at work night and day. The college
of heralds is his general stan. Carter
king-at-armsr and most Of the heraios
have abandoned their historic old build
ing IN Queen Victoria street and have
taken up quarters in Cleveland row. st.
James street They have been obliged
to divide their duties.
The garter king and some Of his her
aids have been devoting themselves sole
ly to the ceremonial They have prepared
thellibretto, as 1t were, for all the peers
who have their parts assigned IN that
solemn pageant. Their places were set
down, their ''roles'' described in elabo-
rate detail, and early this month they
were criticised by the keen gaze OF the
Abbey In the presence OF the earl mar
shaI. And be It said, quite number
were criticised by the keen gaze OF the
dark eyes under the black brows OF the
premier duke.
A false" king was there to receive
the homage and service OF the MOBILES
as the central figure OF the play" A
lady OF quality represented the Queen,
draped with a piece Of cloth which did
service as a train. This was the most
difacult as well as the most responsible
part Of the stage management for
peers and peeresses had to be coached
necessarily and anxiously. so that there
shall be no hitch, nor any bungiing, nor
the need OF a prompter at the real per
i formance" The nightmare of the King
and his earl marshal is the fear of re-
currence OF the blunders which made the
coronation of Queen Victoria SO ridic-
ulous.
But there were other departments
which required a vast amount of work
/ Just imagine the worry OF those her.
aids and ''pursuivants" who were given
charge OF the costumes! For the past
two months there stood in the once OF
the earl marshal two dummy figures
dressed as a peer and peeress in full
coronation robes and regalia. They
are models and must be copied exactly
by the dressmakers. You may imagine
| the "quid pro quo'' in that ofice when
the court mIlliners arrive to interview
courteous pursuivants upon the exact
| width of ermine for the robe CT duch-
ess, or the number OF bars on the man.
tie OF marchioness.
All these important matters have been
laid down in strict rules that must not
be deviated from by the breadth of q
hair. A duchess has a flve-inch miniver
border and four bars of ermine and q
train two yards upon the ground, where
as a marchioness has four inches OF
miniver, three bars of ermine on one
shoulder. with four on the other and one
yard and three-quarters Of train. To
i lesser rank the width Is reduced, the
number OF bars being smaller, a baroness
j having only two inches of miniver and
\ two bars OF ermine and one lonely yard
OF train.
| There Is room for variation In certain
parts Of the peeresses' robes, and the
heralds must advise how far those diner.
ences may go. Thus the petticoat which
is displayed between the crimson skirt
which falls away on either side may be
i of gold brocade or creamy silk, but must
! have no touch Of color The V-shaped