The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1911-04-27
STORY OF THE THRONE.

| as lht CTOWH has ucSOiiC ~ oSsiSoiAS
captured by the British law courts. One
would naturally. perhaps. look for the
throne proper at Windsor. 1t surely
! should be the Kings windsor chair,
| and, as a matter of fact, there Is both
a throne and a throne room in the an
| cient fortress and palace, but II Is prob
| ably the very last chair King George
| would be found seated upon If one could
pay an afternoon call. And. so far from
| this throne being unique, there Is actu-
| ally one at each of the royal palaces,
and it Is probable that the one at Buck
| ingham Palace is the more generally
| used, asmuch Is most ceremonial occa-
sions take place there.
The King MAJ be said to have a suite
of thrSnes-or shall ! say a set Of
occasional thrones?''-on each of which
| he probably sits AT least once. Certainly
he only sits on a single occasion upon
one OF them: that is the coronation
| chair in Westminster Abbey. the worm
eaten. battered. Ucn-footed old oak settee
which contains the stone Of Destiny
and upon. WI n all tie Kings predeces-
| r":. 10. - ara II have been crowned
! That light. perhaps. claim to be
the three. II the empire. as 1t is in
| fiuitely tin most ancient and inasmuch
IS IA" kim must sit upon it to be
crowned.
II i not at all likely that the King
would sit upon 1t often, even If 1t were
In his ain ingle nook" because 1t is an
extremely uncomfortable chair 1t stands.
year in and year out. in the chapel OF
Edward the Confessor. where it was
placed by Edward |. and it is only re-
moved for the coronation when. COW
cred with gold brOcade. it is set under
the lectern between the choir and the
altar Probably the throne most familiar
to the public is the great creation which
stands upon a daiS in the House of
Lords.
1t is often mentioned in the news
papers quite apart from the opening OF
Parliament, the only occasion upon
which it is actually used as a seat. Often
a phrase like this occurs: Mr.. John
Buns. who is greatly interested in this
bill. listened to the debate from the steps
OF the throne" \ beautiful rail sep
arates this royal seat of kings from
the faithful peers.
But it is not everybody who realizes
that the Palace Of MISUNDERSTANDING
correct name for the parliamentary
hOuses-COntains a second throne. This
is placed in the Kings robing-room. and
IS used by the King when he is putting
on his regal garb before entering the
House of Peers to read the speech from
the throne. As matter of fact, the
official throne is the one at st. James
Palace. that ordinary looking brick
building at the foot OF ST. James street.
All ambassadors are accredited to the
Court of st. James," and. in the eyes
Of foreign governments. 1t stands for the
Majesty of Britain Its throne is a
very handsome one, and stands under
a magnificent and most ornate canopy.
Though the throne al Windsor is but
little used. ii is unique in one respect.
1t is really an Eastern throne. after the
style CT the one We read of in the
records Of King Solomon, for 1t Is COM
posed entirely of ivory and was the gift
Of one of the Princes of India. 1t would
seem II have been the custom in ancient
times to crown kings on a stone, for
not only is there the ancient Stone of
SC0ne' in the coronation chair, but visi-
tors to Kingston on-Thames can see. in
the market place. the ancient coronation
stone of England Why the Scottish
stone should be preferred to the stone
upon which Alfred the Great was crown
ed it is hard to say. and why the one
should he housed in the Abbey and the
other exposed TO wind and weather near
kinGstons busy market place is still
more Of a puzzle.
The Prince of Wales and Prince Albert
on their way from Dartmouth for London
the other day were accompanied by their
tutors, Mr.. TIansell and Mr.. Peacock.
The party arrived at Paddington and pro-
Ceeded TO buckingham Palace. Before
leaving the Dartmouth Royal Naval Col
lege. the Prince of Wales sent for Mr..
a. w. Simpson. who has been at the
Dartmouth and Osborne colleges during
the four years his royal highness has
been a naval cadet. and presented him
with a handsome gold pin mounted with
the Prince of Wales plumcs. The prince
has presented a number of autograph
photographs OF himself to the officers
and masters, and has also made other
gifts.
The princess royal and the Duke of
Fife. with their daughters. the Prin-
cesses Alexandra and Maud, have arrived
from Port Said. The royal family took
their meals in their own rooms but were
frequently on the promenade deck. The
princess did not usually appear till mid
day. but the duke and his daughters were
always early on deck.
Reserved and somewhat shy, the young
prinCesseS did not participate in the gen.
eral amusements and deck sports until
the last two days, when an enthusiastic
cricket player, who had Joined the liner
at Gibraltar and was unaware of the
identity of the ladies. appealed to them
to join in deck cricket. He promised to
coach them, and they readily responded
to the invitation and played with zest
and a skill that amused the duke, who
was an onlooker. On the following day
the prinCesses, with their father. played
football on the liners deck.
The vocation of nuring bids fair to
become a craze among fashionable
women in London. A good deal is being
made of the news that Nurse Grim
ston,' who has entered a training home
in Bow. happens to be the Earl of Veru-
lam's daughter. but. as a matter of
fact the peerage has supplied a good
many recruits to the profession of nurs-
ing during the last few years. Lady
Esher's first aid classes. held at her
house in Tilney street, have given
considerable impetus to the movement.
while the practical interest in nursing
which Queen Alexandra has
repeatedly shown is also largely respon- |
sible for the firm hold which the voca- |
tion has taken OH the minds of society |
women. Queen Alexandra set a fine ex- !
ample in this respect at the time of the |
Beer war, and so did Mrs. CORVALLIS |