The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-13
|QUEEN DOES NOT | ADMIRE DECOLLETE High Necks Will Hence Be
 England'S Fashion ROYALTY'S SAMPLES King and Queen Receive Enough Miscellaneous Goods to Stock
 Big Shop-Prince of Wales
 to Attend Coronation
ROYALTY'S SAMPLES
BY LADY MARY MAINTAINING

As consequence the very low-necked dress will rarely be seen at court func- tions under the present range. and will be little in vogue in English society gen. orally for time for when the Queen undertakes to act as arbiter in the mat ter of dress her word carries far.
 Already she has made 1t clear to the ladies of her household that if . dress is cut away at the neck at all it should be as little as possible At present the edicts of the court make it compulsory for low necked dress to be worn on all full dress occasions" but this will be greatly modified during the next few years.
 Her majesty always prefers to introduce innovations gradually, but she has al- ready made it clear that elderly ladies and others who desire to wear high-necked dresses at next seasons courts may do so without infringing any detail of court etiquette. The fashion of wearing frocks high at the neck has been coming into vogue for some time past. and has al- ways had very powerful supporter in the princess royal, who has been respon- sible in some measure for the change of view of the present Queen. Her royal highness has always suffered from a deli cate throat and chest. She was told by her physicians that there would be no danger to her health in visiting the crowded and always sadly overloaded throan room at Buckingham palace on the occasion of the royal receptions if she took the precaution to cover her neck and throat.
 Her royal highness communicated ,as decision to the late Queen, who at first protested strongly against the idea; but the princess stuck to her point, with the result that eventually her imperious grandmother gave way. This was the thin edge of the wedge. and since that time it has become the inevitable cus- tom of the princess royal to appear at all evening functions, with but very rare exceptions, in a high-necked dress. Since then many society leaders have been glad to follow her example, either because, like her royal highness, they suffered from chest complaints, or because the idea Of appearing in public with their bosoms partially uncovered was repugnant to them. An extremely well-known -peeress, one of that small band that may with truth claim to lead society, put the case against the low-necked dress rather terse- ly the other evening. Why should it be | looked upon as indelicate," she asked, for woman to expose her legs. about which there is at least nothing sexual, when at the same time she may wear a dress cut so low that 1t ought to bring a | blush of shame to every modest woman 8 ck eeks?"
 l This, there is excellent reason to be- l lieve. is the view that Queen Mary now | takes of the low-necked dress, and in her crusade against it she has the support of King George, who differs very consider ably from his late father in his dislike of the present full dress of the ladies of the court.
 | It is not generally known, but 1t is a | fact, nevertheless. that the royal house. hold receives samples enough in the course of year to stock a big shop.
 | Samples of every imaginable kind of dainty in the way of edibles. of innu- merable sorts of fabrics, of mineral wa ters, scents. cigars, lace-in fact sam pies of almost every kind of commodity of which it would be possible to sub init sample are poured In upon their majesties from all quarters of the coun- try and from abroad as well.
 The goods are sent to the different royal residences. but the bulk of them are d. rected to Buckingham palace
 l These samples of goods are very elab- | orately and often beautifully made up | Some are packed in boxes of rare wood | of quaint design; others in gold paper or in the daintiest colored silk wrappings according to the class of goods and the | special taste of the sender. On one oc- casion few years ago. the late King | received a samplet of toilet soap con | sisting of half dozen cakes in an ex- quisitely heavy silver-gilt box, with the l royal arms carved on the cover. The 1 box was probably worth $50 and it wal returned to the sender.
 | A Paris cigar merchant sends out sam ples every Christmas of three different brands of cigars to all the reigning mon- archs in Europe. The sample cigars arc packed in a rosewood box, divided into three different brands. When the mer- chant in question began sending out these | samples he packed the cigars in heavy | silver boxes, the majority of which were | returned to him with an instruction in I each case that the recipient did not wisn to buy the box--a polite hint. which was not lost on the merchant, that the silver box was regarded by his royal patrons as needless addition to the cost of a l sample box of cigars worth $50
 1 The samples arriving at Buckingham palace and other of the royal residences are distributed among the servants and 1 employees on the royal estates. A list is
 
 which Is submitted to their mfiajesties; but anything that cannot be strictly re- garded as a sample Is returned to the person who sent 1t, usually with a request not to send such an article again unless asked to do so.
 I For example. Last year vendor of pet animals sent a couple of Pekingese puppies to Marlborough House as sam ples of his wares. They were, of course. at once returned to him. Articles such as hats. shoes. packs of playing cards, 1 toys and many other articles which are | certainly not samples. are sent in large quantities to their majesties. and are al- ways sent back. Neither the King nor the Queen purchase any goods submitted in this manner.
 A suggestion is to. be put before Queen Mary by Lady Hardinge for l her majestys consideration that al this great coronation durbar the Queen should include in her suite the
 wives of some of the great Indian tnobles. Thereis not the slightest doubt that the suggestion will be received favorably by her majesty. Both the | King and the Queen, who have visited India realize how important 1t Is that cordial relations should be maintained between the throne and the native Irulers In England's great dependency in the east and with the advancement of European habits and Ideas among the native races they can no longer
 be treated as negligible quantities, sc that when the time arrives for the great function we shall no doubt see | REST AND HEALTH TO MOTHER AND CHILD. A ~--.- 4---