The Washington herald., 1911-06-25

The Directors OF the Coronation" as
they have been termed. namely the Duke
OF Norfolk as earl marshal and CHIEF
butler Of the empire. who has to care
for the regalia, and who was responsible
for the successful organization Of the
great show. and who, az head OF the
College Of Arms. had to solve hundreds
Of problems on heraldry; the Lord Cham
berlain. the master Of the horse. as weli
as the Archbishop Of Canterbury and
the Dean Of westminster, all have de-
rived from their various offices per-
ouisites which. apart from their intrinsic
worth. are OF great value on account fof
their historic associations.
The archbishop has received the velvet
chair upon which the King sat during
the coronation ceremony, and with 1t he
got the cushion and footstooI The lord
chamberlain. who was responsible for the
housing OF the foreign royalties. and who
formerly got the Kings bed and bedding
in which he slept the night before the
coronation. in addition to forty yards
OF crimson velvet and the royal night
gown, had to content himself with the
forty yards OF velvet alone and the fees
Of his once. which, OF course, are not
small.
Robes for the dean and for three chap
lains and for sixteen of the clergy are
the perquisites Of the dean and chapter
Of Westminster, but. better STILL the
chapter has the right to the wood used
for the stands and other erections In the
abbey which is worth several thousand
pounds. Perhaps the most valuable per-
quisites OF all connected with the crown
ing OF the British King are the splendid
purple robes which form most i'm
portant part of the Queens costume.
Those become the property Of the mis-
tress Of the robes.
As much as has been written about the
coronation, one thing has escaped OBJ
servation, namely, the important part
which the lord mayor Of London had to
play at the festivities. AS chief ruler OF
the capital city. he claimed the right OF
attendance upon the King. both during
the procession and during the actual cere-
mony, where he stood to the left OF the
coronation chair, holding the city scepter
and mace. This mace. sometimes also
called the crystal scepter, is one Of great
antiquity. The head is set with uncut
rubies, large pearls, and sapphires, and
is of fifteenth century workmanship.
When Il was customary to hold coro-
nation BANQUET in Westminster Han, a
custom which was discontinued by the
late Queen Victoria and King Edward,
the lord mayor had the right to attend
with twelve citizens, to act as assistant
TO the Kings butler and 10 present the
King with wine in a gold cup. After the
King had drunk, the cup was returned to
the lord mayor, who retained it as his fee.
Among the many society ladies who
have been invited to take part In the
Shakespeare ball at Albert Hall, not the
least charming will be the Viscountess OF
Curzon She is the wife OF Lord Curzon,
the eldest son and heir to the Earl OF
Howe, who is only twenty-six, and must
not be confused with Lord Curzon OF
Kendleston, the former viceroy OF India,
who Is twice his age, and who had
been chosen to bear the standard OF the
Indian Empire at the coronation. He
resigned his viceroyalty in 1905, and his
enemies said that he was forced to do SO
bv Lord Kitchener, then commander Of
the British forces in India, who would
not tolerate any interference by the vice.
roy.
This Lord Curzon married daughter
ef Levi q. Letter, the Chicago merchant
prince, who left her vast fortune. The
lady since has died. 1t must be ad-
mitted that the resolution Of the earl
marshal Duke OF Norfolk) to appoint
Lord Curzon as India's standard-bearer
has created a good deal Of comment as
the lord was anything but popular in
India. The naughty Indian princes are
irritated at the manner In which he
trested them at the durbar announcing
the coronation OF King Edward. They
felt more like vassals than like inde-
pendent potentates, which they believe
themselves to be, according to the fiction
that the British East Indian policy car
ries. Worse than that, Lord Curzons as
viceroy, never returned the official visits
of the maharajahs after the durbar,