Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-03-31
POST HARD TO FILL
Difficulties Which Confront
Lord Chamberlain in Britain.
RESPONSIBLE TO THE KING
Sometimes Has Very Bad Half
Hours in Parliament.
OLD LANDMARK OBLITERATED
Countess Of Craven, Daughter Of
American, to Take Role Of
Political Hostess.
OLD LANDMARK 0BLITERATED
Special Correspondents Of The Star.


under the crown, as so many delicate
questions arise for settlement by its
| head. The dramatic censorship alone.
the affairs OF which Office have been
clumsily and stupidity handled. have
| given unnecessary offenss, but apart
from these duties the lord chamberlain
work at court is most exacting. and
Earl Spencer was quite broken down
in health before he relinquished the
office.
1t is true that the permanent officials
have most of the real work to DO. but
the onus Of the whole business lies on
the head of the department, and he is
responsible to the king for all that is
done in his name Some times he has
very bad half hours in parliament.
while. of course, the whole press has
been down on the vagaries Of the CEN
sor's office. But being responsible to
the king alone-the officials Of the royal
household are beyond the reach Of par
liament-he can laugh at his critics.
The permanent head of the lord cham
berlains Office is Col. Sir Douglas Daw
son. a very able man. who thoroughly
understands his work. and faces 1t In
much less conservative spirit than
might be imagined. Precedence, OF
course, counts for much in the depart
ment. and 1t is also necessary to step
warily because of the way in which
other departments connected with the
court surround *. The others include.
for instance. the lord stewards depart
ment with that powerful organization
called the board of green cloth; there
is the privy purse, the privy council
the councils of the two duchieS, to men
ton no more at the moment All these
| come into consultation when a big cere-
mony is toward.
Puzzles the Visitors.
Sir Douglas Dawson, with permanent
staff occupies part of st. James Palace,
situated across the way from Stafford
House. The quarters are rather cramped.
and where everything is slowed away in
the shape of documents, plans and the
like, is something of a puzzle to the
visitor. The apartment is no easy one to
approach. 1t is difficult to convince the
messengers at the door that you are real
ly there on business. Their instructions
seem to be to warn people off, no matter
who they are, so that the officials can
continue their work in the tiny rooms
they occupy without interruption.1
The place is pierced with staircases. and
in the various chambers the principal
decorations are few engravings. Visitors
who have to await-and nearly all have to
do so-the leisure of the member of the
staff they have come to see can Kill time
by looking at a Photographic album.
in power, the attitude of the lord cham
berlain's department is always opposed to
innovation. 1t had to put up with many
shocks when King Edward came to the
throne for he was a man of progressive
mind In the present reign there IS some
what of tendency to be more sympa-
thetic toward the conventional spirit
which animates the department. For in
stance. the numbers Of those to be pre-
scented at court are to be lessened. es-
pecialy those Of foreign birth. term
which, 1t must be borne in mind. includes
| lady visitors from the United States.
democracy in Great Britain 1t becomes
more and more difficult for lord cham
berlain to carry out his functions with
out making a host of enemies. There Is.
as archaic. which is quite unreasonable.
1t is essentially necessary for the sery-
| ice of the court. and Its Importance IS
accumulated by the fact that it Is one
of the prime minister. The reason for
| this Is that conservative lord chamber
| lain could make it extremely awkward
for liberal prime minister. and the re-
| verse of course, holds, too. The list OF
those invited to the court could be
manipulated, whereas under the present
| interchangeable system the names put on
the lord chamberlain's book remain there.
sonal misconduct compels them to be
| struck off.
/ An Unwe1come Distinction.
| To be struck off the lord chamberlain
| list may sound light thing. In reality,
| nothing more serious can happen to any
| one claiming to lead the normal life OF
society. It is a distinction OF the most
] unwelcome character. There is an i'm
| preston that ladies are mostly affected
| in such a case. and that the chief rea-
| son is their appearance in the divorce
| court. Queen Victoria would receive no
woman, although she were the asgrieved
| party, who had passed through the d-
/ vorce court.
| King Edward was much more generous,
| and adopted the common-sense plan of
| striking out the guilty party, whether it
| was the man or the woman. There were,
| as matter of fact, quite a number OF
men, including peers. whose names he
| Office because they had been guilty of
/ conduct either contrary to the laws of
Il the country or unbecoming in persons or
high social standing. Many of these had
i been guilty of no offense which brought
1 them within the scope OF the divorce
/ court.
II Such a decree amounts to one Of ban
ishment, and it is a weapon which can
not be handled lightly. 1t falls to the lot
of those i'm the lord chamberlain's depart
ment thoroughly to investigate these
matters. and to recommend whatever &C
ton Is desirable to the sovereign. The
department has also to be in close touch
with that of the earl marshal, who really
is among the great officers of state. SUI
perior to the lord chamberlain. Both
have to do with the regalia, and with the
lcarrying out of ceremonials. They practi-
cally attend the sovereign from his corO-
nation to his death. when the broken
wands which represent their Offices are
thrown into the open grave.
Has Right of Entry"
The more active OF the two IL the
lord chamberlain. do not suppose a
day passes. when the king Is in London
or at Windsor. but what he has an in
terview with the lord chamberlain, who-
ever he may be. He has always what
the French used to call 1.-The right Of
entry.
All these facts make it necessary that
whoever is appointed to the office should
be a person whom the sovereign may re-
gard as friend AS for his need Of
tact, that 1 have already mentioned.
He has control of all persons Of the
household Except the ladies in the
lqueen's bedchamber) who are not under
the direction of the lord steward. the
groom of the stole or the master OF the
horse. The kings chaplains. physicians
and surgeons. as well as the royal trades
men, are all appointed by him. He Is
also the licenser Of theaters and Of plays,
as we all know There is no doubt that