The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-01-05
TALKED HUSBAND
OUT OF GOOD JOB
Wife of Sir Frederick Pom
sonby Caused Trouble
PRINCESS is "HUFFY'
Storm Awaiting Queen Maud of Nor
way Who, Her Adopted Coun-
trymen Say, Prefers London
Shops to Christiania's
by LADY MARY

London, January Especial )-The
real story of the sudden change in the
official plan to appoint Sir Frederick
Ponsonby governor of Bombay has just
been told to the writer Sir Frederick
will remain in the royal household In
an improved position, but that will
hardly compensate him for the loss of
the fat Indian plum. He has his indis-
Greet wife to thank for his i'll luck. As
is the case with all these appointments
mountains of red tape have to be wound
and unwound before the things be-
came official Lady Ponsonby, how
ever. found 1t impossible to possess her
soul-i-or her tongue--in patience. and
promptly confided the news to society
reporter, who, naturally. rushed it into
his paper, and in less than no time,
it was reported everywhere. In due
| course, it came to his majesty's eyes,
and Georges remarks upon the pre-
viousness'' of his cquerry's wife are said
to have been a positive revelation. But
| warm as they were they were hardly
a patch on what the almost" COVER
nor said to his wife afterwards. OF
course the appointment was immedi-
ately cancelled.
Needless to say, the royal hand will
not be extended to Lady Ponsonby to
kiss for some time to come, though
King George is not sorry to have an
| excuse for keeping her husband near
him. He is a real hard worker, and
possesses a perfect knowledge of
French--a qualification that his maj
esty finds extremely useful, especially
at time like the present, when so
many important foreigners are in Lon
don. Foreign languages ares not
Georges strong point 1t is not at all
unlikely that SIR Frederick will eventu-
ally fill the important position Of pri-
vate secretary to the King, but his wife
first will have to learn how to keep
her mouth shut.
Royal Breezes
"Breezes," in fact, seem to have been
the rule in royal circles of late. Quite
a domestic gale blew down at Sandring-
ham, started by the Princess Royal, who
really might be called Her Royal HUFF
finess," so self -willed and easily upset
is she. She was staying at Sandring-
ham with Queen Alexandra for the cele-
bration of the latter's birthday, and
just before the day came round, the
Queen Dowager suddenly decided that
she would have a theatrical perform
ance part of the show The princess
was Mortified at the suggestion of the
atricals which she, a widow of less than
a years standing, would be expected
to attend Queen Alexandra told her
that such scruples We're rubbish, as the
entertainment was entirely a private
one, and she could attend perfectly WELL
Thereupon the scene became a heated
one, and that same day the Princess
Royal and her two daughters left the
palace.
But the rest of her family are hard
ened by this time to these royal 'huffs.'
In days gone by most of the disagree
ments in an otherwise united family
started with the eldest daughter. AS far
back as the occasion of her royal high
ness engagement to the late Duke of
Fife the fur began to fly. She made the
announcement of the betrothal herself one
day, and when Queen Victoria heard of
it she was furious and refused to give
her consent. The princess calmly retort-
ed that her approval was of no conse-
quence, and that her wedding would take
place in any case. King George, too, got
the rough side of his sisters tongue at
the time of the funeral Of his father Her
visits to Buckingham palace, on that ac-
count are few and far between
Queen Maud's Troubles
Meanwhile there is a rod in pickle
awaiting another of King Georges sis
ters-Queen Maud of Norway Last year
the newspapers of her adopted country
took her SEVERELY TO task for maxim O.