Evening star., 1923-06-19

de BeIabre. daughter of Baron de
Belabre Of the French diplomatic
service. after being Tilted by Lady
Kathleen Hastings, daughter of the
Earl and Countess of Huntington, has
been followed by the sale of HIDE
Park House, which has been the Lon
don home of his American mother
ever since her marriage to the late
Sir Herbert Naylor-Leyland some FIVE
nnd thirty years ago. The mansion
which has been the scene of MANY
brilliant hospitalities at which mem
bers of the reigning house were usu-
ally TO be found. is one of the state
Hest and most stsSting residences in
the British METROPOLIS 1t stands on
the left side of the knightsbridge en-
trance to Hyde Park, and has its
exact counterpart Immediately oppo-
site, which, for more than SEVENTY
years. has been the headquarters OF
the French embassy in London. In
deed, the two mansions standing thus
on either side of the entrance into
Hyde Park, from Knightsbridge. con
Yey the idea of the two pillars OF
Hercules that guard the western en-
trance of the Mediterranean. THE
house is full of art treasures. hung
with old tapestries from France and
from Rome, and lighted by exquisite
venetian glass chandeliers. Indeed il
was an appropriate setting for one
or the fairest American women who
have ever married abroad Jeanic
Chamberlain, daughter of the late
William Selah Chamberlain Of Cleye-
land. Ohio, has retained to an extra
ordinary degree the beauty for which
she was so celebrated at the time of
her marriage, as well as her grace
fulness OF figure and her charm. No
american woman married to an Eng
lishman has ever held higher place
in the regard of the entire British
royal family, especially of Queen
Alexandra, and King Edward was
wont to declare that Lady Naylor-
Leyland was the only American WON
an welded to Briton whom he
never heard say an ill-natured thing
about her countrywomen or about her
native land. The two houses at Hyde
Park gate, namely the French EN-
bassy and that so long the home OF
Lady Naylor- -Leyland, were built in
the third or fourth decade of the last
century by Hudson, the great railroad
king of his day.
+ 4 X
That young Sir Edward Naylor-
Leyland. formerly attached to the
British embassy at Paris, should have
seen fit so soon after his marriage
to sell Hyde Park House over his
| mothers head, and thus compel her
to place all the enormously valuable
contents of the mansion upon the
market, has created a painful i'm
preston in London, the more so as IT
is known that she was not favored
by the will of her husband, who.
toward the latter part of his lie.
became morose and difficult to get
along with, his character having been
embittered by the tragedy of his
fathers death. For he had the mis-
fortune to shoot and kill the Old
gentleman accidentally by mistaktng
him for a stag while out deer stai
| ing in the Highlands. The affair
was terribly tragic, but somehow Il
never appeared to appeal to the frivo-
lous and worldly society in that light.
| In fact, people were actually inclined
+, to make joke of the affair and en-
dowed Sir Herbert with the cruel
| nickname of "Bag-Dad," which stuck
| to him to the end of his days. Al
though he left very large fortune.
| In addition to a couple of couutry
+, seats and Hyde Park House. valued
/ at considerably over s., ,0OO, 900, vet all
that he bequeathed to his widow was
an annuity OF $4,000 a year. coudi-
tional upon her not marrying again.
and further allowance of 800, ,6rp a
year for the use of his two bows dur
| ing their minority. The younger toy
was killed during the great war and
now that the elder one is married
poor Lady Naylor-Leyland has been
reduced to her pittance of $4,000 a
] year.