The Waterbury Democrat., 1939-05-25
STIFF SHIRT AFFAIR

five carefully selected newspaper women were invited to the British i embassy and there given an advance fill-in on what the program would | probably be like.
 After being told all of this, the newSpaperwomen were informed that, in no circumstances, were they | to print any of it, unless and until the embassy officially sanctioned 1t.
 That sanction never came through. Instead, about week be- fore their majesties were due to ar rive, the newspaperwomen - plus about a dozen more - were called back to the embassy and given all the dope second time. This dope included complete details about the way a royal garden party is run.
 There1l be some 1400 guests. Top notch ofiicialdom will be there. of course: Chief Justice and Mrs. Hughes, Admiral and Mrs. Stark and General and Mrs. Craig (repre- senting Navy and Army, Speaker and Mrs. Bankhead, Secretary of State and Mrs. Hull, Vice-President and Mrs. Garner, chiefs of foreign
 
 missions and so on.
 In addition, some 400 "outstand- ing Americans" from other parts of the country will be present; they're people in whom their ma jesties have shown some interest, or else they happen to be folks whom Ambassador and Mrs. Lind say think their majesties would | enjoy meeting. LATECOMERS OUT OF LUCK
 Anyhow, all the guests are told what time to show up, the idea be- ing to get them draped around the grounds before the king and queen put in an appearance. Once their majesties appear, the gates of the embassy will be shut, and latecomers will be turned away.
 Arriving at the embassy from the White House, the king and queen will go first to portico overlook ing the garden, while a band plays God Save The King. Then they come downstairs and stroll about the garden briefly.
 Here and there someone will be pulled out of the crowd to come over and be introduced. Therell be no clustering around: the guests are instructed to form wide lane for their majesties to pass through. Later, when they have returned to the balcony to have tea, their maj esties will receive certain guests at the tea table, such guests being summoned by members of the en- bassy staff.
 If a rain comes up, the guests will just have to take 1t, unless they choose to spend their time huddled under @ refreshment tent. CURTsEY COURTESY
 NOT NECESSARY
 Somehow the idea of this form ality got all over town, and impress cd various folk with the idea that , the divinity which doth hedge a king hedges him even when he's visiting the capital of democracy.
 Someone circulated report that the State Department protocol sec ton had drawn up elaborate rules on behavior in the presence of royalty = lowing from the waist, backing out of the room. and all that sort of thing. The protocol sec ton has been denying 1t ever since, and is pretty sore about it.
 At the White House, people will be expected to behave in the pres cnce of the kind and queen just about as they would in the pres ence of the President and his wife. The British embassy Is authority for the statement that it's okay to shake hands with royalty instead of lowing and curtseying.
 For weeks the special waiting room into which the king and queen will pass when their train reaches Union. Station here has been undergoing face-lifting. The arrival of President Samozo Of Nicaragua gave the Army and Navy q fine chance to dress-re- hearse their parade of greeting -l an affair so showy that some sen- : ntcrs and congressman are still 1 x1uttering about it.