Evening star., 1943-09-05

must be considered eligible, Is the 19l
year-old son of Countess Spencer. He
is viscount Althorp, an Eton boy, typi-
cally English, blue-eyed, fair-haired, tall
and athletic.
Then there are the three sons of the
Duchess of Northumberland, who is Mis-
tress Of the Robes to the Queen.
The present Duke is 30, and therefore
considered too old, but there are his
younger brothers, Lord Richard Percy,
%. and Lord Geoffrey Percy, 18 Eliza
beth has met and danced with them all.
The Queens closest friend, Lady Doris
Vyner, daughter of the eighth Duke OF
Richmond, also has an eligible son,
Charles Vyner, who has no title but
whose father is relative of the Marquis
of Northampton.
Among others are the three orphan
sons Of an Irish couple, the late Lord
and Lady Plunket, who we're killed in
an airplane crash in the United States
before the war
The Queen always has taken q great
interest in these three, the eldest of
whom is Lord Plunket, three years older
than Elizabeth.
Besides these in her own social get.
Elizabeth has met and danced with
many young guards officers who have
been invited en- masse to her parties OF
recent years more and more noble
daughters have been marrying these
young officers.
Met American Officers.
Elizabeth also has met number Of
American officers at these functions but
there is no one who will speculate
whether any of them figure In thea
picture.
Eligible young men Of the Dominions
also must be considered. The King has
said the two Princesses will visit Canada
after the war
The rumors have flown fast since
Elizabeth's 18th birthday last April 81.
One Of the most recent reports was
that consort had been chosen secretly
but no inkling of his identity would be
disclosed until after the war. A careful
check of the best sources in the capital
failed to supply any substantiation.
Reachable sources at Buckingham Pal
ace wouldn't even discuss It, Qualified
comment elsewhere-anonymit obliga-
tory throughout-was that such proce-
dure was extremely doubtful.
Some time ago another report went
the London rounds-that King Peter
of Yugoslavia had asked for Elizabeth's
hand and had been refused. This could
not be pinned down, and now Peters
engagement to the Greek Princess
Alexandra has been announced. Alex
andra and Elizabeth are close friends
A British editor generally in fairly
close touch with developments in these
matters had this to say:
Precedent Against American.
In these days any member of good,
clean family-preferably British-would
be acceptable, I should think. The day
when consort had to be chosen from
some reigning family is gone forever.
Such unions are practically impossible
now, anyway. Where are the princes?
Where, for that matter, are many ell
gible lords and dukes?"
One view of the possibility Of an
American consort was along this line:
"The English never would accept an
American. The whole issue of Edward
VIII and Mrs. Simpson would be raked
up and the matter of her former hus-
bands would be subordinated to the
main objection, in any circumstances,
of bringing in an outsider. Such an
arrangement would harm rather than
help Anglo-American relations"
But another editor countered with,
"It is pure speculation whether the
WindSor-S Simpson affair would be re-
hashed in such case. I don't think it
would"
II a commoner were chosen, whatever
his nationality. certain steps would have
to be taken to qualify him, Parliament
would certainly make the candidate q
duke, one authority said.