HOAXING THE ROYAL FAMILY.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 1, Issue 130, 24 July 1880, Page 2

HOAXING THE ROYAL FAMILY.

He must be a bold man who would play a, joke upon the members of the Royal Family. Yet the young men of the Windsor and Albert Institute seem to have been bold enough to undertake the task. Prince and Princess Christian Princess Beatrice, and the Grand Duke of Hesse attended the opening of a bazaar at the institute named. After walking through' the “fancy fair,” and making' sundry purchases, the Royal party were invited to inspect a room devoted ostensibly to a fine art exhibition. The visitors ■ were each presented with a catalogue to guide them in the tour ground the apart-, ment. The recipients, however, must

have been considerably surprised on comparing the catalogues with the exhibits. For-instance, the first item, “Lynx in repose,” by A Constable, was represented : by a pair of handcuffs, whilst answering the description of “The Babes in the Wood” were a couple of dolls wrapped up in shavings. A Yarmouth bloater was described in the catalogue as “ Caught in a Squall off Yarmouth.” On searching for “ The Day before the Twelfth on the Perthshire Moors,” the party found simply the letters “the eleventh,” and in the place of “A statuette in bronze of Her. Majesty, (kindly lent for the occasion),' they found a penny fixed to the wall. A. Wellington and a Blucherboot did service for “ Heroes of Waterloo,” while a match with the head off answered for “ The Powers of Lucifer defeated.” It is gratifying to learn that the Prince and Princess seemed thoroughly to- enjoy the' joke, and that none of the institute authorities were beheaded on the spot.