Personalities.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 440, 1 September 1904, Page 2

Personalities.

FE

GRAND DUKE CYRIL

KNOWN in many Eoyal houses, the Grand Duke Cyril, who is satisfactorily recovering from his injuries sustained in the disaster to the Petronavlosk off Port Arthur, is a son of the Grand Duke Vladimir, eldest of the uncles of the Czar, and brother-in-law of the late Duke of Edinburgh. Cyril is twenty-eight, and one of the most popular of the younger members of the Imperial Russian family. The Grand Duke Vladimir married in 1874 Princess Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and Cyril is the oldest of their four children, the others being tho Grand Duke Boris, now twenty-seven, the Grand Duke Andrew, who is twenty-five, and the beautiful Grand Duchoss Helono, who is two-and-twenty. There was much talk in tho autumn of last year of the Grand Duke Cyril's betrothal to Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, tbe divorced wife of the Grand Duke of Hesse. The match was forbidden by the Czar, as the marriage of first cousins is prohibited by the ordinances of the Orthodox Church, and to obtain a dispensation legalising such a union would have created a highly unfavourable impression in Russia in view of the fact that three lives only stand between the Grand Duke Cyril and the throne of Russia. Social reasons also stood in the way. LORD CRQJfIER.

The man who is recreating Egypt, Lord Cromer, had an early career almost devoid of incident. He joined the army in 1858 whon he was seventeen, but it was not until 1872 that he was given his chance. He Avas then Captain Evelyn Baring, and his cousin, Lord Northbrook, who was then Viceroy of India, offered him a private, secretaryship. In India he remained till 187G, and in the following year, when Lord Beaconsfield was dealing with the problem of Egyptian finance, he was appointed Con-troller-General. After three years of work, which earned a warm tribute from Lord Granville, he returned to India as financial member of the Viceroy's Council, in which capacity he earned the K.C.S.I. In 1883 ho became Agent and Consul-General in Egypt, and in the twenty years that have elapsed he has accomplished wonders in the way of purifying her tribunals, in reorganising the administration and in increasing the moral and material welfare of the people. A barony rewarded his services in tho critical days following Abbas' succession to Tewfik Pasha when revolt was in the air. Six years later he was made a . viscount, and in 1901 he became first Earl Cromer. Lord Cromer belongs to the German family of Baring, several members of which have been raised to the peerage. The present Lady Cromer, who is Lord Cromer's second wife, was Lady Katherine Thynne, second daughter of the Marquis of Bath, and his eldest son, Viscount Errington, is a third secretary in the Diplomatic Service.

PRINCE AND PRINCESS HENRY

Prince Henry of Prussia with his beautiful Princess renew a familiar acquaintance with England by their private visit to London to Prince and Princess Louis of Battenberg. The Prince has always been extremely popular in England, where the bluff heartiness of the Kaiser's sailor brother has won him innumerable friends. In Germany he is esteemed almost as highly as the Emperor himself. The Princess is as brilliant as she is charming. A daughter of Princess Alice, she lost her mother when she was twelve, and Princess Alice's place was taken by Queen Victoria, with whom the young Princess Irene of Hesse, as she then was, was always a special favourite. She is as well known in England as she is in Germany, for her unmarried days were almost equally divided between Queen Victoria and the late Empress Frederick.' Her marriage with her sailor cousin was a love romance, pure and simple, and it has proved one of the happiest of Royal unions.

GENERAL BUPNE. Major-General Sir Owen Tudor Burne, who has now attained his sixty-seventh year, bears a name honourably known in the romantic history of India. I After having served through the Crimea i he was drafted off immediately to India ouiaccount of the Mutiny, in the course of which he took part in 15 actions, including the siege and capture of Lucknow. Sir ' Owen's intimate connection with the Government of the great Empire lasted from 1861 to 1897, in which time he served under seven Secretaries of State. He enjoyed the reputation of being the most impossible man to inveigle into disclosing any secret in India. With this power of holding his tongue Sir Owen was possessed of tact and great charm of manner. He has been twice married, and now resides in a charming house in Maida Yale, filled with souvenirs of his career. One of the most interesting of these is the worked imperial crown used at Delhi when Queen Victoria was proclaimed Empress of India, in January, 1877, in the organisation of which ceremony Sir Owen took a prominent part. If length of pedigree counts for anything, Sir Owen's career is easily understandable, for ho can traco a clear and direct line of ancestry from Alfred the Great, Charlemagne, Edward 1., and Robert Bruce, through his mother. Sir Owen Burne is just as active and alert as when he was at the India Office, and studies curront politics with tho keenest interest.

COUNTESS OF WESTMORLAND. The Countess, whose tasto in dress is said to amount to a fine art, is sister to Lord Rosslyu, to Lady Angela Forbes, and the Duchess of Sutherland, while Lady Warwick and Lady Algernon GordonLennox are her half-sisters. She was born in 1871, and appeared in Society at the age of seventeen. Her success was immediate and romarkablo. She attracted much admiration. Lord Westmorland, a man of thirty-two, handsome, attractive, and newly succeeded to his inheritance, proved the fortunate wooer, and their marriage was celebrated on the 28th of May, 1892. Lady Westmorland occupies a unique position in Society. Her beauty and charm count for much, and she is a member of one of the smartest and most popular families in England. Her ladyship has glorified the ' picture' hat, and wears it generally in black, with big black or white plumes ; and generous critics say she puts on her hats better than any other woman in London. Lady Westmorland is: by no means wholly a Londoner. She loves the country and Scotland, and is never so happy as when riding, walking, or fishing. Like all her family, she-is fond of horses, rides well to hounds, and can give a good account of herself in tho hunting field. She is a first-rate angler, and devoted to Salmonfishing. She favours the Spey and the Tweed, and her biggest capture was a salmon weighing twenty-two pounds. She is also an adopt at trout-fishing. In spite of her outdoor pursuits, Lady Westmorland has several sedentary occupations. She roads a great deal, and is an excellent needlewoman and embroideress. She has threo children, two boys and a girl—Lady Enid Fane.