Lady-In-Waiting

Press, Volume C, Issue 29506, 6 May 1961, Page 3

Lady-In-Waiting

Lady Lytton’s Court Diary. Edited by Mary Lutyens. Hart-Davis. 186 pp. Index. This diary is a very odd document indeed. The Countess of Lytton spent six years as Lady-in-waiting to Queen Victoria, from 1895 until 1901; and when time permitted and inclination moved her, she jotted down a brief entry in her diary. Obviously Lady Lytton regarded what she wrote in the light of memoranda to bring to mind times past in later years. She wrote only for herself, and the entries are always unstudied and sometimes even casual. No-one could call her a woman of intellectual tastes. She liked “sitting out and then taking a walk to the sea with Fraulein Bauer, who is

so nice and chats so well.” Or even better, “a nice band in the evening and some people to dinner.” During this period of her life all her interests were in court circles: only in chapter six, for instance, is there some allusion to literature. Lady Lytton knew of Edward Marsh in his younger days, of Alfred Austin, and perhaps of Maurice Baring. In Paris during the spring of 1897 she saw a play by Paul Hervieu, and there are occasional references to artists like G. F. Watts and Alfred Gilbert. Music is represented by the Dutch violinist. Johannes Wolff. Sarah Bernhardt was her favourite actress. In the main, Lady Lytton reserves her commentary ■for people, particularly for those who are received at Windsor and Balmoral and Osborne. “October 12, 1896. Heard the Archbishop of Canterbury lE. W. Benson] had passed away in church white the absolution was being said, in the most beautiful way that could be, for so holy a man. I drove in the morning with Miss Knollys and Sir Dighton Probyn to see the Carringtons at Abergeldie. She is so pretty and nice with her children, but he is rather vulgar. The Princess of Wales looked lovely at dinner and she is so wise to put even a little help to give her a good colour.” Court life in the nineties was dull, “The dinner was dull, Princess Christian and her daughter, Thora, and Lord Salisbury was between them, also the Duke and Duchess of York. The Duke of York [later King George V] spoke loud and abused the German Emperor, not caring what he said, but the Queen was silent. In the evening the Queen only spoke to Lady Salisbury and retired early.” Paying visits went on continuously. ‘The wind was awfully cold driving but we went to write our names in Cumberland Lodge and then saw the greenhouse at Frogmore. The evening was bettcy.

as the Duchess of York came to speak and I suggested sitting. The Queen kissed me on leaving.” The duties of a Lady-in-waiting were sometimes boring. They involved standing about in piercing draughts, keeping Oriental potentates within the bounds of decorum, and making conversation during meals that seemed to go on for hours An entry for July, 1897, may be quoted. "Duke of Norfolk and two Rajahs. Kapurthala and Thakore of Morvi, dined and I had to bring them up in the evening. They speak English fluently but are not reverent enough to the Queen, standing with arms akimbo and leaning on her table. I can’t believe receiving the Rajahs so privately is a good thing.” Miss Lutyens, who has edited these diaries, is Lady Lytton’s granddaughter, so that what she has done is a labour of love. It is certainly remarkable for its scrupulous, even scholarly, method. Miss Lutyens strives to identify every person mentioned and to trace every allusion. Her knowledge of the social history of the period must surely be unique, and even those to whom Lady Lytton's artless memoranda make small appeal will find much of value in the editor’s notes and comments.