A DEVOTED ROYAL FAIR

Hokitika Guardian, 25 June 1927, Page 4

A DEVOTED ROYAL FAIR

KrXC ALEXANDER AND IHS QUEEN.

BELL BADE, April iff). Tho King of the Kerbs, Croats

I and Slovenes was a lonely. man until M a hcauliiill princess came out of I?it— I mania to he his Queen and to share | his life in the gaunt palace which . lowers up from the main street of j Belgrade. AVithin the doors of that iron-grey building one finds oneself in tho stifling atmosphere of any other pal--1 j ace. There are the choerinoss hall, j in which nobody ever left a hat and ’ the pompous apartment, with gilding | and crimson hangings nucf rococo j ( hairs in which nohodv has over done j anything /but wait. | Slmot up in the lift and you find yourself in a totally different atmosphere. A'oit forget that you arc in a, palace because you feel that you are in a home. There are habitable rooms; tho King’s study, the Queen’s boudoir, and most important- of all, tiho little Prince Peter’s nursery. That nursery is the kingdom of Aliss Bell, the English nurse, whose responsibility is as great as that of a Cabinet Minister and whose tenure of office is far more acute. NO AfEBE FIGUREHEAD.

k They toll mo that if one were to search all Jugo-Slavia one could not find a couple to whom marriage has j brought greater happiness than it has to King Alexander and Queen Mary. Their happiness does not rest I merely on the alfection which unites thorn hut on qualities which supplement one another and tend to make the union of man and wife perfect. And they must want all the help which they can give each other. The King of the Kerbs. Croats, and Slovenes is no mere figurehead. The nation expects him to steer the ship of State through the storms of political strife, which is intensified by tho differences that are hound to exist in a. nation of which one half belongs to the West and the other to the East. ."'I he Queen is a prisoner in that palac-e ,” said a. Serbian lady; “where can she go in Belgrade?.. Where, in deed? There are a main street with shops and public garden overlooking the place where the Save and Danube | meet, and there are streets leading to J nowhere in particular with cobbles | which cut one’s feet, j The King lives by rule. He breaklasts at 7.30 and begins the work of the day at S in his study, a delightful room, as I saw for myself when the King received me. Until ten the Kitig is occupied in studying Jugoslav and foreign newspaers and in dealing with correspondence. The j nex two hours are devoted to the reception of Ministers and others. , AVlieti possible the King goes out at ( I twelve and at one he and the Queen { ltevo luncheon. The Alinister of the r Court told me that sometimes soldiers c antl men disabled in the war are invited to this meal. Foreigners are rarely asked, and the food is cooked q in the Serbian way. At dinner, which j is at eight tlhere may be foreign guests and the cooking is French. T 1 After lunch the King rides or goes boating and sometimes he plays tennis ( q or croquet in the garden of the palace. n ,THE QUEEN FOND OF TENNIS. h

The Queen is IV. ml cl’ tennis nnd often joins the Kino in a .set'. I l 'rout •1.30 to 7 the Kino receives an audience. lie and the Queen sometimes plan - bridge alter dinner or loot; at. a mo-.v Jilin. At ten the King retires to his study and works tint it midnight. The Queen takes a keen interest in the affairs of her household and spends a ureal deal of her time in the nursery or the garden with Prince Peter, who is now a. sturdy child and chatters Knglish as well as Serbian. fn summer the King and Queen go to their homo in Slovenia, where they lead an open air life. 15ut even if ho is away from the capital the King has much business to discharge and the Queen finds a way to show her sympathy with the suffering nnd the poor.