A Day In The Life Of Queen Mary

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 408, 17 December 1932, Page 13

A Day In The Life Of Queen Mary

HER MAJESTY chREFULLY SUPERVISES ; WORK OF THE ROYAL HOUSEHOLD

AS with all the members of the Royal Family, busy, often crowded, hours of activity make up the average day o'f the Queen. Iu the minds of many people a great deal of this activity is centred on what mig'ht be called the domestic lif-e of the palace. A most popular fable is that which attributes to Her Majesty a close daily personal supervision of the Royal ldtchens and larders and linen cupboards.

It is a pity to dispel so mtriguing an illusion. But the plain truth is that liowever keeu her housewifely interests the Queen really has not the time to spare in such daily duties. Moreover, with the innumerable offioial and household servants, whose 'duty it is to attend to this phase of the Buckingham Palace maeliinery, such an action would be a sheer waste of time. And the Queen is -one who makes a point of wasting no single minute of her time. What the Queen does, liowever, in regard to the purely domestic work is to receive a daily report from the palace housekeeper. It is a verbal report — really a sort of daily conference, and the Queen knows her own wishes ih regard to meals and so forth. Here it'rnay be mentioned that'althougli she has no time for cooking herself. Her Majest-y knows as much about it as any liuinble housewife. Having given such instructions as may be liecessary liowever, the Queen believes in letting fcliose responsible get on with the work in their own particular way. That conference takes place usually at 11 o'cloclc, by whicli hour .the Queen has usually spent a very busy morning. ; Never rising later than 8 o'clock, she : plunges straight away into tlie firsfc phase of her day's work. While her ; maid is attending to her lovely silver ; hair she is busily scanning her personj al mail; and often iinds time as well | to east a quick eye over her. favourj ite morning newspapers. t Usually, the Queen breakfasts with the King in their private dining-room, i which is decorated in a delicate shade of green. Belicving that the day sliould be commenced with a fairly ; substantial meal Her Majesty's taste lies in the direction of fruit, an egg lightly boiled or poached, toast, mar- | inalade and tea. By half-past nine the Queen is in the room which is regarded as her office. Here is her secretary and her lady-in-waiting, already busily engagcd in the mormiig correspondence. And this correspondence daily reaches enormous proportions. All sorts cT j people at 1101110" and abroad ivrite to' the I Queen. There are invariably scores of cliar- ; itable appeals, from individuals ar.d i institutiohs of all kinds; balancej sheets and statistics from a wide vs.riety of organisations; a liost of formal invitations^to this or tliat public or semi-puhlic function; letters from 1

those who heg Her Majesty to tihd Her ihiTuence to further the aims of sohie "reform" or another; and' qiieer "cranky" letters of every Coiiceivablekind. " ■ The Queen makes it a ritle td giVe personal attention to as many of these , letters as she possibly can, writes'S. Stewart Dewden iti. ari. African puhlication. * She, thereford, dictates a draft of each answer either to

her lady-in-waiting of her secretary. Then she deals with her own personal letters, writing the ailswers ih Hfer own clear hand; and, incidontally, lt is mteresting to note that the Queen never .delays in replying to a letter slie has received. ■ . After her domestic conference the Queen is fond of taking a shqrt.prelunch walk in tlie palace gardens, flower-filled and fragrant with the scent of old-fashioned blooms. Both the King and Queen have a inarked preference for the simpie flowers' of the English countryside. This is no idle stroll, for ttie, Queen is lierself an ardent gardener and takes a delight in giving personal attention to the planting of successive beds of geraniums, stocks, peas, and roses with which the grounds of the palace are so profusely siocked. Lunch is usually served at half past one in what is called the Bow Rooni, which, in commoh with all the private apartments of the palace, overloolcs the garden. An hour later and the Queen's big car has arrived ready to bear her away probahly to some official engagement— -a visit to a hospital or the like. If there is no official visit to be made the Queen has her drive just the same — and may not infrequently be found paying a ■ visit to an antique shop or picture . gallery.