THE ROYAL NURSE.

Shannon News, 27 April 1926, Page 3

THE ROYAL NURSE.

DISCIPLINED THE PRINCE OF WALES. ' Good fairies do-not always take.the form of the fairy tales. Sometimes they are just ordinary human beings; sometimes they are- motherly: elderly women who find their greateajfc- joy in tending the new arrivals. , Such a good fairy is Miss O. JBill the Royal Nanny. Miss Bill has spent over twenty years in the Royal ■service and much of that time In the Roval nurseries. When ithe Prince of Wales was a little boy he bad to mind his PVand O's loi' "Lalla"—which is the affectionate nickname conferred upon Miss Bill by her Royal charges—maintained discipline in th e nurseries of Buckingham Palace and Sandringham. . . Lately* Miss Bill-Has n ,faus > r in the showrooms of a certain famous baby-linen shop, choosing minute and dainty garments for the Yorks new-arrival. These garments, the most beautiful of their kind, are nop ati air ornate: They are perfectly simple, and, what is more important in Miss Bill's eyes, they ar e perfectly hygienic. Placid capable and understanding —that is. what those who know. her say of Miss Bill. She is that rare thing—a born nurse. Children are th 6 central interest in her life. The layette for the newcomer is provided bv the Queen, and in ner choice of garments Miss Bill carries cut her Royal, mistress's wishes—which happen to coincide exactly with her own. When Princes Mary's first and second! sons wer e born #he Queen was at heir daughter's side within a few bouns of the event. She has been seeing a good deal of the Duchess of York lately, and Avill be one of the first to welcome the little stranger — the third grandchild of their Majesties.

Princess Mary, who is a clever r.eedle-woman, made many cf iter two sons' clothes, imd the Duchess of York is also doing a good uont of sewing at present. The Queen believes that a mother should b e educated for her. impiu-rant role. It was she who initiated She training which Princess Mary w-mt seme time ago at the Children"a Hospital.. Great Ormond Street —a schooling which has mad e the Princess more than merely competent to rule her own nursery. The baby-carriag-e which was used by the two sons of Princess Mary was specially designed by .Viscount Las'celles, and the new arrival will have one built on the same principle. Miss Bill is not to be retained tor nny special duties for the occasion in May, but she will be in attendance. The nurse actually in attendance will be a Scots nurse who has knoAvn rne Duchess sinc e she; was a child, and who was with Lady Elphinstone, her sister, when her children were born. "Sir Henry Simpson, who attended Princess Mary, will aid th,> little stranger into the world. . This will be the third time he has performed this service for the Royal family.