145 PICCADILLY

Shannon News, 7 February 1928, Page 1

145 PICCADILLY

If you spend an hour or so in 3.46 Piccadilly, the London residence of the Duke and Duchess of York, you get the impression, not of a palace, hut ot a home, of a dwelling where every room speaks of simple tastes arid the love of family life, states a London writer in an exchange.. The Duko of York's morning room, the placq most mwl by the Royal pair, is an example. Picture to yourself plain blue, walls on which a few fine portraits hang, a bright coal tire, and in front the room chesterfield with plenty of cushions —a big Dutch doll reposing on one end, evidently a beloved pos session of the little Princess Elizabeth. On the table are tall roses massed in a great jar, large, crimson roses some full blown, others in bud. Carnations arc there too, and a bowl of violets, .filling the room with their sweet, perfume. The Duke’s writing table is near the door, and by the window a pure white cockatoo suns itself in a cage. The bird was given to the Duke by Australian friends. It is a great favourite of the Princess Elizabeth, and one feels sure her Royal Highness also enjoys listening to the beautiful gramophone which stands not far removed ;rom the cage. Looking on to Piccadilly. Though the house is more than a hundred years old, there is little about it to mark the fact. The dining room looks out on to Piccadilly, and ■ hac in the centre a round mahogany table with a silver bowl filled with carnations as a centre-piece. Embroidered linen d’oyleys p,re used when the table is laid, and the silver is reflected in the polished surface of the mahogany. Here, when alone, the Duke and Duchess dine without ceremony upon the simplest food. In the dining-room special treasures belonging to .H.R.H. the Duke repose— : the gold key, for instance, used to open the Houses of Parliament at Canberra the new Australian capital, and the magnificent silver tray, heavily decorated, presented, to the Duke and Duchess as a wedding present by the Freemasons of the Grand Lodge of England.

The Nurseitfes. On the staircase and in the draw-ing-room upstairs, fin e tapestries hang The Duchess’s boudoir leading out of the drawing-room has blue walls, furniture upholstered in' brocade, and a writing-table so orderly, yet complete In every detail. Not to mention the Hoyal nurseries would, be a great omission. One would, I think, describe them as being above all things comfortable axrd free from fads and freak ideas. A sunny room is Princess Elizabeth’s nursery, with a coal fire and a warm carpet. Tlfe toys repose in a glass cabinet. Her Royal Highness has two only at a time to play with, one of these b'eing almost always a beloved pink toddy bear. There are two chairs which belong especially to the small Princess’ and one of these is the high chair which the Duchess of York herself used when a child. In the night nursery all is white painted furniture made by disabled soldiers. Her Royal Highness’s cot has removable sides and the white wooden screen beside it pictures the legend of the Little Nut Tree.