Young Queen Who Studies Child Welf are

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 318, 31 March 1928, Page 12

Young Queen Who Studies Child Welf are

Marie of Jugo-Slavia Learns All the Time LOVED BY HER PEOPLE During the few short years of her married life, says an English exchange, Queen Marie of Yugo-Siavia, to whom a second son has recently been born, has securely won the affection of her husband’s people. She ranks as the best type of enlightened 20th century womanhood. How a Little Son Directed Royal Interests “I think that if a woman watches her opportunity the time comes when circumstances themselies fit her for the tasks incumbent on her,” the Queen once said to me, says the writer. She then went on to explain that whereas just after her marriage she had set herself to study many problems of national health and housing, the arrival of her little son directed her efforts mainly to child welfare. “You see,” she said, smiling, “X I—ve acquired first-hand knowledge and so, when I visit a day-nursery or an orphanage, X do so with understanding. lam turning my attention now to primary education, for my boy has to master the three R’s. Indeed, I am learning all the time.” Queen Marie leads a strenuous life, but her day is so well ordered that she is able to keep up some artistic hobbies. She has inherited the musical talent of her grandfather, the late Duke of Edinburgh, and is an accomplished pianist; but for the present she gives more time to her sket h-book, to the great delight of one little pupil, whose chubby hand produces drawings for the admiration of his father. King Alexander has built a fairy c~itage for his young wife in the forest of Topola. where she can be the busy housewife to ’ cr heart’s content. Here she does not give audiiences but devotes herself to home tasks and gardening. At times she makes excursions into the country, herself at the wheel of her car, and stops to chat with the peasant women, who find in her a willing listener and sympathetic adviser. Her Majesty has told me that it is her great desire to see the national costumes retained in the rural districts. “They are very beautiful,” she said, "and they are a great and glorious heritage fostered by the South Slav peoples for centuries. lam delighted when an occasion comes for wearing these picturesque garments myself.” From Regal Robes to Tennis Frock Queen Marie’s example, and her patronage of fancy dress halls where national costumes are obligatory, give an impetus to Yugo-Slav home industries. The Queen’s luxuriant golden hair lends itself admirably to the various kinds of coif, whether in long plaits, or piled high on her head, or in a loose knot with a rose behind the left ear. But the young matron is perhaps at her best at State functions in regal robes with diamond tiara. The impression that remains most vividly with me, however, is that of the girl athlete in tennis frock with blue bandeau across her forehead, who entered with brisk, elastic step the morning-room overlooking the lake where she received me at Bled Castle.