Marriage “Lines” a Yard Square

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 508, 10 November 1928, Page 20

Marriage “Lines” a Yard Square

Another Biography of the Duchess of York

The romance of the youngest daughter who marries the King’s son is the fulfillment of a fairy tale which keeps alive one's faith in the happy ending to life. No fairy tale has thrilled an Umpire so much as the courtship of Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon and the Duke of York, and while still in her middle twenties, the elfish little girl who spent her childhood at Glamis Castle, has been the subject of many biographies. The latest, and perhaps the simplest and most pleasing is by Lady Cynthia Asquith—a versatile member of a brilliant family. While adding little that is new to what we already know about the charming Duchess of York—how could there be anything left after the glare of merciless limelight had shone its brightest—the story is written with a

happy intimacy which emphasises the radiant personality of the slender, smiling figure who has snared the imagination of an Empire. Weddings are of paramount importance to women, and those whose “lines” are ordinary affairs, printed on tinted paper, will be interested to know that the Duchess’s licence is a roll of parchment nearly a yard square. The document was prepared in a locked room, and took nearly three days to complete. Twenty quills of varying thicknesses were used to do the old English lettering in black ink.

The great value of Lady Cynthia’s book (published. by Hutchinson’s), is the collection of pictures of the Duchess in childhood—a collection which for charm, grace, and elfin elusiveness, are a delight in themselves.