GOSSIP ABOUT ROYALTY. Victoria's Lack of The Impression She Made in France.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 211, 16 July 1887, Page 8 (Supplement)

GOSSIP ABOUT ROYALTY. Victoria's Lack of The Impression She Made in F rance.

A correspondent writing from Aix-les-Bains says that before leaving Aix Queen Victoria was lavish in her thanks to those who had contributed to her comfort and pleasure during hci visi-3. There were some presents distributed, but these things don't remove the unfavourable impression that the inhabitants had unfortunately formed of the whole par-fey, whose appearance was doubtless against them, and created prejudice in the first instance, Her Majesty's second-hand black and the Princesb Beatrice's slovenly toilettes being to the natives anomalies for which they were not prepared to forgive royal ladies. Then the question was everywhere asked why Lord Lome was not invited by the Queen to accompany hiss wife, and as no satisfactory answer was forthcoming, they formed their own conclusions, which, it need not bo said, were wrong ones Were matters between the Marquis of Lome and the Princess a little different, it is piobable that the latter would not consent to vibit where her husband was not welcome. A short time ago the Prince of Wales stood sponsor to the enormous diamond Sir Charles Mills exhibited hu>t Thursday, and christened it the Impeiial. It is much larger than the Kohinoor, belongs to a syndicate, and experts estimate it as being worth exactly L 1,000,000., 000,000. There is no doubt that this stone is of great value, but there is not much chance at present of its passing into the Queen V possession. It \\ as a happy thought of the promoters to invite Prince Henry of Battcnburg to preside at the eighty-first anniversary of the society of the Friends of Foreigners in Distress. It is to be hoped that no irony was meant, but it was funny, to say the least of ib.