A CHRISTMAS IN WINDSOR CASTLE.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 935, 20 June 1878, Page 2

A CHRISTMAS IN WINDSOR CASTLE.

A well-known writer in the New York ' Timqs' has found in the recently published Life of the Prince Consort tho following interesting particulars of a particular Christmas spent by tho lloyal family at Windsor Castle, although Ave fear that it would be useless for our readers to seek jliem there : The particular Christinas referred 1.0 was that of the year 1847. 'Especial efforts were made to render that occasion one of unusual domestic felicity. Tho Prince Consort had s;;.id ' Mother, we must have a first-class shindy for the children this tisre,' and the amiable Queen had answered, 'Albert, we will just make things whoop.' Accordingly, an immense amount of presents was provided, and the Royal parents determined' to personally superintend, the filling of the stockings—a duty which ordinarily devolved upon Lord John Kussell.

."On 'Christmas eve"—so we ars told—•' the Queen remarked, ' Albert, I believe I would hang np my own stocking-, and you shall till it.' The Priiice, with that excellent good sense which never tailed him, replied : My dear, it would not <lo. There must be a limit to the size of stockings, Hang up a pillow-case, if you want to. or even a holster, but remember that I can't afford to sit up all night filling unlimited, space with expensive preseuts.' " Her Majesty thereupon changed her mind, and, full of anxiety to make her husband happy, volunteered to fill the stockings herself, so that the Prince could go to bed early. During the evening the children were of course unusually wide awake. Half a dozen times was the Queen compelled to go to the foot of tho front stairs, and order them to go instantly to sleep. Threats were very necessary before they could be quieted, and the Prince Consort was finally obliged to remark, "If yon. children let me hear one more word out of you this night, I shall come upstairs with a club 1 " Whereupon the children ceased their uproar, and by 10 o'clock were soundly asleep. " It was the wish of the Prince," continues the narrative, " to sleep in the nursery with the children, so that he could see them open their stockings in the morning." As the Queen desired to haug a portrait of herself over the Prince's bed, as a pleasant surprise for him, she waa compelled to wait until he wa3 sound asleep. At 1 o'clock a.m. her Majesty stealthily ontercd the nurseiy with some well-filled stockings hanging on her arm. Just as she crossed the threshold two of the stockings slipped from her grasp, and fell with considerable noise, but without awakening the children or interrupting Prince Albert's gentle snore. It so hap. pened that the Duke of Wellington had, when filling the stove night, inadvertently left a coalscuttle in the middle of the floor and the Queen, not dreaming of

such an obstacle, fell over it with a loud crash. The Prince of Wales moved uneasily in his bed, but continued to sleep sou iul I;, .as did theothci •■ children and their gracious father. Fortunately, the Queen foil on the stockings, which wore hugely stuffed with molasses oaudy of a yielding

jnatuve, and so sustained no injury. Finally, the stockings were hung in their proper place, and the Queeu proceeded to place her portrait on the : wall over the Princo!Qo)isortV head.- To do this it was necessary for her to-stand on the bed. !Now to walk over a well-filled bed in a dimly-lignted room, is a difficult operation, and it thus happened that the Queou stepped somewhat heavily upon the Prince. It was the last', straw that broke his princely slumbers, aud also flattened his ribs. In those circumstances, instead' of betraying impatience, ho merely groaned heavily, and exclaimed, *Go on ; smash in the rest of them ! Get tho Princess of Cambridge to help you. Let joy be unconfined !' and further language to that effect. So moved was her Majesty by his suffering and fortitude that. she burnt into tears and nearly fell upon him, thereby eliciting a yell of, terror. This woke up the children, who fancying that morning had arrived, clutched their stockiugs, and began the joyful uproar which in every happy home ushers in the blessed Christmas-

morn. "There was nofc a; closed eye in the ensile from thai; moment until breakfast time," continues the writer of the narrative. When the Royal pair, met at the breakfast table they were as tired as if they had attended a ball. The Prince withdrew to his apartment as.soon as -the. meal was ended, and played on the flute for several hours—an exercise which always calmed his mind, and fitted olker porsons to bear the prospect of early death; while the Queen signed three deathwarrants with a firmness she had never before displayed. Beiore night every one of the children were writhing in the agonies ot cholic and the Court physician had expressed an opinion that the Prince Consort's ribs were iu a most precarious condition. "It was then decided," adds the biographer, "that the custom of hanging up stockings should be abolished in the precincts of the:castie—a resolution which has been strictly kept."