. Their majesties as I knew them; personal reminiscences of the kings and queens of Europe . oads, orwalking beside her donkey-chair, somebody whoshared the general gaiety and whom the Queentreated with affectionate kindness. That some-body was myself. I thus had the honour of seeing King GeorgeV when he was still wearing the modest uniformof a lieutenant in the Royal Navy and, later, ofknowing Queen Mary when she was only Duchessof York and Cornwall. And I hope that she willpermit me, in this connexion, to recall an incidentthat diverted Queen Victorias little circle for awhole evening. It ha
. Their majesties as I knew them; personal reminiscences of the kings and queens of Europe . oads, orwalking beside her donkey-chair, somebody whoshared the general gaiety and whom the Queentreated with affectionate kindness. That some-body was myself. I thus had the honour of seeing King GeorgeV when he was still wearing the modest uniformof a lieutenant in the Royal Navy and, later, ofknowing Queen Mary when she was only Duchessof York and Cornwall. And I hope that she willpermit me, in this connexion, to recall an incidentthat diverted Queen Victorias little circle for awhole evening. It happened during a visit whichthe Duchess of York was paying to the Queen atNice. I had informed the venerable sovereign thatthe ladies of the iishmarket—one of the oldestcorporations at Nice—wished to offer her someflowers; and the Queen asked the Duchess of Yorkto receive them in her stead and to express hersincere thanks for their good wishes. The good women handed the Duchess theirbouquets; and I then saw that they were shy andat a loss what to do or say next. So I whisperedto them:. KING EDWARD VII THE ENGLISH ROYAL FAMILY 303 Go and kiss that gentleman over there, point-ing to Colonel Carington, the Queens is by far the best speech that you couldmake! The ladies evidently approved of my suggestion,for they forthwith, one and all, flung themselvesupon the colonels neck; and he, though flurriedand a little annoyed, had to submit with the bestgrace possible to this volley of kisses under the eyesof the princess, who laughed till the tears ran do^vnher cheeks. When I apologised to him afterwards for theabominable trick which I had played liim: Ah, he sighed, if only they had been good-looking! The fact is that none of the ladies evoked themost distant memories of the Venus of Milo! Thanks to the recollections of those bygone years,of which any number of charming and amusingstories could be told, I was no longer a strangerto the Duke and Duchess of York when, aft
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