Imperial Week

Interaction between Royalty and the Populace, tending to preserve the stability of the Throne:

The King. With the obliging good will of constitutional monarchs, His Majesty drew his pen and signed the Locarno Pacts last week. Later he drove from the Palace of Buckingham to that of St. James's and held his first levee of the season. To St. James's came many an ambassador, came also Premier Stanley Baldwin, laced into a gold-buttoned coat, abashed beneath a huge military hat, fiddling speculatively with a sword.

The Queen. Motoring through the slums of the East End last week Queen Mary was greeted at ane point by sullen glances and dour silence, instead of the cheers which are her usual portion. Undaunted, she bade her chauffeur draw up at the curb opposite a particularly ungracious throng. Stepping out, Her Majesty evinced an interest in several brats squalling on the sidewalk. Their mothers, flattered, melted into smiles. Cried a burly oysterman: "'Ere now! Give 'Er Majesty a clap; she's worth it!"

The royal motor drew away amid, acclaim. . . .

The Prince. At Birmingham, most celebrated of British industrial centres, Edward of Wales visited the local Trade Fair and stepped upon a pair of scales to oblige their maker. The pointer spun, stopped at 137 pounds, to the satisfaction of the Prince who has tapered off his meat lately, lest he grow fat, and his drink, lest his tendency to nervousness increase. He is said to be "setting the fashion for modest four-course dinners."