19 JULY 1946, Page 4

I always read with a little sardonic amusement, as I

have this week, the announcements inserted in The Times after a Royal Garden Party that Lord and Lady X, or Sir Pompey and Lady Y, or Mr. and Mrs. Climber, " were unavoidably prevented from obeying Their Majesties' Command to attend the Garden Party at Buckingham Palace." The intimation could, no doubt, have been conveyed to Their Majesties themselves (who were probably quite unconscious that Lord and Lady X, etc., had even been invited) by 21d. post, or even free O.H.M.S., but then, of course, the world would never have known of the regret—or the invitation.

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