It is remarked as a curious "coincidence," that not three
minutes before the Queen and Prince Albert left Windsor Castle on Friday, for London, the royal standard, which was floating from the Round Tower, was rent completely in two by the wind, and one of the halves carried away.
The chief physician-accoucheur is said to be sadly perplexed in the choice of nurse for the expected royal baby. There is a formidable array of candidates for the honour ; many of them backed by recom- mendations of the greatest influence. The Cheltenham Looker-on, which is the authority-for this piece of Court gossip, adds—" Let it not be sup- posed, however, that the nursing of the royal infant will be altogether a very easy or a very comfortable office. From the chief super- intendent down to the sub-deputy-assistant-supernumerary-nurse, all and every one are to be forbidden, under any circumstances or pretext whatsoever, to kiss the child ;' so that let his [or her] royal babyship squall ever so loudly, the usual nursery endearments are forbidden, and they may pacify and quiet him [or her] as they best may."
The royal cradle has been ordered by the Board of Green Cloth, and sent to the Palace. It is thus described-
" The body of the cot is in the shape of that elegant marine-shell the nauti- lus; being a happy conception of the designer, that the child of the Ocean Queen should enjoy its first slumbers and be cradled in a cot whose very form is emblematic of the main strength and glory of its island home.' .ffite frame- work is of the choicest Spanish mahogany, and the bottom and sides padded and quilted in flutes; the whole of which, inside and out, is covered with rich green silk, embroidered most splendidly with the white rose of England. Be- tween each flute is a circular rib of mahogany, the edges of which are richly gilt. The cot swings between pillars of mahogany, standing on plinths sup- ported by four lions' feet, beautifully carved and gilt. The canopy is finely scolloped, and hung with silk drapery of the same design as the lining. The whole is gilt and surmounted with the royal crown, and represents a tout en- semble at once classic and unique. The baths are not yet finished, but are being expedited as rapidly as possible ; and it is understood that one will be lined with silver and the other with marble."
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