THE CHRONICLES OF
HER GRACE THE DUCHESS
Duchess
Forever Young – sung by Mare Winningham (1959) – from the musical,
The Girl from The North Country, with songs written by Bob Dylan (1941)
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……. A YEAR ON
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Although I dislike the idea of comparing Her Grace The Duchess with Casanova/Puppy and have tried not to do it, as much as possible, since I find it unfair to both of these wonderful dogs. However, some comparison is unavoidable and will no doubt become evident. But, I have to say that they each are/were individuals and deserve to be thought of as such.
These two wonderful dogs have been the only dogs that I have ever shared my home with. Whenever we had a dog when I was a child, the animals always made it clear that he/she preferred my father to either me or my mother.
Although Her Grace has proven to be an excellent companion and great fun, I can not deny that I still miss Casanova/Puppy. My eyes were moist a week or so ago when the one-year memorial of his passing was noted. It would been a great joy to have both of them here together with me.
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Billie Holiday (1915-1959) – (You’d Be) So Easy to Love – written by Cole Porter (1891-1964)
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I have to admit that Her Grace fitted into life with me very easily and caused no trouble, unless we consider her barking at people – both strangers and known – as a problem!
Although she may appear not to like anyone, she is extremely easy to like. People seem to melt when they meet her. I notice that even the most miserable-looking person breaks into a smile at the sight of her – and who can blame them?
As the photograph shows, Her Grace is a great beauty despite the presence of a left eye cataract and a lack of teeth (note her tongue protrudes from the left side of her mouth). I think these apparent and possible considered blemishes are not one’s idea of traditional beauty and so might deter some from seeing her as a great beauty.
Over the past year, everyone that has met her seem to find her to be exactly that, a great beauty and a dog of great charm! Her admirers appear not to be disturbed by the fact that the beautiful Grand Duchess appears to dislike everyone she meets – and with no exceptions!
Little Richard (1932-2020) – The Girl Can’t Help – written by Bobby Troupe (1918-1999) –
and performed in the 1956 film of the same name
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In popular usage, the noun Dowager may refer to any elderly widow, especially one of wealth and dignity or aristocratic manner – Wikipedia
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What’s in a name?
Her Grace had already been given the name of Duchess by the time she came to live with me already named. I thought the name was somewhat different, but then I remembered that male dogs are often called Duke, and thought no more of it. For my own amusement, this led on to my eventual referring to her as Her Grace! At her age in dog years, she could be classified as an older dog – in fact, a Dowager Duchess!
Dowagers
As I said, at first, I wondered why she had been named Duchess. But after a short time of her being with me, I understood the reason and saw how appropriate it was for Her Grace has an aristocratic demeanour!
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Allow me to illustrate an example of her aristocratic demeanour: whenever I request that she does something, she stands and looks straight at me and remains motionless. If I wish for her to comply to my wish, I have to make the request again. Allow me to give an example: if I should I call her back into the house from the garden, her compliance, after a second request, is somewhat amusing. Her Grace will slowly saunter her way towards the open door, stopping on the way to examine something that has seemingly taken her fancy, and then once satisfied, continues on until she eventually arrives at the open door where I have been expected to be there. Here she will remain until asked again to enter! It seems that Her Grace has to be asked TWICE unless the request is food related!
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Her Grace’s behaviour reminds me of a former Duchess of Kent, who was born Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark. She was a much loved member of the Royal Family and deserved the affection given to her.
Princess Marina, The Duchess Of Kent
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Princess Marina was born in 1906 and died from a brain tumour in 1968. She married Prince George (1902-1942) in 1934 who was killed in a plane crash in 1942 while on a mission for the Royal Air Force (RAF). Following her husband death, the Duchess of Kent continued with her work for the Royal Family. She made numerous Royal Trips including and extensive one in 1964 to Australia where she officially opened Gladesville Bridge in Sydney. I mention this since during my travels to Australia, I walked and rode across this bridge many times.
Gladesville Bridge
The Duchess of Kent held high-ranking positions with many organisations including the Presidency of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution from 1943 until her death. However, I think that her Presidency of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (i.e., Wimbledon) was the one for which she is most remembered. It is the tradition for the President of the Club to come onto Centre Court to present the winner of the Gentlemen’s Singles at The Championships with a gold trophy in the form of a cup and the winner of the Ladies Singles with the Venus Rosewater Dish, which is a silver salver.
It is the tradition at Wimbledon for the Ball Boys & Girls to form a line either side of the route followed by the President of the Club to meet the players and officials and make the presentations. The Duchess of Kent upon arriving on Centre Court would meander along her path, often stopping to talk to one of the Ball Boys (there were no Ball Girls during her time) and then move on to talk to one or two more youths. Meanwhile the dignities and players waited patiently for the Duchess to arrive. Apparently no one complained and this act endeared the Duchess of Kent to the public.
The Duchess of Kent talking with the Ball Boys at Wimbledon
At this time, all Ball Boys were from Dr Barnardo’s Homes.
Ball Girls were introduced in 1977.
The Duchess of Kent was given a place in the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1960. She was a perfect and ideal example of Style, especially in terms of fashion and manner and set a number of fashion trends during her lifetime. She was also the epitome of the word LADY. (Alas, her type is rarely seen today.)
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As I have described myself as Her Grace’s Aide-de-Camp in the earlier Fairy Story, I feel duty bound to inform everyone that she meet during our walks that she appears to dislike everyone – and I include myself here. This appears to amuse her admirers who generally want to stroke her which she graciously allows! Of course when they do, she stops barking, as her bark was really to let them know that she must be treated in a REGAL manner and are obliged to pay court to her!
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Her Grace appears to dislike all other dogs whether they are big or small, she appears to have no fear of them. She will bark at them from behind the garden fence (!) and chase them off. Cats or squirrels do not fare better! Should a cat dare to cross the garden, and Her Grace is on sentry duty, she will chase them running at top speed. The cat will leap to safety over the fence and run off evidently happy to be free. Meanwhile Her Grace will continue to bark until the poor car is no longer in view.
Recently a neighbour was visited by her son who brought two beautiful Rottweiler dogs with him. They were elegant dark brown and black dogs who stood like statues guarding their front garden fence. They did not to move until their owner called them. During their visit, we passed them during one of our walks.
Rottweiler Dogs
Naturally, Her Grace barked at them. They did not move. This lack of respect on their part, as seen by Her Grace, ignited her anger. She continued to bark. The dogs remained motionless, until eventually the younger of the pair could stand it no more and began to bark back. This was not a sound for the faint-hearted! I tried to encourage Her Grace to move on, but she would not be deterred and obviously wanted to teach these young pups the meaning of respect!
Aretha Franklin (1942-2018) – Respect (1969) – written by Otis Reading (1941-1967)
Her Grace now stood motionless and barked directly at the younger dog, and together, they entered into a duel! Soon, the other dog joined in the battle. This did not deter Her Grace in the slightest. This continued for a while with me trying to move Her Grace along. Eventually the Rottweiler dogs began to back away and retreat to the back garden! Her Grace continued to bark probably in order to keep them at bay. Once she was convinced that her adversaries were not returning, she allowed herself to be moved along!
(Of course, I believe that the owner had called his dogs away, probably with a high-pitched whistle. Obviously, Her Grace did not associate the sound with a call to arms, but rather as a La Chamade.)
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