Royal and Historic

Two years ago last December, when the Duke of York changed his name and title at a few days' notice to George VI of Great Britain, he also perforce changed his address from 145 Piccadilly to Buckingham Palace. Since February 1937, 145 Piccadilly, a few steps from the main entrance to Hyde Park, has remained closed. Last week it was thrown open to the public with a show of 1,300 "Royal and Historic Treasures" which, to the public at least, constituted the most spectacular exhibition of the season.

In rooms carefully designated as Their Majesties' Dining Room, H. M. The King's Study, Their Majesties' Morning Room, The Royal Nursery, etc., curious Londoners gaped at such curios as:

>The bed the Duke of Wellington slept in during the Waterloo campaign.

>The surgeon's saw used to amputate Lord Nelson's arm at Cape St. Vincent.

>A hoof of Marengo, Napoleon's Arab charger, matched by a hoof of Wellington's Arundel.

>The cap worn by African Explorer Sir Henry Morton Stanley when he made his immortal remark: "Doctor Livingstone, I presume."

>Lord Byron's hollow snake's-head ring, for carrying poison.

>William Ewart Gladstone's ax.

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