Prince Rainier III and Princess Grace of Monaco led French and Irish High Society at the charity Bal des Petits Lits Blancs at Powerscourt House in Enniskerry, County Wicklow on the day in 1965, 60 years ago.
It was the grandest and certainly the giddiest ball the Irish have given in years, and one reason was the guest of honor, a good-looking girl whose maiden name is Kelly Princess Grace of Monaco and her husband, Prince Rainier, attended the Bal des Petits Lits Blancs (the Little White Beds Ball), a French charity gala for French children, last night at Powerscourt, a historic 14,000-acre estate in County Wicklow, 14 miles from here.
Also attending were 178 Parisians (who had flown over to spend three days in Dublin) and nearly 500 Irish. The 31-year-old Bal des Petits Lits Blancs is sharing the proceeds with two Irish charities, the Dublin Central Remedial Clinic and the Conquer Cancer Fund. This is the second time the ball has been given outside France.
Nobility and Apéritif
The French party was headed by the Baroness Jean Seillière, president of the organizers. It included the Marquis of Montcalm, descendant of the general who fought and died on Quebec’s Plains of Abraham in 1759; Bernard, Ricard, whose family makes the well-known liqueur; André Dubonnet, whose fortune also derives from an apéritif; Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia, who lives in Versailles; Prince Achille Murat, whose ancestor was made King of Naples by Napoleon, and the 19-year-old Princess Phuong Thao, daughter of Bao Dai, former ruler of Vietnam.
The trip to Dublin, which included a garden party, a fashion show and a farmhouse rustic dinner as well as the ball, cost each French guest $300. Irish guests at the ball paid $45. And there was a booming black market for tickets here.
At 9:30 last night, guests arrived at Powerscourt House, a 100-room castle of solid Germanic proportions, which was built in around 1730 for the first Viscount Powerscourt and was sold in 1961 by the ninth Viscount to Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Slazenger.
Waiting for the Princess
The French shivered in the huge entrance hall, which is studded with stags’ heads, guns and armor, while waiting for Princess Grace.
Six members of Ireland’s wealthy Guinness family looked cross at the long delay.
Princess Grace arrived late, wearing an ermine jacket and a coral re-embroidered lace dress designed by Givenchy. She arrived from England, where she had been watching the Henley Regatta. This was her second unofficial visit to Powerscourt; last summer, she had tea with the Slazengers there.
In the ballroom, which is 80 feet by 40 feet and is surrounded by two rows of marble columns, dancing began after 11, when Princess Grace and Prince Rainier glided out in the required Sovereign Waltz. Mrs. Slazenger, who had provided all the guests with rubber tips for stiletto heels to protect the floors, wore a blue-green gown and looked calm despite the crush. Her husband, who has an electronics company here, is of an English family that once manufactured sporting goods.
A Change From Cattle
“I am a naturalized Irish citizen,” said Mrs. Slazenger, the former Miss Gwendolyn Ascroft, who had recruited 12 volunteers from the Irish Horticultural Society to work for eight hours, arranging roses, gladioluses, chrysanthemums and irises. One of Mrs. Slazenger’s main interests is her Hereford and Aberdeen Angus cattle. The herd occupies more of her time than parties.
Lady Goulding-oldest daughter of the late Viscount Monckton of Brenchley-danced with her husband, Sir Basil, and smiled serenely. She is the founder of the Central Remedial Clinic here.
The Gouldings held a garden party for French guests Saturday at their home, Dargle Cottage in Enniskerry, and waited an hour and half for them to arrive. Their 29-year-old son, Timothy, an artist who wears his hair strikingly long, showed Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia his family’s collection of modern Irish paintings.
Lady Goulding, who speaks French well, remarked cheerfully on the good weather to more than 25 French guests who had come prepared for snow during the garden party. Americans at the Powerscourt ball included Miss Cynthia Phipps and her uncle, Raymond Guest, the United States Ambassador to Ireland.
Prince Lobkowicz, whose family dates from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, whirled briefly around the crowded ballroom floor with his wife, the former Princess Françoise de Bourbon de Parme. She wore a Jacques Heim dress. But they found the ball too crowded and went home early.
Mrs. Donald Davies, who, with her husband, the Irish designer, gave a fashion show Saturday at their home, Charleville Castle, wore a shimmering tweed shirt and long skirts. But other women showed more skin. Mrs. Elise Hunt, an American living in Paris who arrived with Mr. Dubonnet, wore a strapless blue and white Balenciaga.
“Mervyn is waiting in Germany,” said Frank Ascroft, an English gentleman farmer and Mrs. Slazenger’s father. He was referring to Mervyn Niall Wingfield, the 30-year-old son of the ninth Viscount Powerscourt and husband of Miss Wendy Slazenger. She attended, but her father-in-law did not.
“She must have had an Irish nanny,” said one Dubliner of Baroness Seillière, who impressed the Irish with her simplicity and breeding. Other French guests were not so highly praised.
Banquet For 900
At the banquet held during the ball. 900 persons sat under a blue-and-white striped tent to consume 500 pounds of roast beef, lobster, turkey, chickens and crayfish prepared by seven cooks.
One impatient Frenchman, Raoul Lévy, a film producer, pushed over a table set with champagne, white wine, chinaware, silver and flowers because he was told it was reserved.
Members of the Irish Tourist Board, who arranged the three-day festival and ball, looked nervous. Other misdemeanors occurred Saturday night during the rustic dinner held in a farmyard barn, when high-spirited French guests threw spoonfuls of Irish stew and cream at each other.
Many guests at the ball found the banquet as impressive to look at as to eat. Carnations, sweet peas and roses formed trees on the huge main buffet table, where there were also pyramids of new Irish potatoes and their white blossoms.
More than 200 lobsters sprayed with gold paint and decorated with strains of pears made giant decoration pieces.
Guests of all nationalities ate well; the younger ones shot right back to the ballroom to rock ‘n’ roll until 5 A.M., when it was all over.
Princess Grace wore her mystery Diamond Swag Tiara and Van Cleef & Arpels Earrings.
