Page 88 - Personal Column (Charles Belgrave)_Neat

The small luncheon party, of about thirty people, with a carefully
chosen selection of leading British and Americans, was a great success.
The Shaikh was delighted to find that Mr Eden, with a little prompting
from Marjorie, who sat next to him, could converse in Arabic, an unusual
accomplishment among visiting V.I.P.s. In the evening the Hays gave a
dinner party, where what we used to call ‘Musical Chairs’ was played,
Sixteen . each person being led up to sit and talk with the principal guest tor a tew*
minutes and then being removed to make room for someone else.
In other places, such as Indian states of comparable size and importance
In many respects Bahrain is a miniature Welfare State; and it to Bahrain, a palace official would have been responsible for arranging the
is die only country in the Arabian peninsula whose Govemmcnc Ruler’s entertainments. When Shaikh Named was alive I persuaded him
is conducted on modem principles. to employ a Moslem Indian to deal with this and other matters. He was
Journey into Cluios. Paul Johnson (1958)
known as ‘the Factor’ and acted as a Major-Domo, but it was not a
success. When he left, some months later, the duty of arranging the
Shaikh’s parties fell upon me. At one time invitations were sent out by
I n February 1948 Mr Anthony Eden, as he was then, stayed in the palace but often husbands were invited without their wives, or vice
Bahrain with the Resident, Sir Rupert Hay, on his way to Saudi
versa, which caused some annoyance. Once a husband whose wife had
Arabia. With him were his son, Nicolas, and Colonel Palmer, who
had been Shaikh Hamcd’s host when he visited the Huntley and Palmer been accidentally omitted from the invitation wrote a very pained and
pompous letter to me enquiring whether his wife was persona non grata
factory in 1936. Shaikh Sulman had not met Mr Eden but he had a great
regard for him, which was shared by the Arabs in Bahrain, who remem­ with His Highness. The lady in question was middle-aged and most
respectable, but the Shaikh did not know that she was in Bahrain. He was
bered and admired his attitude over Abyssinia in 1938. That a man holding
such an important position should give up his career for the sake of his very amused when I read the letter to him, but I pointed out that it was I
principles was to them almost unbelievable. Many distinguished people who got the blame. After this incident he agreed that I should deal
with European invitations, submitting a list of ‘cligiblcs’ to him for
came to Bahrain before and after this visit, but never have I known the
Shaikh give so much personal attention to the details as on this occasion. approval, and that invitations to Arabs should be sent out, direct, from
In the morning Marjorie and I went to the palace to arrange the the palace as there was no question of wives being invited.
Once, before chairs and tables were used at meals, a dinner party was
flowers for the luncheon party which the Shaikh was giving, and to see
that all was in order. The Shaikh used to laugh at me for my fondness for given at the Rafaa palace in the long, narrow dining-room which at that
flowers—and for apples, which he did not care for. When apples appeared time was not very well lit. A table-cloth was laid on the floor, stretching
the whole length of the room, covered with dishes. The guests used to sic
on the table he always ordered a servant to put a dish of them in front of
me. As usual all was not in order. The table in the dining-room was on the carpeted ground along both sides of the cloth, sometimes sup­
smothered with unappetizing little dishes such as cold tinned peas and ported by cushions. Somebody, I don’t know who, without my know­
ledge, decided that the guests should have place cards with their names on
off-white blancmange. In spite of the servants’ protests we firmly
banished a dozen or two of the side dishes. It was impossible to persuade them. Even at a table I always find it rather tiresome having to walk
Arab servants that quality, not quantity, was what mattered. I then round looking for my name on a card, but on this occasion there was
inspected the Guard of Honour, drawn up below the palace steps, and chaos. No table plan had been made. Many of the guests went down on
* warned the old Sikh bandmaster not to let any of the band-boys slip into their knees peering at the little, faintly written cards searching for their ^
the dining-room and remove some of the food, a habit to which they were names. I saw that it would take at least half an hour to sort them out, so I
prone—quite unnecessary, too, as they were always given a meal after the told everybody to ignore the cards and to sit down where they liked. I
guests had fed. never again saw name cards at an Arab dinner.
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