George II gave 10 Downing Street to the government to provide a home in perpetuity for Prime Ministers and First Lords of the Treasury in 1735. At the time Robert Walpole was PM.
Subsequently other houses have ben gifted to the government for use by its Ministers; principally Chequers (1921), Downeywood (1947) and Chevening (1959). The ownership of these properties and others used by government ministers is complex. For example one is owned by the National Trust, others by charitable trusts and the Crown Estate. Fascinating though this may be we must not get detained.
Winfield House in Regent’s Park, the official residence of the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom, was a gift from Barbara Woolworth Hutton (there’s a clue to her wealth in her name) in 1955. Since 1921 American ambassadors had lived at 14 Prince’s Gate, Knightsbridge; a gift from the banker JP Morgan in 1921. The general conclusion I draw is that gifting houses to government ministers and American diplomats is a 20th century phenomenon. In this century such gift horses would receive in depth dental scrutiny and accusations of everything from buying favour to downright bribery.
All this came to mind while walking in Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens yesterday. It was sunny with a chilly wind and the parks were especially crowded as it was what is called the Spring Bank Holiday. It was also a holiday in the United States: Memorial Day. This is confusing as the armed forces in Europe are remembered in November and International Workers’ Day is celebrated in early May but Labor Day in the US falls on the first Monday in September. I had walked along Prince’s Gate earlier passing the shabby Iranian embassy – remembered for the six day siege in 1980 and its spectacular denouement, broadcast live on TV. A friend still living nearby remembers hearing the gunfire. Almost next door is the handsome house given by Barbara Hutton where JP Morgan lived and John F Kennedy when his father was serving as American ambassador. Next month I will take a friend visiting from Oregon to see both buildings.
I sometimes tell gullible friends that grey morning coats and grey top hats may only be worn from the Grand National until Goodwood; some believe me. In the United States it is a fact that only between Labor Day and Memorial Day white may be worn – shoes, handbags, suits, socks, jeans.
Memorial Day was originally “Decoration Day” in the United States, and dead then remembered were those of the Civil War.
Memorial Day and Labor Day between them frame the American summer. Traditionally swimming pools open on Memorial Day and close just after Labor Day. I have never owned clothing subject to the summer-only rule. The US Navy includes Service Dress White as a summer option, I see.
In the American South, the rule about wearing white was considered to be a northern one. As it gets warm much earlier in the South, an informal rule held that white could be worn after Easter. And locations considered “resorts” in places like Florida are sometimes considered exempt from seasonal restrictions. There is also “winter white,” a kind of cream or off-white, which many say is also exempt.
As I recall, Patty Hearst was bludgeoned to death with a telephone for wearing white out of season in the film, “Serial Mom.”
I think white socks are exempt from this otherwise hard and fast rule where I am from (New England). Although white socks are likely considered ‘bush league’ by most discerning dressers, wherever they live.