Page 41 - Bulletin 12 2008

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recalls that the nanny who looked after the princesses would bring them into the SL
Bazaars. The big beauty product of the day was Ponds Cream which was a regular item on

the shopping list. Mention is made of the Greek Royal Family in a “Memoir of Jan Smuts”
which was written by his private secretary. It seems that Jan Smuts and Princess Frederica

often walked in the mountains above Kalk Bay. Sotiri also remembers the excitement one

day when Prince Paul arrived at the harbour in a crash boat from Simon’s Town
resplendent in his Naval uniform. He wore a monocle and had tea at the Kings Hotel.

At the end of the Second World War, with the shortage of accommodation, Arcadia became

home to returning soldiers and their families. Whole families would rent one room. Major
and Mrs Duncan rented one - their daughter Peggy was to become the first woman to swim

the English Channel. There were many of the Kalk Bay families as well who stayed at

Arcadia over the years, the Picks and the Hammonds being just two of them.

Conclusion

Although my grandfather never went back to Greece, he had always kept in touch with his

family there, sending money whenever he could, and writing to his sister Ariadne
frequently. After her father died, my mother kept up correspondence over many years with

her Greek aunt whom she had never met. Ariadne could not speak or write any English and
would have to wait until she could dictate a letter to someone. These early letters are mostly

about day to day life, always requests for news of the family in Cape Town, and a constant

plea for and exchange of the latest photos. (Figs. 2.20 & 2.21). Sadly, besides one second
cousin of my mother’s, none of the family ever visited Cape Town. After the death of her

father my mother carried on the correspondence with various members of the family over
many years.