It was only to have been expected, perhaps, that the most generally-approved Jubilee celebration should have been inaugurated by the same most charming Princess. This was nothing less than the entertaining at dinner of 300,000 of the London poor. The feast took place in different large buildings all over the poorer parts of the Metropolis. The Princess, accompanied by His Royal Highness and the Princesses Victoria of Wales and Charles of Denmark, drove round and was personally present at as many as possible of the dining halls. At the People's Palace, in the Mile End Road, where 1,600 crippled children feasted, Her Royal Highness went in and out among the children, bestowing here and there a smile, and here and there a few words of kindly encouragement. [Illustration: _From a Photograph taken for this Work_} {_by T. C. Hepworth._ THE PRINCESS OF WALES'S DINNERS: THE DINNER TO CRIPPLED CHILDREN AT THE PEOPLE'S PALACE. The Princess of Wales stands in the centre of the platform with the Prince of Wales on her right. The photograph was taken during the "silence for Grace."] [Sidenote: State Reception.] A State Reception at Buckingham Palace, where Her Majesty was represented by the Prince and Princess of Wales, brought the festivities of June 24 to a close. [Sidenote: Special Performance at the Lyceum.] Friday, the 25th, was marked by an afternoon performance of "The Bells" and "The Story of Waterloo" at the Lyceum Theatre, to which the men of the Colonial Contingent had been kindly invited by Sir Henry Irving. Sir Henry was uproariously cheered on his first appearance and at every interval during the afternoon, and after the splendid presentation of "The Bells" he was called again and again before the curtain, and finally compelled to make a speech. He said:-- "Ladies and Gentlemen--I will say my dear comrades--for your greeting to-day proves that we are comrades, one and all--I cannot tell you how great a delight and pleasure it has been to us to have the honour, the privilege, and the pride of making you welcome here to-day, and I hope--I can but hope--that centuries hence our children will hold very dear to them the spirit which gives us the opportunity of meeting you; that spirit of love for our Queen and our country--that great nation which you typify--which is the strength and glory and power of it; and of that sweet and gracious lady, that beloved Queen of ours, for whom your swords will flash and our hearts will pray. I thank you with all my heart and soul for your welcome, and I thank you on behalf of one and all behind this curtain, and we send our most cordial greeting to one and all in front." [Sidenote: Torchlight Evolutions by Etonians.]