Royal gems - alas, no diamond

We want to believe unconfirmed reports that in disguise they went to the National Folk Festival to indulge their secret passion for Morris Dancing. One of the many things Kate is reliably reported to love about her secret hobby is the chance it gives her to at last shed her high heels (which she's expected to wear in public, even when playing spontaneous games of cricket) so as to be able to dance in sensible boots you can stamp the ground with.

But it's more likely that, staying at home at Yarralumla, they borrowed spades, and, with the Duchess teetering on her tyrannical high heels, they went looking for ''The Hidden Treasure of Yarralumla.''

To explain: 74 years ago almost to this very day (Saturday April 20, 1940) Her Excellency Lady Gowrie, President of the Canberra War Funds Appeal, allowed the lower orders into her Yarralumla gardens for a garden fair. The fair raised money for the war effort and was a brilliant success even though they didn't have Skywhale, the behemoth displayed at last years's open day at Government House. But to digress for a moment, the 1940 event had some elements of political incorrectness that may make modern readers wince a little.

For example, there were amusing mock trials with Sir Robert Garran in judicial robes as the judge. Various well-known public figures were arrested by ''special constables'' and faced with charges which included, amusingly, ''wife-beating''. Sir Robert found everyone brought before him guilty and by imposing fines of between 10 shillings and £5 his court raised £50.

Then there was, alas, the Pretty Ankle judging competition where, The Canberra Times reporter winked and nudged, ''as was perhaps to be expected, the men formed 90 per cent of the audience''.

But back to our hidden treasure story, and just days before the occasion of the garden fair Woman's Realm magazine announced that the fair was going to happen, going on to gush about Canberra's mountain-framed setting so that ''from the gardens of Yarralumla extends a panorama with few equals in Australia''.

''And Yarralumla,'' the piece trilled, ''possesses an unauthenticated mystery story of its own. It is said that the tale was told in in an unsigned manuscript dated 1881, when the Commonwealth took the property over. A large diamond was stolen in 1828 from James Cobbity on an outback Queensland station. The convict who was blamed for the theft was later captured, but no trace of the diamond was found.

''Then in 1842, the story runs, he gave to a groom a map showing the hiding place of the diamond. The groom found the jewel [and kept it]. After his death in southern New South Wales, his son, in company with a blackfellow servant, set out for Sydney with the diamond. Between Cooma and Queanbeyan they were ambushed by bushrangers and separated. The blackfellow was shot by the bushrangers and buried under the deodar tree [a Himalayan cedar, planted in 1837, still there today] in the grounds of Yarralumla. The storyteller contends that the blackfellow had swallowed the diamond to to prevent its capture.

'' 'I believe the diamond to be among his bones', the manuscript is said to state. 'It is of great value. I believe the grave to be under the large deodar tree.'

''The old deodar tree still stands,'' Woman's Realm continued, ''And as John Gale, the local historian, said in recounting the tale: 'The owners of Yarralumla have always thought more of the fine old tree than the chance of treasure among its roots, and they have left the jewel in its hiding place.'

''On April 20 there will be a treasure hunt at Yarralumla; but not among the roots of the grand old deodar. From Lady Gowrie's garden fair the Canberra people expect to derive for funds the largest individual amount ever subscribed in the history of the national capital.''

Seventy-four years ago today The Canberra Times reported that those expectations had been duly met. On a day of sparkling April weather, just the weather one needs for ankle judging, the 1940 occasion teemed with 8000 visitors. Even after the prizemoney was given to the gel with the prettiest ankle there was still £7000 raked in for the Red Cross on that frabjous day, with everyone having too much fun to remember to dig for a diamond.

The Canberra Times story ended rousingly, saying that during the fair ''Disturbing thoughts flitted back to the war, to the pain of men's wounds, and the weariness of their marching. Those present had helped in the cause, and had rallied to the call sent out by Her Excellency. The response was most gratifying, constituting a record which exceeded all anticipations; it demonstrated the loyalty of the Canberra citizens and their appreciation of the work of the Red Cross Society in providing comforts for those who will bear the burden of defending this country and preserving it for democracy against the might and power of despotism.''