National Affairs: So Sudden

Last week Perle Mesta got her walking papers. A loyal Democrat, she had submitted her resignation as U.S. Minister to Luxembourg to President Eisenhower three months ago. But still, his acceptance seemed rather hasty, Perle thought. In a cablegram asking her to represent him at the forthcoming marriage of Grand Duke Jean, heir to the crown of Luxembourg, and Princess Joséphine Charlotte of Belgium, Ike had added a postscript, setting April 13 as the dismissal date. “I was expecting to be fired only about June,” Perle told weeping staffers. “It was a great shock, being so sudden. [But] I suppose there was nothing else to do.” For the future, Perle had news for her Washington social rival, Gwen Cafritz. She was building a new house in Washington, would plunge back into the party-giving swim next fall. “For the time being,” said Perle Mesta, who is past 65, “this is the end of my diplomatic career.”