Baghdad Jan 15. Darling Father, I have had rather an unsatisfactory week, the icy cold of the Queen's reception added to the daily freezing cold of my office having been finally too much. So I stayed indoors solidly for 4 days, bored to tears, and am now practically all right. There's a great deal too much doing to have anything the matter with one at this moment. Yesterday I went up to the Palace, in outrageous weather, and arranged for the Queen's next party, tomorrow. I took up the Mistress of the Ceremonies and to my surprise and delight when she heard that the King was there too, she made no difficulty whatever about unveiling and joining the party. She is a charming woman and made very intelligent suggestions; the King was much pleased with her. They are going to have a party of girls for the Princesses, at my suggestion, but I shall leave it all to them. Mme Jaudat (Mistress of the Ceremonies - I've now got sufficiently familiar with her to call her Fatmah Khanum) is going to issue the invitations and preside. She was quite brisk about it. I really feel as if I were getting them onto their feet and after a couple more official parties I can let them go their own way. Everyone, English and Arab, is full of congratulation as to the first party.
Clothes are the next thing; I'm writing to Sylvia to ask her to buy some things for them to carry on with.

The Frontier Commission arrives tomorrow. Besides the 3 Commissioners and the Turkish Assessor bargained for, they are bringing 3 if not 4 Turkish "experts". This causes a good deal of perturbation for they are expected to prove experts in intrigue and intimidation in addition to their other duties. They will all be here for about 10 days, I gather, and I propose to ask the big 3 to dinner on Sunday with Ken and Dr Asfar (recently returned) to meet them. Dr Asfar would, I think, be rather a good card. Innocent talk about 'Iraq development will profit the Commissioners - or should.

Mrs Higgins, wife of the A.O.C., has also arrived, but I have not seen her yet owing to having been indoors with a cold. I'm going to take her to visit the Queen on Monday. I wonder what she will be like.

I had a nice dinner party on Sunday - Bernard and Ken and Air Commodore Dowding, a comparatively new arrival. A.C. Dowding has a rather grim face and I felt a little anxious about him, but he turned out to be jovial to the point of waggish when thawed and we all liked him. He plays quite a good game of bridge too, but Bernard is much the best of us.

Oh Father, Sinbad is delighted with his present and so much touched at your sending it. He says it will be very useful to him - he is going to write to you about it.

Your Xmas weather sounds as bad as ours - what's the world coming to!

I return Herbert's excellent letter. There is a little more to be said for H.M.G. than he admits. It was a pity that we were in the habit of entering so lightheartedly into engagements which would be extremely difficult to fulfill if need were. We did, of course, let the Shaikh down, but could any Govt have gone to war with Persia, even with Persia, on his account? H.M.G. were ready at a pinch to bring over a couple of battalions from India, at considerable expense, and at that moment we were involved in the crisis in Egypt and their one idea was to avoid further commitments. Meantime, it isn't going to be well with the Shaikh, I fear - As soon as Percy's back was turned, Riza Khan adopted a far less conciliatory attitude to him. Percy will have to tackle him in Tehran [(Teheran)] again. The Shaikh's next door neighbour, the Wali of Pusht i Kuh [Posht-e Kuh], another big fundatory, is being treated in the same way, only we're under no special obligations to him. Persian troops have marched into his country and at this moment he is taking refuge in the 'Iraq, whither he fled before the troops arrived. Riza Khan means to centralize; in a way he is right, but I doubt whether he has forces or money to hold after he has siezed. At the same time, opium or not, there's no one but he in Persia who can hold at all and if he falls the country will go back to chaos. Perhaps it will anyhow, but he has done a good deal in improving law and order.

The end, or as far as we knew the end of Rosita Forbes's odyssey is that she met Mr Philby at Aden [('Adan)] where Mr Philby was ill and showed no desire at all to try for Arabia. Mrs McGraith was more difficult to head off, but I imagine she wouldn't have done anything without Mr Philby, so she has ultimately gone to Abyssinia [Ethiopia], cinema and all, and he is returning to England. I should think he is a disappointed man for he entirely failed in his attempt at mediation with Ibn Sa'ud. He will probably accuse H.M.G. of having thwarted him. So it did.

We're having a terrific Cabinet crisis, over a mole hill, as I think. I hope the Cabinet won't tumble off its perch the day the Commission arrives! Ever your very affectionate daughter Gertrude.

Did I ever tell you that on perusing Sir Herbert Samuel's report to the League of Nations, I was pleased to find that one of the Palestinian public holidays is the day Noah came out of the ark! the 10th of Muharram it's fixed at, you'll be interested to learn, so it changes 10 days every year, with the Mohammadan calendar. We think we might add to our holidays the day Jonah came out of the whale.