 Relations with the press further deteriorated when Lorne 's private secretary , Francis de Winton , threw four journalists off the royal train . Although the <unk> had no knowledge of de Winton 's action , it was assumed by the press that they did , and they earned an early reputation for haughtiness . Louise was horrified by the negative press , and when she heard about reports of " a nation of flunkies " at the viceregal court , taking lessons in " the backward walk , " Louise declared that she " wouldn 't care if they came in blanket coats ! " . ( A reference to the ubiquitous capote , a coat made of blanket @-@ cloth , both durable and warm . The cultural significance of the blanket coat in genteel society , with reference to several early Governors @-@ General and their wives , can be found in " ' Very Picturesque and Very Canadian ' : The Blanket Coat and Anglo @-@ Canadian Identity in the Second Half of the Nineteenth Century " by Eileen Stack of the McCord Museum of Canadian History . ) Eventually the worries of a rigid court at Rideau Hall and the " feeble undercurrent of criticism " turned out to be unfounded as the royal couple proved to be more relaxed than their predecessors . 
