Royal Court Etiquette for ‘Shopkeepers’

“… any lady in trade is not eligible to the privilege of attending a Royal drawing room…” – Selling items for charity was a considered a noble cause, but selling items for one’s own profit was seriously frowned upon. –
Above, Elizabeth McGovern as the fictional Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham, of “Downton Abbey”
 – Image source, Pinterest

London boasts a number of amateur shopkeepers, some of them titled women. Their devotion to the pursuit may be estimated when it is announced that it is an accepted rule of Court etiquette that any lady in trade is not eligible to the privilege of attending a Royal drawing room. Socially she may be received, but in Royal circles she has lost caste. From this side of the sea, such distinctions seem intensely puerile. – New York Times, 1892

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