Etiquette and the Restive King

“He loves horses, and every moment that he can contrive to escape from the confining duties of his position as King he spends on the race track, or in the company of jockeys, bookmakers and the general run of race-goers. Then, he is like a boy, free from the straint of home or school, a man among men, a good fellow…” Alphonso “would hie him with his family to some South American republic, to raise horses and forget Madrid. He would flee from his Queen mother, a strict follower of the Royal Code of the House of Hapsburg and a stickler for the letter of the rule and every word of tradition in regard to court functions.” 

Uneasy rests the head that wears the crown of Spain. Alfonso, harassed by politics and bored by the formalities and limitations of Court etiquette, longs to doff the glittering symbol of authority and become a private gentleman. He could be a horse breeder and trainer. He loves horses, and every moment that he can contrive to escape from the confining duties of his position as King he spends on the race track, or in the company of jockeys, bookmakers and the general run of race-goers. Then, he is like a boy, free from the straint of home or school, a man among men, a good fellow. 

He knows whereof he speaks when horses form the subject of his discourse, whereas, alas, even the wisest wearer of the purple cannot always be sure that he knows what he is talking about when he gives oracular utterance to his decisions upon affairs of state. So he would hie him with his family to some South American republic, to raise horses and forget Madrid. He would flee from his Queen mother, a strict follower of the Royal Code of the House of Hapsburg and a stickler for the letter of the rule and every word of tradition in regard to court functions. 

But the addition of a real Spanish King to a South American republic is something not to be contemplated lightly. No place in South America that we know of could be trusted to maintain its republican equilibrium a day after he had taken up his abode there. A Monarchist party would be formed on the night of his arrival, and a revolution would be afoot the following morning. The United States, in the interest of peace, would have to ship poor, weary Alfonso back to Spain and its surfeit of pomp and ceremony. – Chico Record, 1920

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

An Intrusive Royal Court Etiquette

“Etiquette and custom require that the Queen of Spain shall not nurse her own child. According to immemorial custom, a wetnurse is obtained from the provinces of the Asturias, in Northern Spain, where the Royal family originally came from, and where the people are very vigorous. A nurse possessing the requisite qualifications has already been engaged for Queen Victoria. The reasons for entrusting the baby to a nurse are that the province of the Asturias has a historic right to care for the Royal progeny, that the Queen may not be capable of nursing her own child, and that, being a foreigner, she may not be disposed to give it that care which child of the blood Royal of Spain requires.” – 1907

BARBARIC ORDEAL FOR NEW BORN ROYAL CHILD

Nowhere in the world has the barbarism of traditional etiquette reached such depths as in the Royal Court of Spain. There it strips privacy from that which one considers most sacred. It insisted that King Alfonso should woo the Princess Ena of Battenberg in public. It will not allow the Queen to become a mother in private, and when she dies it will not permit her to pass through her last agony without official witnesses. 

The etiquette of the Spanish court is not only barbaric, it is medievally absurd. This publicity, according to modern and especially American ideas, is nothing less than revolting. It is part of the Court etiquette of the most ceremonious Court in the world, and has been handed town practically unchanged since the middle ages. It utterly destroys the privacy of what most civilized people regard as the most intimate and delicate of all family occasions. It must cause unutterable distress and embarrassment to the mother, if she possesses the most rudimentary feeling of modesty, and must seriously endanger her life.

The publicity begins as soon as the probability of an addition to the Royal family becomes apparent. King Alfonso ordered a three days’ festival at Madrid in honor of the approaching event. In the churches, prayers are offered that the new baby may be a boy; he will be named Alfonso; if a girl she will be named Isabel Christina. It is anticipated by the doctors that there may be twins. Spanish law and Court etiquette require that an immense number of officials shall be actually present at the birth of the Queen’s children. 

Among these are all the higher officials of the Royal household, representatives of the various classes of Grandees, the Prime Minister and all the members of the government, the ambassadors of foreign powers, representatives of the two houses of the legislature, the mayors of Madrid and of various municipalities that have a historic connection with the Spanish Monarchy. As soon as the probable hour of the birth is known, notification is sent to all these functionaries and they hasten to the Royal Palace. 

These important persons fill the great saloon, which looks on the Queen’s bed chamber,while the stairs of the Palace are crowded with legislators and municipal councilors and the court yard is filled with ordinary Madrilenos. The sensations of the poor Queen at such a time in presence of a large assemblage of men of all kinds, most of whom are total strangers to her, are indescribable. One purpose of this publicity is to make sure that the child is really born to the Queen and not a changeling, for, at least in earlier times, the people would have considered themselves very seriously defrauded if a baby not of the Royal blood had been palmed off on them. Etiquette and the national custom require that the doctor in attendance on the Queen shall be a Spaniard, even though he may have had no previous experience with her. Queen Victoria has had this rule modified so far that her English doctor is permitted to work with his official Spanish colleague.

As soon as the birth takes place, a salute of 21 guns, if the child is a boy, is fired from the Palace grounds to announce the fact to the people. The babe is immediately placed on a huge gold plate and handed to King Alfonso. In this way, the King carries the tiny, blinking, new baby to the head of the line of waiting functionaries, at the head of which is the Prime Minister. The Spanish doctor keeps his hand on the right hand side of the gold plate and the English doctor stands on the left. Accompanying the King are the Duke of Sotomayor, who is Majordomo of the Palace and the highest of all Court functionaries, and the Duchess of Medina de la Torres, who is Mistress of the Nurse, in national costume, stands near at hand, in order to render service when required. The King marches up to the old Prime Minister and shows him the baby. The old gentleman bows profoundly, adjusts his eyeglasses, and robes and the chief female official of the household. The Spanish veteran examines the little red infant carefully. 

Then, if his examination warrants it, he exclaims: “It is a Prince! God bless the Prince!” Prolonged applause from the line greets this remark. The King passes the long line of officials and ambassadors and exhibits the baby to each of them in turn. As the baby is presented, each of them bows profoundly. Finally the baby is shown to a notary, who has a book prepared relating the ancestry and parentage of the child for the last 500 years. He now makes an entry of the sex of the child, the date, hour and place of its birth. This is witnessed by the Archbishop of Toledo and the Majordomo of the Palace. When this task is accomplished, the King hands the baby over to the Duchess of Medina de la Torres, Mistress of the Robes, who may, if she sees fit, intrust the infant to the nurse. The child now has been exhibited to a great many more strange old men than is good for him. He is at last handed back to his unfortunate mother.

Etiquette and custom require that the Queen of Spain shall not nurse her own child. According to immemorial custom, a wetnurse is obtained from the provinces of the Asturias, in Northern Spain, where the Royal family originally came from, and where the people are very vigorous. A nurse possessing the requisite qualifications has already been engaged for Queen Victoria. The reasons for entrusting the baby to a nurse are that the province of the Asturias has a historic right to care for the Royal progeny, that the Queen may not be capable of nursing her own child, and that, being a foreigner, she may not be disposed to give it that care which child of the blood Royal of Spain requires. 

The nurse, or “ama,” as she is called in Spanish, wears a short velvet skirt, trimmed with scarlet velvet and gold braid; low shoes, with silver buckles; silk stockings, satin apron, gold embroidered bolero over lawn chemisette, hair in the Spanish national style and knotted behind under flowing ribbons; long earrings, and a shower of chains about her neck. A professional nurse has also been engaged for Queen Victoria. She is Miss Gertrude Bunting of Nottingham, England. She has a high reputation for efficiency on occasions of this character. She is a Catholic and recently acted as nurse at the birth of the Marquis of Bute's daughter, Lady Mary Stuart. The Marquis is one of the richest noblemen in England and a leading Catholic. 

“I shall nurse my own child,” declared Queen Victoria, when this custom of the substitute mother was pointed out to her. For a time it seemed that she would win her way despite the tradition of fifty Spanish dynasties. But the King, who sided with her in her claim of motherhood, found that little short of an uprising was threatened unless he yielded to the law. Finally the Royal couple compromised. A woman of English extraction was found in the Kingdom who would nurse the child according to custom and still comply with the Pope's demand that it be taught nothing but Roman Catholic tenets from the day it first begins to lisp. Already this woman has been brought to the castle, where she diets daily under the eye of the Royal physician in preparations for her pseudo motherhood.– Marysville Daily Appeal, 1907

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Etiquette and the King’s Car

A motoring Monarch was a grave crisis in the history of Spanish royal etiquette!

Spain’s Blithe Young King

There is a grave crisis in the history of Spanish etiquette, says the London Chronicle. King Alfonso XIII, who is described by a French Journal as “very impulsive and at the same time very ‘sporty,’” wishes to make a royal progress through his Kingdom in an automobile. Horror of the Prime Minister! Such a vehicle, he says, is beneath the dignity of a Monarch to whom the constitution has entrusted the “sumptuous car of the state.” 

The sumptuous car must not be driven by petroleum. Horses are still harnessed to the Chariot of the Sun. But Spanish etiquette does not prevent the Monarch from traveling by railway. Lady Currie tells a story of a young man who jumped into a compartment one day on the English train and started a conversation with an old lady who greatly admired his pleasant manners. When he was alighting site asked his name and he answered, blithely, “Alfonso.” He was Alfonso XII, then a cadet at Sandhurst. The anecdote will probably be read at Madrid with pain and incredulity. — King City Rustler, 1905

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Royal Spanish Etiquette Traditions

From the birth of a Spanish King until his death, the Spanish Monarch is never free from the bonds of an etiquette which has survived from time immemorial, and, up to date as he is, young Alfonso XIII cannot wholly shake himself free.

The Court of Spain

In almost every court in Europe the strictness of old-fashioned etiquette has of late, been greatly relaxed. The Hapsburgs, however, cling to their ancient customs, and at the Courts of Austria and Spain much of the quaint old ceremonial survives. From the birth of a Spanish King until his death, the Spanish Monarch is never free from the bonds of an etiquette which has survived from time immemorial, and, up to date as he is, young Alfonso XIII cannot wholly shake himself free. 

When a baby Prince is born at the Court of Spain, the Prime Minister must be present, or is hastily sent for; also the Presidents of the Congress and the Senate; the Commander of the Royal Halberdiers, to whom is entrusted the guarding of the Royal family within the Palace. The chief doctor then dresses the baby, and, placing the poor little atom upon an enormous silver salver, bears him in state to the father, who is waiting in the ante-chamber. “Sir, it is an infante (Prince),” he says gravely. The father, with equal gravity, takes the salver, raises it, and shows it to all present, then kisses the baby, and the odd little ceremony is over.

“DON'T TOUCH THE KING!”

No one beneath the rank of a Noble may personally attend the King of Spain, nor by any means, touch his sacred person. About twelve years ago, little Alfonso, running carelessly downstairs, stumbled, and took a regular dive towards the bottom. A footman, with great presence of mind, opened wide his arms and caught the child unhurt. He had saved the little Prince's bones, but had broken the rules of Court etiquette. Therefore, he lost his place. But it is satisfactory to learn that the Queen-Mother saw that the poor fellow did not suffer. She thanked him, and pensioned him handsomely.

All his life through the King is guarded by a special body of picked men. Tradition requires that these shall be drawn from the town of Espinosa. All night, they patrol the corridor outside his room, and at certain intervals the officer in charge glances through a secret panel to see that his youthful Majesty is well and safe. The men wear full armor, and— curious contrast! —felt slippers.

By right of birth, the King of Spain is a canon of Leon Cathedral, and, by a curious old unwritten law originating no one knows how, each member of the chapter must, on his first visit to the cathedral, jump over a small gate in one of the cloisters. As may be imagined, this was one of the few points of custom which thoroughly appealed to young Alfonso. He carried out the very letter of the law by a really splendid jump, for slight and delicate as he looks, the King is very athletic.

GOOD FOR THE SERVANTS

In old days nothing that had appeared on the Royal table was ever seen a second time. From the wax candles to the unopened bottles of wine, all was the perquisite of the underlings. The Queen-Mother has changed all this, and waste is at an end. To such an extreme has economy been carried that during his minority, the young King's allowance was but five pounds a month. A Spanish Coronation is a more simple ceremony than might be imagined. An odd point about it is that just behind the head of the procession, are led twelve riderless horses in full Royal trappings. There is no crown used in Spanish Coronations. The ceremonial attending the funeral of a Spanish King is the strangest of its kind, in existence. 

The Royal tomb is situated in the Escurial— that strange old place which lies some distance, away from Madrid, and fully 8000 feet above sea level. The procession movea on foot out of Madrid, and rests one night upon the way. In the morning, the Lord Chamberlain stands by the coffin and cries, “Is your Majesty pleased to proceed upon your journey?” A short silence, and then they move on. When the casket is at last placed in the vault, its final destination, the same official unlocks it, kneels down, and calls loudly: “Señor! Señor! Señor! ” Again a solemn pause. “His Majesty does not reply,” says the Chamberlain. “Then it is true. The King is dead!” He locks the coffin, breaks his staff of office in pieces, and all is over. – Los Angeles Herald, 1906 

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Spanish Royal Etiquette History

The Gainsborough Hat was also known as a “Picture Hat” or “Merry Widow” and it has fallen in and out of fashion, several times, since the 18th Century 

Princess Ena Favors Big Headgear

********************

 New Hats Are Big Gainsboroughs — Won't Look at Cute Effects at All

LONDON— The Princess Ena is buying most of her trousseau in London. Court etiquette demands that the bride of the King of Spain must have her wedding dress woven and made in Spain, so the rich white brocade is being woven on Spanish looms, and the dress will be embroidered by the girls of Madrid. After the wedding, the dress will be dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, which is also a traditional ceremony in the court of Spain. A few smart little frocks have been ordered in Paris, but most of the wedding outfits will be made in London. 

The Irish Ladies' Industry association has secured almost a monopoly of the orders for lingerie, etc. The bride's hats are being made by Gainsborough, the main milliner, who has made the Princess Ena's hats since she put off baby bonnets, they are almost all made according to the Spanish taste— big picture hats with enormous ostrich feathers. The smart little hat of the early 60s, which is the fad in this country now, is not at all the thing in England or anywhere on the continent except in Paris. — Los Angeles Herald, 1906

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia 

Royal Wedding Etiquette Details

Ena, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria, had irritated her Battenberg cousins by waving all too regally from the carriage at the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1897, so they were not at all surprised when Ena married the King of Spain. King Edward VII, thus needed to elevate her to the rank of Royal Highness prior to the ceremony. At the wedding, an assassin attempted to blow up the bridal carriage in which the newly wedded royal pair were returning to the palace. A bomb was lobbed from a third floor window, engulfing the carriage in smoke. The new Queen's bridal gown was spattered with the blood of a decapitated guardsman. Twenty-four men were killed, more than 100 wounded, and the future King George V noted ruefully in his diary that lunch was delayed until well after 3 pm.!

Alfonso's Wedding Plans
In Accordance With Spanish Etiquette

Will Send an Envoy to Ask the Hand

of Princess Ena of Battenberg

Special Cable to The Herald—

LONDON, Feb. 3.— Already interest is being manifested in the forthcoming marriage of King Alfonso and Princess Ena of Battenberg. The preliminaries, will, in accordance with Spanish etiquette, be as follows:

An ambassador extraordinary with plenary powers will come to England to demand the hand of the princess. The matrimonial contract will be drawn up, read and signed in London. It will be ratified by King Edward and King Alfonso.

It is practically certain that Princess Ena will enter Spain from the north at Iran, where she will be met  by the Chief Majordomo of the palace in behalf of King Alfonso, as well as municipal and military authorities and the British ambassador, who will first present Princess Ena and her mother, and then their suite, to the Spanish authorities.

The Princess and her mother will then proceed to the palace at El Pardo, seven miles from Madrid, where they will remain for six days before the wedding. They will then be met there by King Alfonso and the Queen mother. Two days before the wedding there will be a solemn reading of the marriage treaty, which is practically equivalent to a betrothal.

On the wedding day, the Princess will leave El Pardo early, in strict incognito, without escort of any kind. King Alfonso and two adjutants on horseback will join her in the neighborhood of El Pardo and accompany her to the entrance of the city. The Princess will then be robed in a building which has not yet been selected, where the trousseau will have been exhibited. She will preserve her incognito until she enters the gala carriage to go to the church.

According to the etiquette of the Spanish court, all the articles of the trousseau will be exhibited, even to the most minute details of the household linen. The dresses will be on lay figures and the jewelry and other articles in glass cases under the care of halberdiers. Entrance to the exhibition will be free to all classes. — The Los Angeles Herald, Feb. 1906

Etiquette Enthusiast Maura J Graber is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Spain's Royal Etiquette Past

                                         

Maria Christina Henriette Desideria Felicitas Raineria of Austria, was Queen of Spain as the second wife of King Alfonso XII. She was regent during the minority of their son, Alfonso XIII, and the vacancy of the throne between her husband's death and her son's birth, from 1885 until 1902. 

Tobacco at the Court of Spain

The Queen Regent of Spain is simple in her manners and is slowly relaxing the rigid etiquette of the Spanish court. Formerly it was impossible to smoke before the Queen. At a recent court dinner, however, she ordered cigars to be produced. Everybody was astonished and no one seemed inclined to take the first step. The officer of state next the Queen held the silver basket containing the cigars, but did not know what to do with them." Finally the Queen took one, lighted it, and said : "Pass around the cigars, gentlemen." –From the Daily Alta California, November 1889

                                                     
Spain's young King with his mother, the Regent Queen ~ "one requires very little stimulating to "enthuse" over the ruler of Spain. Partly because he is the sort of youth that an ordinary citizen—were he, too, an ordinary citizen—would be very friendly with, and would speak about behind his back as a very decent fellow indeed, and partly because he is a monarch, isolated from the contact of common men, surrounded by what seemed insurmountable walls of etiquette and tradition, and apparently at the mercy of wire-pullers and courtiers, and yet has broken through the steel girdle and proved himself a wise ruler and a very human being."

👑 👑 👑 👑 👑 👑 👑 👑 👑 👑 👑

The New Spain — And Some Stories of 

King Alfonso in 1906 

        

An engagement card features Alfonso in uniform with his helmet and sword and his fiancé, Victoria Eugenie, wearing a fashionable, squared necked, evening dress. “People who know Spain from books will tell you with bated breath of the cast-iron etiquette that surrounds the royal personage of Spain, of dreadful dinners eaten in solemn silence, of bows to the left and curtsies to the right, of mace-bearers and cup-bearers and sword-bearers, of orders of precedence; such as that between the Infanta who was born at 7.25 and the Infanta who entered this wicked world at 7.29.”

There came to meet me at the North Station at Madrid a cheerful boy—a boy who had obviously come straight from a tennis court, who was dressed "slack" as only the English can dress "slack" and remain respectable. In the carriage that drove us through the uneven streets of Madrid he told me about a "rotter" of our acquaintance, used twelve different school-slang phrases in as many minutes.

That night he came to the Fornos to dinner, and I asked him why his friends called him by a Spanish name.

"Because I am Spanish," was the reply, and the answer staggered me.

"But you are unique?"

"Not a bit of it. Dozens of fellows in Madrid like myself have been educated in England."

And this boy, I discovered, was the son of a noble house that goes back to the year 1, and that he was by no means alone in his Anglicisation I soon discovered.

The royal marriage and the enthusiasm it has aroused through Spain are only symptomatic of the extraordinary respect in which Great Britain is held throughout Spain. The word "Inglesi" has a meaning outside the narrow limits of appellation, and the young Spain that is growing up with the boy-King has possibilities which the boldest may speculate upon and fall short of the mark.

A LITTLE MAD

Remember that old Spain does not quite understand Alfonso. It loves him; he is the darling of the people, and your ultra-Republicans, exceedingly voluble on all pertaining to kingship, have a pleasant word for the slim youth with the everlasting smile.

But none the less old Spain does not quite take him in. To be perfectly frank, old Spain, watching in wonderment as the young man sweeps away the cobwebs that hamper his administration, confesses sadly that the King is a little mad. This same old Spain, be it noted, has for generations regarded the "Inglesi" as a nation of amiable lunatics, and for very much the same reason as England has deserved the stigma, King Alfonso bears it.

People who know Spain from books will tell you with bated breath of the cast-iron etiquette that surrounds the royal personage of Spain, of dreadful dinners eaten in solemn silence, of bows to the left and curtsies to the right, of mace-bearers and cup-bearers and sword-bearers, of orders of precedence; such as that between the Infanta who was born at 7.25 and the Infanta who entered this wicked world at 7.29.

There have been customs handed down from the days of the gloomy builder of the Escurial. They have been handed down from king to king—even Joseph Bonaparte "carried on"—and they were handed over, heirlooms of procedure, to the patient little boy whose unceasing education earned for him the sympathy of all the little boys in the world.

Where are those customs now?

If we are to believe the aged masters of ceremonies, who—so it is said—go moaning about the Corridors of the Palacio Real, weeping for glories gone, they have vanished. Pruned here and omitted there, remodelled, improved, renovated, the irreverent youth (he has just streaked past my window in a motor-car) has, in the language of the soap advertiser, "made home comfortable."

THE IRON HAND BENEATH

And his influence is felt throughout Spain. Not because he has led the Spanish gentry to wearing English clothes, English collars, and English cravats (I saw a "smoking jacket" ticketed in the window of a cheap tailor to-day), nor because he has infused into a languid people something of that restless energy which is peculiarly his, but because you see his hand in the great acts of administration.

There was a Minister in Spain who had a friend. The friend's past was not exactly blameless: there was a sort, of "war stores scandal" in the background, but the Minister was anxious to put his friend into the Cabinet. And the Minister, who was sufficiently powerful to he blind to his own weakness had not the slightest doubt that his nomination would be accepted. It is unfortunately true that corruption in the public service has been by no means rare in Spain, and is not regarded in a very serious light, and the Minister was perhaps justified in his belief that the unfortunate affair bad been conveniently forgotten.

But the King's memory, like the King's digestion, is remarkably good, and without a word he struck his pen through his name. The Minister was thunderstruck.

"I shall place my resignation in your Majesty's hands," he said stiffly; but the awful threat did not alarm the young man.

"That is my wish," he said gravely.

Again. The present marriage is by no means regarded with approval in Germany. You are aware that there are great German Princes whose "military duties" will prevent their attending the ceremony.

It is an unfortunate fact that one cannot show preference without offending the unpreferred. The attachment of the King has drawn him closer to Great Britain; but King Alfonso is a shrewd youth, and he has certainly no desire to antagonise a powerful State like Germany. The spirit of "manana," which is at once the joy and curse of Spain, extends to every class of Spaniard—even to the Spaniard ambassadorial—and there are to be celebrations this year in Germany at which the crowned heads of Europe are to be represented. Somehow the Spanish Ambassador at Berlin failed to notify the King of these celebrations, with the result that there was no time for the fitting representation of Spain. Alfonso's hand fell on the Ambassador. A prompt Gazette announced his recall and the reason.

ALL THE TO-MORROWS SHALL BE AS TO-DAY

This is how Alfonso XIII. is creating a new Spain. By substituting promptitude for procrastination; by replacing "manana" by "to-day"; by refusing to recognise the plea of custom; and lastly, and most important of all, by doing himself the things that he asks his people to do.

The story that best illustrates the sane, practical spirit that underlies most of his acts is the story of the reservoir disaster. In the course of constructing a reservoir near Madrid, part of the works collapsed, and hundreds of workmen were buried beneath tons of earth. The boy King was at the royal palace when the news was telephoned through, and he ordered his car and drove through to the scene of the catastrophe. Crowds had gathered in the vicinity, and the King was recognised as he drove up. Accident or royal procession, all's one to the Spaniard, so long as it be in the nature of sight- seeing, and "Viva el Rey!" was roared by a thousand throats. It was an indignant young monarch who stood up in his car and harangued the crowd. "If you were helping to dig these poor fellows out, instead of shouting, 'Viva,' you would be doing a far better thing." he said—and the crowd took the hint.

It is customary at such a time as this for the writer to say the nicest things he can remember about his royal subject. Kings, with two notable exceptions, are very uninteresting people, who do a great deal of work and listen patiently to a great number of national anthems. But one requires very little stimulating to "enthuse" over the ruler of Spain. Partly because he is the sort of youth that an ordinary citizen—were he, too, an ordinary citizen—would be very friendly with, and would speak about behind his back as a very decent fellow indeed, and partly because he is a monarch, isolated from the contact of common men, surrounded by what seemed insurmountable walls of etiquette and tradition, and apparently at the mercy of wire-pullers and courtiers, and yet has broken through the steel girdle and proved himself a wise ruler and a very human being.
–Reproduced from The Star (New Zealand), August 11, 1906

🍽️Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber of The RSVP Institute of Etiquette, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Etiquette and Spain's Coronation of the "Little King"

Alfonso XIII., the Boy King of Spain, whose coronation took place on May 17, 1902 ~ "A Royal reception was held in the Throne-room, where the special Ambassadors from the different European and America States offered their congratulations to the new King. He also, for the first time received the homage of his subjects. The procession to and from the Coronation-room, was of a magnificent mediaeval character, recalling the ancient glories of Spain." From The Northern Star (Lismore, NSW)

The coronation of Alfonso XIII, the boy King of Spain, which is been arranged for his birthday, will mark the majority of the youngest monarch in Europe, sixteen being in the ordinances and Royal etiquette of Spain, the prescribed age majeur. Notable as has ever been such pageantry in Spain, the preparations at Madrid suggest that this event will in all probability exceed in splendor many that have gone before it. 

"The wildest enthusiasm was shown by the people along the route and the King was obliged continually to thrust his head and arms out of the window and acknowledge the applause of his subjects. His naturally pale face was flushed, and it was plain that he was deeply touched by these manifestations of loyalty. Regardless of etiquette, which is nowhere so rigid as in the Spanish court, the members of the Cortes, as he entered, sprang to their feet and broke out into cries of "Long live the King!" The cheering continued for fully ten minutes, during which Alfonso stood calm and cool, unmoved by the excitement which swayed everyone else..." from "The Story of the Greatest Nations," by Charles F. Horne

To realize the surroundings, the pomp, the Oriental splendor characteristic of Spain's Royal ceremonial even into ordinary state functions, climate must be taken into account; and it must not be forgotten that in old days Spain's monarchs -- whatever may have been their shortcomings -- garnered into the Peninsula all that was most precious in the kingdom of art throughout Europe.  

The stately etiquette always rigorously enforced at the Court of Madrid has in nothing degenerated during the Regency of Queen Christina whose Austrian birth and proclivities carried out to the letter the established precedent. Within the palace, the finest residence royalty possesses in Europe, suites of apartments are being prepared, where will be lodged the many princes who come to honor the "Little King". 

On May 17, 1902, young Alfonso XIII, having attained his legal royal majority, was crowned King of Spain, taking the oath as sovereign in the Chamber of Deputies at Madrid under circumstances of mediaeval magnificence. He was King from his birth, having been born after his father's death; but his mother had ruled in his name as regent from his birth. He did not assume his royal functions under the most promising conditions, as revolutionary disturbances and labor troubles continued to keep the public mind in a state of ferment and apprehension. In 1906, Alfonso married Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg (Victoria Eugenie Julia Ena) She was a granddaughter of Great Britain's Queen Victoria and the first cousin of King George V of the United Kingdom, Queen Maud of Norway, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia, Queen Marie of Romania, Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany, Queen Louise of Sweden, and Queen Sophia of Greece. Felipe VI of Spain is her great-grandson. 

       

From the Saturday Review of Politics, Literature, Science and Art, Volume 93

 👑Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia