Etiquette of a King’s Wardrobe

What keeps the Royal valets busy (and the King always takes a couple with him,—like Count D'Orsay) is the constantly growing stock of official clothes, because Albert Edward is a stickler for etiquette. If he goes to an army ceremony, he wears the uniform of the Field Marshal, and he attends naval affairs dressed as an Admiral of the Fleet.

King Edward's Wardrobe

Much nonsense is customarily talked and written about the King's clothes. But with every deduction made for the imagination of talkers and writers, the fact remains that Edward VII travels with a good deal of baggage “whene’er” (as the Isaac Watts hymn puts it) “he takes his walks abroad.” The King is a man of sense in regard to dress, whatever he may be in any other respect; but I do not think he carries about, or wears more ordinary clothes, than any other gentleman of high position. 

What keeps the Royal valets busy (and the King always takes a couple with him,—like Count D'Orsay) is the constantly growing stock of official clothes,  because Albert Edward is a stickler for etiquette. If he goes to an army ceremony, he wears the uniform of the Field Marshal, and he attends naval affairs dressed as an Admiral of the Fleet. Similarly, when he went to Kiel the other day to visit his nephew (whom the irreverant call William the Bumptious and the punctilious Kaiser Wilhelm) he took along, not only a sufficiency of yachting suits and flannels—though the King hates flannel—but also a full rig out for every German and Prussian regiment of which he is an honorary officer; and conforming to the ridiculous and meaningless custom of European courts he is in that position with regard to a good many. 

And, of course, there were jacket suits of various weights, because the King loves a lounge suit, and though being what he is, he may not know the luxury of an old, shabby suit, he gets as near it as he dare. The King, though a well-dressed man and a man (as I said before) of some, though not of, exquisite taste (his son, the Prince of  Wales, is neither) is not a dandy and never was a dandy.—The Haberdasher, 1904

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

British Royal Etiquette History and Dining

ROYALTY OF OLD BIG EATERS 

Feast at Court of King Richard II Called for Vast Amount of Food

England in the Canterbury days ate much in the French style. Spoons and fingers were good manners and carving was new-fangled. If it was, in fact, practiced to any extent at all. 

Richard II and the Duke of Lancaster once dined in London with the Bishop of Durham. The King, the Duke and the Bishop and their retinues and guests called for 120 sheep, 14 salted oxen and 2 fresh, 1,240 pigs, 12 boars, 210 geese, 720 hens, 50 capons "of hie geze" and eight dozen other capons, 50 swans and 100 dozen pigeons; rabbits and curlews by the score, 11,000 eggs, 12 gallons of cream and 120 gallons of milk.

The usual forms of address for a King for much of the "Plantagenet era" in England were ‘your highness’ and ‘your Grace’. Richard II introduced the terms ‘your majesty’ and ‘your high majesty’ to the court vocabulary, having had a grander and more elaborate vision of kingship than his predecessors.
During the King's later reign, there are accounts of Richard II sitting in splendor on his throne after dinner, while glaring around the room at the courtiers assembled there. It is said that, whomever his gaze rested upon was to fall to their knees in humble appreciation of his royal awesomeness. Eventually wearing thin, in 1399 Richard was deposed by his cousin, Henry Bolingbroke, who took the throne as Henry IV, which abruptly ended an unbroken succession of Plantagenet kings since the 12th century.

Such was a royal feast, says the Detroit News, and every day, whether fast day or eating day, had four meals. Breakfast at seven, dinner at ten in the morning, supper at four and livery at eight. The hour of dinner is said to show the development of cooking in any given country. But there were Chaucerian refinements, nevertheless, aside from dishes of flowers; permissible foods imitating the form of meats on fast days, hen eggs being counterfeited and clever things such as making two capons out of one by skinning it and stuffing the skin. 

There were, besides, the points of etiquette; a pig for a lord should be endored. His cabbage thickened with egg, not crumbs; a pike served whole to a Lord, but cut for the commonality. And mint sauce has a pedigree reaching to Edward I. – From Detroit News as reprinted in Sausalito News, 1924

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Etiquette and the Court of Henry VIII

Henry VIII acted like an animal at times, but not while dining. Yes, even many “etiquette experts” get it wrong. One was quoted as saying this, upon the release of his 2013 book of etiquette: “In Henry VIII's time it was good manners to chuck lamb bones over one's shoulder for the greyhounds to feed. That would cause raised eyebrows these days.” Au contraire, mon frère! When it comes to table manners, we have no grounds to feel superior to Henry VIII.

There are two ‘facts’ that everyone knows about Henry VIII, who was crowned 500 years ago. First that he had six wives. Second that he was a terrible glutton, gnawing on vast haunches of meat at a great table and tossing the bones greasily over his shoulder.

We need to modify this second ‘fact’. Tudor food was far more subtle and refined than the clichés allow. In Hilary Mantel’s magnificent new novel, Wolf Hall, set largely at Henry’s court, the food is so vivid it practically becomes an extra character. Courtiers spoon up junkets, and quinces stewed with honey. They eat syllabubs; poached chicken breast in a tarragon sauce; ‘fat brambles with yellow cream’; and roasted Warden pears. Mantel rightly depicts Tudor dining as a considered affair, where what is eaten reflects not just taste but rank. Mantel imagines Anne Boleyn when she is the king’s mistress, mischievously purloining a ‘fine aged cheese’ given as a gift by the Spanish ambassador to the Queen, Catherine of Aragon. First Anne steals the cheese; next the husband.

Let's get something straight... I may have had several wives, but that doesn't make me a terrible glutton, gnawing on vast haunches of meat and tossing bones greasily over my shoulder.

Both Anne and Henry were great lovers of fruit, particularly cherries and strawberries. Henry is known to have liked quince marmalade and orange pies. In 1534 his household bought an orange strainer, a sign of how often zingy citrus – then a luxury – made its way into his diet. Damsons and grapes were brought from the gardens at Richmond Palace to Hampton Court. It was Henry who introduced apricots to Britain, planting espaliered trees at the garden of Nonsuch in Surrey. He loved artichokes, too, and employed a Flemish gardener to grow salad vegetables for his table.

What of his paunch? There’s no getting away from the fact that vast quantities of meat were delivered to Henry’s kitchens. The annual provision of meat for the Tudor court included 8,200 sheep, 2,330 deer and 53 wild boar, not to mention countless little birds (teal, cygnet, gull and shoveler, as well as quail, pheasant and chicken). But this was not, needless to say, all for the king’s personal consumption. At Hampton Court 600 courtiers were entitled to eat twice daily in the Great Hall. As for the king, he dined in the relative quiet of the Privy Chamber, where – after the master cook had first checked them for poison – he enjoyed such dishes as baked lampreys or cream of almonds.

A Case History of Overeating
Early in his reign, Henry VIII was "an athletic king vigorous enough to tire out horses in the chase and opponents on the tennis court." He was a tireless dancer, and was able to drink his courtiers under the table. But his marvelous constitution could not stand up to the day-in, day-out feasting at court. Even ordinary meals were enormous; the menu for one particular day lists a first course of several salads plus cold dishes of "stewed sparrows, carp, capons in lemon, larded pheasants, duck, gulls, brews, forced rabbit, pasty of venison from fallow deer, and pear pasty." The second course of hot dishes included "stork, gannet, heron, pullets, quail, partridge, fresh sturgeon, pasty venison from red deer, chicken baked in caudle and fritters." This was followed by a lavish array of desserts, and a cordial of spiced wine. Injuries in athletic contests over the years limited the King's activities. Small wonder that he swelled to grotesque size. When he died, King Henry VIII had kidney disease, gout, circulatory disorders, and “tortuously painful” leg ulcer. Although famous for having problems with his wives (six in all, two beheaded) Henry's real trouble may have been with food. –
From "ABC's of the Human Body"

So, far from rudely gobbling haunches, the king observed complex etiquette. True, there was at least one occasion when Henry threw sugar-plums at his guests, and, given the gallons of sweetened wine consumed, meals must sometimes have got out of hand. Yet the general rules of table were politer than our own. If Henry overindulged (and surely he did, his waist thickening to 54in after a jousting accident in 1536), he did so with aplomb. Hands were washed before, during and after every meal.

He had a special fingerbowl – heated in a chafing dish – and a designated napkin to protect his fine ‘manchet’ bread roll. When he had eaten enough, he stood and washed his hands while an usher brushed crumbs from his royal person.

We could do with such a service in my house, where we often rise from dinner in a shockingly greasy and crumb-bespattered state. When it comes to table manners, we have no grounds to feel superior to Henry VIII.

Main article from “The Kitchen Thinker: Henry VIII

Henry VIII, a delicate eater?” 2009, Telegraph News

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

Etiquette, Daniel of Beccles and The Book of Civilized Man

The Latin, "Urbanus Magnus Danielis Becclesiensis," or "The Book of Civilized Man" by Daniel of Beccles, is thought to be the first English book of manners, or courtesy book.  It most likely dates from the beginning of the 13th century.  To date, there is no full translation into English, but there is an edited Latin edition of 1939 by the Irish scholar Josiah Gilbart Smyly. It is a significant book, because in the later Middle Ages dozens of this type of courtesy book were produced. 

Books of etiquette, both ancient and modern, have a long history. As a general rule, a book of etiquette is a mark of a dynamic and spirited society, as opposed to a stable society. Beccles' book, being the earliest known, represents the awakening to etiquette and decorum in English court society. 

The royal court of Henry II~ Historians believe that Daniel of Beccles may have been a member of Henry II's court.  In the 16th Century, John Bale, wrote that he had seen a document showing Daniel in Henry's court for over 30 years. A Henry is mentioned in the text, and some of the manuscripts can be dated to the early 13th century, make it very probable the poem dates from that period.

The Book of Civilized Man is a 3000 line, Latin verse poem, offering proper advice on a wide range of social situations encountered in daily, typical medieval life.  These examples include:

• 'If you wish to belch, remember to look up to the ceiling.' 
• 'Do not attack your enemy while he is squatting to defecate.' 
• 'If there is something you do not want people to know, do not tell it to your wife.' 
• 'Say thank you to your host.' 
• 'Don't mount your horse in the hall.' 
• 'If visitors had already eaten, give them drink anyway.' 
• 'Loosen your reins when riding over a bridge.' 
• 'Receive gifts from great men with gratitude.' 
• 'If you are a judge, be just.' 
• 'Eating at the table of the rich, speak little.'
• 'Sitting at table as a guest, you should not put your elbows on the table.'
• 'In front of grandees, do not openly excavate your nostril by twisting your fingers.'
• 'While food is hidden in your mouth, let your tongue not minister to words.' 

The book ends with 'Old King Henry first gave to the uncourtly the teaching written in this book.'




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