Requirements of Royal Levee, Pt 2

Depiction of the Queen in her State Carriage on the way to the Royal Levee with the Debutantes.

WHAT IS REQUIRED AT A ROYAL LEVEE?

Miseries of a Debutante in Her Presentation at Court

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Rigid Rules Prescribed for Her Conduct – Annoyances to Which Those Seeking the Honor Are Subjected –

Part 2

The principal feature of fashionable life in a monarchical country is the presentation at court, without which no society belle considers any season properly finished, and which indeed is considered to be both the beginning and the crowning honor of society life. This being the case, it is not remarkable that among people who live in a country where a court is the center of society there should exist a marked anxiety to be presented at court…

Part 2:

While the etiquette instruction is going on, the dress is being made, and the garment for so momentous an occasion must not only be as costly as her purse can buy, but as original as her imagination can devise. The gentlemen who are presented at Court are not troubled in this respect; an officer wears the uniform of his rank, an Embassador at the Court wears dress of his own country, or occasionally by courtesy, defers in the matter of attire to the Court where he makes his appearance. But for the civilian, a Court dress is carefully devised, and with the pattern he must comply to the smallest particular. 

The Court dress at present in use in Great Britain is an abomination, composed of modifications of the hideous costume worn in the time of George III. The time has gone by when courtiers could ape Sir Walter Raleigh in splendor of costume. It is recorded of this nobleman that he appeared at Court in a white satin vest, over which was a doublet flowered and embroidered with pearls. The feather in his hat was fastened with rubies and pearls. His breeches and stockings were of white silk. His shoes were buff, covered with diamonds to the value of $30,000, while his sword and belt blazed with precious stones. 

No such gorgeousness is now displayed among English courtiers, but still there is enough to create the impression among the uninitiated that the wearer of the Court fripperies had just escaped from a circus and it had not found time to change his clothes. The lack of latitude allowed the men is atoned for by the license given to the women, for so long as the dress has no sleeves and almost no waist, but a lavish abundance of train, the costume may be made according to the fancy of the wearer.

The dresses are uniformly magnificent, and for weeks after a grand drawing-room the English fashion papers are filled with illustrations of the dresses worn by prominent ladies of the nobility. The name having passed the Lord Chamberlain and being approved by the Queen, the candidate goes in the carriage of her chaperon some hours before the appointed time to the neighborhood of Buckingham Palace. The carriage is always an elegant turnout with coachman and footman in white wigs and their smartest liveries ornamented in front with monstrous boutonnières tied with white satin bows. 

At the appointed time the carriage finds a place in the line and delivers its precious freight ht at the palace door. The ladies are shown in droves into anterooms, which in winter, are cold and in summer hot and ill-ventiiated. Each applicant must be provided with two large cards having her name clearly written upon each. One is given to the Queen’s pages at the palace door, the other to the Lord Chamberlain, who from it reads the name of the lady being presented. After waiting perhaps for several hours, the aspirant hears her name called by a page, a couple of gorgeous attendants adjust her train, she is ushered into the Royal presence, where she courtesies the requisite number of times, then retires backward, managing her train as best she can while bowing to the earth. The ordeal is over, and she goes away to reflect how foolish it all is, and how she would do it over again every day in the week to attain social pre-eminence or to spite some other woman. 

The advantages of a presentation are somewhat visionary. It is supposed to give one a standing socially, for according to the theory the person presented at Court is entitled to be presented by the Embassador of his country at any and every other Court. But, in fact, a presentation benefits only those who do not need it, and the great mass of those presented see nothing more of Royalty. They are never invited to the Royal fêtes or balls, they have little more interest in high society than they had before, and the chief benefit, so far as the masses of the presentees are concerned, is to see their names in the paper the next day, and so to be the envy of all the women who have not been presented. As a sort of social triumph it is worth striving for when that sort of distinction is deemed worth having, and for the sake of the honor women go through the tedious drill, the hours of weary waiting, the discomfort, and sometimes the humiliation, just to say they have been recognized by Majesty.

In general, even this statement is not true. So far as England is concerned, the Royal receptions are in the name of the Queen, but as a rule, after the Embassadors have been received, the Queen retires and leaves her daughter-in-law, the Princess of Wales, to do the honors, which are thereby done quite as well, and the Queen is therefore saved the discomfort, to her no doubt very great, of a tedious public audience. Those who have passed through it more than once, generally concede that a royal drawing-room is a misery to most of those concerned, and in particular to the ladies who receive the honor.

It is not necessary to be among those presented, however, to share some of the benefits of a drawing-room. Persons of good character, having proper credentials and fortune enough to secure an introduction to the Lord Chamberlain, may receive tickets permitting them to stand in the corridors of the palace and see the crowds of debutantes and their chaperones pass in and out of a tedious public audience. Those who have passed through it more than once generally concede that a Royal drawing-room is a misery to most of those concerned, and in particular to the ladies who receive the honor. Some people say this is really the most satisfactory way of “doing” a drawing-room, but good credentials are necessary and some influence to secure even so slight a favor as that of being permitted to stand in the passage and see the nobility and gentry go by. 

It is not to be supposed, however, that there is no fun at a drawing-room. There is any quantity of it, but it is all for those who have neither part nor lot in the exercises within. The occasion is always announced in the papers some days before, and the order is given in which the carriages are to fall in line. The announcement never fails to attract the public, which gathers numerously, and bestows enthusiastic encouragement on the persons participating. For hours before the appointed time vehicles are slowly moving about the neighborhood in order to be ready to take a place, for the rule stands, first come first presented, and as the clock strikes there is a grand rush toward the palace gate, and in the crush carriages are often broken, sometimes over-turned, and accidents to horses are quite frequent. 

The police lend their assistance to form the line, and after a carriage is in position, its occupants must wait from two to four hours until their turn comes at the palace gate. Meantime, the people in groups pass up and down before the carriages, and criticise their occupants with the utmost freedom. The occasion is always available also for the display of patriotism. The Prince and Princess of Wales are cheered as they go by in their gilded chariots; the Lord Mayor and High Sheriff must listen to comments on their gorgeousness, the Embassadors and public functionaries are applauded or hooted as fancy dictates. 

In London it is not a statutable offense to howl at anybody, from the Prince of Wales up or down, as you choose to count, and it frequently happens that unpopular public characters have, while waiting in the streets before Buckingham Palace, an excellent opportunity to ascertain what the public think of them. But nobody minds, and even the women who are stared at by the mob on the street, and commented upon in language sometimes the reverse of respectful, take the matter very coolly. Their carriages are provided with curtains, but as a rule they seldom take the pains to draw them up. They are on exhibition, and if they do not object to the publicity, unwelcome though it sometimes is, no one else has a right to complain. – San Francisco Call, 1891

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

Requirements of a Royal Levee

Custom prescribes the behavior of the person introduced down to the minutest detail; the manner of her entrance and exit, the number of courtesies she shall make, the manner in which she shall manage her train, how she shall hold her fan, and every other apparently unimportant particular is prescribed with the most wearisome minuteness. – Depiction of a Gilded Age Debutante making her Debut to Queen Victoria in 1891.

WHAT IS REQUIRED AT A ROYAL LEVEE?

Miseries of a Debutante in Her Presentation at Court

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Rigid Rules Prescribed for Her Conduct – Annoyances to Which Those Seeking the Honor Are Subjected

The principal feature of fashionable life in a monarchical country is the presentation at court, without which no society belle considers any season properly finished, and which indeed is considered to be both the beginning and the crowning honor of society life. This being the case, it is not remarkable that among people who live in a country where a court is the center of society there should exist a marked anxiety to be presented at court. 

This feeling takes most definite form in England, and the desire for the honor has spread so far that even Americans, both gentlemen and ladies, have on many occasions manifested an eagerness to be “presented” hardly consonant with the simplicity of republican institutions, says a writer in the St. Louis Giobe-Democrat. The honor of presentation at court, however, is accorded to very few, and those of the most “select classes.” Embassadors and Ministers have the right to be presented, and would feel insulted if they were not. The nobility and landed gentry of England also in some degree consider Court presentation as a sort of right, the honor in their cases having acquired a sort of hereditary standing. 

Cabinet Ministers, officers of the army and navy, officials in the highest grades of the civil service are also presented, together with foreigners of distinction who ha have been introduced by their embassadors. Men of prominence in the learned and scientific pursuits are sometimes presented as a special favor, though they do not usually seek the honor, which in their case is somewhat doubtful. With merchants and manufacturers, the list of those who make an appearance at court may be said to close, and of these last two classes the number presented in court ceremonials is small. 

The strictest care is taken to exclude anything which savors of the shop, hence no retail merchant, however great his wealth, however respectable his standing, may anticipate the honor of appearing in the presence of the Queen. Instances sometimes happen of men of all these classes placing an exceedingly high value upon the honor, and when its bestowal was doubtful, making special effort to secure it. But men as a rule value a Court appearance very lightly. 

Not so their wives and daughters. What to trifling occurrence an empty honor, to be received without gratitude and forgotten with expedition, becomes to a woman the event of her life, and the amount of scheming, of planning among the ladies desirous of a presentation, would be deemed incredible were it not known to be a fact. The wives and daughters of men entitled to appear at court are also accorded that honor, and, as a rule, prize it so much more highly that the attendance of ladies always far exceeds that of men.

Ladies seeking presentation may be divided into two classes, those who enjoy the honor as a sort of right by reason of their birth or relationship and those who seek it as an honor. The former experience no difficulty whatever in obtaining access to the charmed circle which surrounds the Queen. When a young girl of noble or gentle birth attains the proper age she is presented by her mother or by her aunt, or by some other female relative having the right to appear. She is then said to make her debut, or in England parlance “to come out.” But for all other persons, including visiting Americans, a presentation at court is a matter of difficulty. 

The person desiring to be presented must have proper instructions, good associations, considerable wealth a very important factor – and must find a social god- mother willing to assume the responsibility of her introduction. The obliging chaperon may sometimes assume the charge from friendly regard, but, if Dame Rumor be correct, more than one godmother has taken the responsibility of introducing an American for the sake of the American dollar, and more than one American lady is currently reported to have paid a handsome sum to an English dame whose rank was exalted, but whose pocket-book was lank, for the honor of being taken to Court. Such things come high, but some people think them cheap at any price.

Having secured a social godmother, application for appearance at Court is made to the Lord Chamberlain, sometimes many weeks or even months beforehand, and the applicant then awaits her turn. When it comes her name with others is presented several days before the ceremony to the Queen, who rigidly strikes off any she may deem unworthy of the honor. With regard to this point the present sovereign of Great Britain is relentless, and many lady whose lot was not cast among the privileged classes, or whose character had been breathed upon, has at the last moment been disappointed in her expectations.

Long before the name of the candidate has been passed on the ambitious aspirant of a has placed herself under the tuition of a mistress of etiquette. This is a necessary preliminary of a Queen’s Court. The Queen’s Court is as rigid as were the laws of the Medes and Persians. Custom prescribes the behavior of the person introduced down to the minutest detail; the manner of her entrance and exit, the number of courtesies she shall make, the manner in which she shall manage her train, how she shall hold her fan, and every other apparently unimportant particular is prescribed with the most wearisome minuteness. 

On her entry to the reception-room her name is announced, and she must courtesy almost down to the earth before the Queen or the person representing the Sovereign, and then in the prescribed order once to every member of the Royal reception group. These courtesies are very low make a surprisingly heavy demand on the muscles, and occasionally, even to the experienced, involve the danger of toppling over backwards. Even should an accident happen, however, it would rarely be heard outside the charmed circle, for members of the court are extremely cautious in divulging news, particularly of so embarrassing a character.– San Francisco Call, 1891

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

George V Bucked Victoria’s Etiquette

King George V and Queen Mary of the British Empire were crowned Emperor and Empress of India at the Delhi Durbar in December 1911, with celebrations continuing into January 1912. This historic Delhi Durbar was the only ever attended by a reigning Monarch. The Durbar marked the official proclamation of the King and Queen’s Imperial titles in India. 

 

King George MAy Be Crowned in India 

LONDON. Dec. 2.—The King and Queen hope to be crowned at Delhi as Emperor and Empress of India on Jan. 1. 1912. The announcement of this epoch making event has come as a great surprise, as there is no precedent for such a function. 

Queen Victoria, who was proclaimed Empress of India in 1877, never at any time contemplated holding a Coronation Durbar. King Edward visited India when he was Prince of Wales, but adhered strictly to the rules of royal etiquette laid down.by his mother, and never saw any of his colonial dominions after he came to the throne. – The Humboldt Times, 1910

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

Noble and Royal Etiquette

Etiquette enjoins many formal customs on the great. It requires, for example, that no one shall it in presence of the Queen while she is standing, or remain covered where she is. There is only one exception to the latter rule. There is an Irish Lord who, because of some deed of an ancestor calling forth Royal gratitude, inherits the privilege to keep his hat on in presence of Royalty.

English Etiquette and an Irish Lord 

It is said that when Gen. Grant was in London recently, and went to dinner at the Prince of Wales, he was obliged to go out to the table behind the titled Nobility. English etiquette, it is declared, requires that an untitled foreigner, however eminent, should give precedence, as it is called, to Englishmen of rank. Whether this is true or not, it is certain that etiquette is carried to a great extreme in England, as in other European countries. The structure of society is such that men and women of rank think it of importance that they should be formally honored wherever they may be, not only before those who are without rank, but those persons who hold a rank inferior to their own.

This etiquette runs through nearly all phases and even nearly all grades of English society; in the private mansion, in receptions at Court, in the Army and Navy, in official and diplomatic circles, and also to some extent among the mercantile and middle classes. At a dinner-party, for instance, the hostess on repairing to the table always claims the arm of the guest highest in rank present. A member of the Royal family always comes first; then a Duke, a Marquis, an Earl and so on. The rest of the guests go out in the order of their rank, the one of the lowest rank going out last.

This rigid rule is, however, sometimes relaxed in favor of a guest in whose special honor the dinner may be given. In such cases the hostess leads this guest out, even before persons of a higher rank than himself; and however it may have been at the Prince of Wales, it is probable that Gen. Grant was usually accorded this honor when he went as the guest of an English house. 

There is an official table which decides the precedence of each of the Royal family, the Nobility and the great officers of state; and this table determines how the company shall be placed on all public occasions, and in what order they shall walk or drive in processions and stage pageants.

According to this "table of precedence," the Sovereign comes first; then all her sons in order of birth; then all her daughters in the same order; then her grand-children in the same order; finally her uncles, aunts and cousins. After the Royal family the Archbishop of Canterbury holds the highest rank of precedence; then the Lord High Chancellor; then the Archbishop of York; then Dukes, then Marquises and so on. 

Etiquette enjoins many formal customs on the great. It requires, for example, that no one shall it in presence of the Queen while she is standing, or remain covered where she is. There is only one exception to the latter rule. There is an Irish Lord who, because of some deed of an ancestor calling forth Royal gratitude, inherits the privilege to keep his hat on in presence of Royalty. No one, also, must address the Queen until she speaks to him or her first.

A lady of rank who goes shopping in London will never allow herself to be seen carrying a parcel from the shop to her carriage. This is always done by the shopkeeper, who crosses the pavement, head bare, and deposits the parcel. No lady of rank carries her prayer-book to church. Her footman goes before her with it, and opens and closes the pew door. These are but examples of the minute things in which etiquette imposes its law. A breach of any of the rules of etiquette, a forgetfulness what to wear or how to act at the proper moment, is regarded by English society as a very grave offense.

So despotic are the laws of etiquette in high European society that often the peace of nations has been imperiled by a neglect to treat a Prince, a Nobleman or an ambassador with the required formality. There was serious trouble in the English Royal family when the Duchess of Edinburgh, the daughter of the Czar, went to live among them, and insisted on “taking precedence” of the Princess of Wales. According to the English rule of etiquette she was obliged to do so; but she insisted that the daughter of a Russian Emperor ought to walk before the daughter of a King of Denmark.

An amusing story is told of a certain King of Spain who was one day discovered by somebody to be on fire. This somebody had no right to touch the King. So he hastened to the Chamberlain, and the Chamberlain to the Marshal, and the Marshal to the Steward, and the Steward to the Groom of the Bed-Chamber, whose duty it was to take care of the Royal person. While these formalities of etiquette were being gone through with, however, the poor King burned up. – Youth's Companion, January 1878

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

Hospitality vs. Royal Court Etiquette

It is said that her Imperial Majesty has made a vow never to set her foot in Windsor Castle again, and that she declined an invitation to the wedding of the Duke of Connaught in terms too curt to be courteous. — Elisabeth of Austria, was the wife of Emperor Franz Joseph I, and thus Empress of Austria, Queen of Hungary and Queen Consort of Croatia and Bohemia.

Victoria’s Court Etiquette 

Often Equalled Poor Hospitality

A ‘2nd Debut’ article from 2016

The London correspondent of Figaro accounts for the failure of the Empress Elisabeth of Austria to visit the Queen at Windsor on her return from her fox-hunting expedition to Ireland. Whether true or not, the story is at least interesting. 

A year ago, when the Empress' visit to London drew near its close, she went to Windsor one wintry Sunday to make a farewell call on Queen Victoria. According to the etiquette of the court, the hour of her arrival and departure had been announced beforehand. One of the royal carriages awaited her at the station and took her up to the castle through a driving snow storm. The visit over, the Empress took her departure at the prescribed time and was not asked to remain, although the storm had increased in fury. 

Such an invitation would have been only an act of common politeness for common people, but it would have violated the canons of court etiquette. On the way back to the station, one of the horses slipped and fell, causing a delay of some minutes, during which the sharp whistle of the train reached the ears of the Empress. The station was reached too late. In any other class of society the disagreeable situation would have been remedied by the return of the traveler to her hostess, but etiquette forbade counting on the royal hospitality under such circumstances. So the Empress stayed at the station, warming her feet at the fire in the station-master's little parlor, and satisfying her hunger with a share of the family dinner of roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. 

The Empress Elizabeth is not a woman to be annoyed by such trifling accidents as missing the train and being thrown on the hospitality of a poor railroad official, but she preserves a little feeling of spite against Queen Victoria for not sending the carriage back to take her to the castle when she learned of the affair, and for never troubling herself to inquire about the end of the adventure. 

It is said that her Imperial Majesty has made a vow never to set her foot in Windsor Castle again, and that she declined an invitation to the wedding of the Duke of Connaught in terms too curt to be courteous. — The Pacific Appeal, 1879

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

Breaking with Victoria’s Royal Etiquette

The Coronation Durbar — The “Delhi Durbar” or the “Imperial Durbar,” was an Indian, Imperial-style, grand mass assembly organized by the British at Coronation Park, in Delhi, India. It was to mark the succession of each Emperor and Empress of India. It was only held three times—  in 1877, in 1903, and in 1911. These were at the height of the British Empire. The 1911 Durbar was the only one that a Sovereign, George V and his Empress, attended.

May Crown King George in India

LONDON. Dec. 2.—The King and Queen hope to be crowned at Delhi as Emperor and Empress of India on Jan. 1, 1912. The announcement of this epoch making event has come as a great surprise, as there is no precedent for such a function. Queen Victoria, who was proclaimed Empress of India in 1877, never at any time contemplated holding a Coronation Durbar. King Edward visited India when he was Prince of Wales, but adhered strictly to the rules of Royal etiquette laid down by his mother, and never saw any of his colonial dominions after he came to the throne.— Humboldt Times, 1910

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

Royal Etiquette Around the World

Throughout her reign, Queen Ranavalona III utilized diverse tactics such as strengthening trade and diplomatic relations with the United States and Great Britain in the hope of staving off impending colonization. –Image source: afrikanwomen.com

                             

Royal Bits and Throne Lights

Mary, Queen of Scots, and George II, were both buried at midnight.

A Queen who insists on going barefooted is Her Majesty of Madagascar. All the same, she wears the most expensive of Parisian toilets.

Sultan Abdul Hamid’s hair never grows white. To prevent that, it is dyed, and the dyeing is repeated as often as is needful, for, according to Turkish Court etiquette, the Sultan’s hair must always be black.

The Prince of Wales has inherited from his mother the faculty of really interesting himself, not feigning interest, in whatever is brought before his notice. It is said by those intimate with the Queen that she never allows herself to look bored. Whoever may be introduced to her, has her very best attention for the time being.

Princess Louise, Duchess of Fife, lives her own quiet life among the hills of Braemar, doing her errands like the wife of a crofter. The Duchess-of-Fife is the wonder of the district, and many an uppish dame has been inclined to sneer at the modestly dressed young lady who enters a village shop, orders a pound or two of that, a few yards of ribbon, etc., and carries them off to her carriage.– Chico Record, 1897

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

Etiquette of a Queen’s Personal Servant

A bodyguard was just what Queen Victoria was in need of, when she decided to eschew the constraints of etiquette, especially in the Scottish Highlands. John Brown fit the bill, but Victoria's children and ministers resented the high regard she had for Brown, after the loss of her husband, Prince Albert. Predictably, rumors that there was something improper in Victoria’s relationship with John Brown, circulated throughout Royal circles . The 15th Earl of Derby, Edward Stanley, noted in his diary, that Brown and Victoria slept in adjoining rooms, “contrary to etiquette and even decency,” while the Queen's own daughters joked that the burly Scotchman was their, “mama's lover.” The Queen dismissed all this chatter as “ill-natured gossip in the higher classes.” — Image above from the 1997 film “Mrs Brown,” a fictionalised story of their friendship. Sir Billy Connolly portrays Brown and Dame Judi Dench portrays Queen Victoria.

“I have often seen Mr. Brown. When from time to time officers of the late-campaign have been decorated at Windsor, only journalists who have served as war correspondents have been admitted to the ceremony. I have, therefore, had several opportunities to witness the investure of most unheroic soldiers with unwon honors at the hands of their Sovereign. John Brown always accompanies her, standing a little behind and to her left. 

Tall, spare, sharp-featured, with fine blue eyes, and a really good head, with a pleasant demeanor, and very thin legs, he stands serious and attentive behind the chair which he has watched and guarded over for nearly forty five years. Mr. Brown is credited with great personal bravery. On three occasions when Her Majesty’s life has been attempted, he has distinguished himself by his well-directed efforts to protect the Queen, and on one occasion, a successful endeavor to hold the would-be assassin. With the household servants Brown is, naturally enough, unpopular. He enjoys the confidence of the Queen, and rules the household with a rod of iron, so far as he may. He is an authority on Court etiquette, a linguist, speaking half a dozen languages fluently, a classical scholar as well, and student of politics. 

I have never heard what his origin was beyond the fact that he is Scotch beyond a doubt, and has been in, the service of the Royal family since boyhood. Rumor gives it that the Prince of Wales hates him like poison and declines to meet him except when forced to do so by Royal command. The Queen has always sought to put him forward, but without success, exactly, and there are stories afloat which I advise you not to believe.”— London Correspondent of the Chicago Daily News, April, 1883

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

Etiquette of Queens, Kings and Dukes

“The son of Waterloo” – The Duke of Wellington (or Weggington) as caricatured in Vanity Fair, June 1872

On one occasion Queen Victoria, Louis Philippe and the Duke of Wellington paid a visit, to Eton college. They were invited to sign the visitor’s book. The French King thoughtlessly took up the pen and signed his name at the top of the page. Etiquette, however, forbade Queen Victoria to sign her name under, any other. She therefore signed on the top of the next page. She then took up the pen and handed it to the Duke of Wellington, who was so excited at the contretemps that he actually signed his name “Weggington.” And, by the way, it may be recorded that etiquette forbids the Queen to converse with tradesmen. When a purveyor waits upon her, the Queen addresses her remarks to an equerry, who in turn, addresses the expectant merchant.—Philadelphia Times, 1896

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

Queen Victoria’s Jubilee Bonnet

A color photo from the 1897 Jubilee of Queen Victoria. It’s a shame her bonnet was hidden under a parasol — “When the procession reached St Paul's, the frail Queen stayed in her carriage, where she was joined by the clergy.” —
photo DailyMail.com

The Queen’s Jubilee Bonnet

The Duchess of Bedford lately told a girls’ needlework society in Mile End that the bonnet which the Queen wore at the Jubilee service was practically made by the Princess of Wales. “It was sent home,” said Her Grace, “looking heavy and ugly. Nobody dared return it to the milliner without the Queen’s orders, and nobody liked to ask Her Majesty for such instructions. 

“So the Ladies in Waiting showed it to the Princess of Wales, knowing how clever she is in all such matters, and her Royal Highness with her own hands altered it and twisted it till it became the extremely becoming and tasteful head-dress which we all admired on that memorable occasion. Everybody who saw it thought that the Queen had never had a prettier bonnet, but how it came to be so pretty is news of today.”—London Tit-Bits, 1892

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

Kissing the Royal Hand That Rules

“If her Majesty be pleased to extend her hand, the fortunate one so honored, never shakes the hand. It rests on the back of the hand of the one to whom it is given, who, if highly honored, may kiss the royal fingers.”– Above, Queen Victoria receiving news of her accession from Lord Conyngham, kneeling to kiss her hand, and William Howley, Archbishop of Canterbury. –1895 photomechanical print from the BritishMuseum.org

Royal Etiquette

The etiquette accorded to royalty always interests me. I have had unusual journalistic facilities for observing all phases of this. It is as ceremonious as between the Prince and Princess of Wales and their guests. Even the daughters of the Prince address him as “Sire” and their mother as “Madame.” They never turn their backs on him, and their greeting courtesy is profound. Well, if this be ceremonious, the etiquette to the Queen is ultra-ceremonious. 

The courtesy to her is well nigh a prostration. The hands are crossed primly on the breast. If her Majesty be pleased to extend her hand, the fortunate one so honored, never shakes the hand. It rests on the back of the hand of the one to whom it is given, who, if highly honored, may kiss the royal fingers. “Thou shall have no others gods but me.” Pshaw! Why docs that sacred line linger in my memory? Anyway, one seems to rather like the courtesies extended to the Queen Empress. – London Letter in the Coronado Mercury, 1887

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

Tudor Royal Bed Etiquette Ended

“Everyone knows how steadfastly Queen Victoria respected tradition in matters of court etiquette and state observances. While she lived, she insisted that the elaborately mounted rules to be observed in the making of the sovereign's bed should occupy a conspicuous position in that portion of the palace set apart for Ladies of the Bedchamber. They have now been removed and there is much speculation as to what has become of them.” – So what had become of them?

Easier to Make King’s Bed... 

Quaint Old Rules Have at Last Been Completely Abolished and Bedmakers Rejoice 

Special Cable to The Herald

LONDON, June 9.— Those who are responsible for making King Edward's sleeping hours as comfortable os possible are no longer confronted with the quaint rules and regulations with regard to the making of his bed which have been handed down from Tudor times. Everyone knows how steadfastly Queen Victoria respected tradition in matters of court etiquette and state observances. While she lived, she insisted that the elaborately mounted rules to be observed in the making of the sovereign's bed should occupy a conspicuous position in that portion of the palace set apart for Ladies of the Bedchamber. They have now been removed and there is much speculation as to what has become of them.

A few extracts from this awe inspiring documents will give some idea of the time that must have been occupied in making the King's bed: “A yoeman or groome of ye wardrobe will holde ye syde curtena and ye foote curtens. A yoeman of ye crowne to leape upon ye bedde and rolle hym up and assaye ye litter. Then laye upon it ye fether bedde and bette it well and make it even and smoothe. Then shall yoemen of ye stuffe take ye fustian and caste it on ye bedde. Then shall squyers of ye bodye laye handes thereon and laye it streight upon ye bedde without any wrinkles and ye skeete in samewise. Then take bothe sheetes and fustian by ye bordure and put them in under ye fether bedde at both ye sydes and at ye feete also. 

Then laye on ye over sheetes and go to ye bedde's head and shake down ye bedde. Then laye on tother stuffe. Then rolle down ye bedde ye space ot an elle. Then let ye yoemen take ye pillows and bette them well and cast them up to ye squyers and lette them laye them on ye bedde us it pleaseth the king's grace.” After a considerable amount of additional labor is to be expended on placing more sheets and fixing curtains, “a squyer is to caste holy water oik ye bedde,” and then as a grand finale, “alle that were at ye making of ye hedde muste have bred and ale and wyn” – the most pleasant part of the performance, one would imagine. Who would dare to maintain after this that “Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown?” – Los Angeles Herald, 1906

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

Glove Etiquette Ignored by Queen

Despite the Victorian era news reports of Queen Victoria’s odd habits, modern depictions of her do not give an accurate picture. Her non-adherence to the commonly accepted glove etiquette of the day is never accurately represented or discussed.

Queen Victoria at Dinner

The strict ceremonial of the dinners of Queen Victoria has not changed since her assumption of the throne. A quarter of an hour before the time fixed for the repast —generally eight o’clock—all the party invited to dine with the Queen meet in the Grand Salon and form themselves into a half circle about the door where her august Majesty is presently expected to enter. The Queen, on entering, makes a beautiful courtesy, (for which she is renowned, then bows to the gentlemen, and gives her hand to the ladies, who courtesy deeply. She then goes in first to table, accompanied generally by one of her sons. 

If any Imperial or Royal person is present, he sits at her right hand. But even in the ease of Gen. Grant, she placed the Princess Beatrice between them. The Queen never removes her gloves during dinner, except at state banquets. This is a singular piece of etiquette, and one would think it would be exactly the reverse. Her gloves are new, of white kid, embroidered with black, never worn but once, and become, after using, the perquisites of the Ladies-in-Waiting.

 The Queen has a small and beautiful hand. As soon as she finishes a certain “plat’’ every one else stops, as when she finishes her fish every one else stops eating fish, etc... After she has spoken to her guests on either side conversation may become general, but in a subdued tone, always deferring to the Sovereign. Sir Arthur Helps, who was her private secretary, used to tell an amusing anecdote of being snubbed by her for telling a rather funny story down the table, amongst the Ladies-in-Waiting, to relieve the monotony of a rather dreary dinner, when the Queen remarked, — “What is it? We are not amused.” She has, however, a love of fun, and sometimes laughs heartily. – The Morning Union, 1888

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

British Coronation Etiquette – Queen Victoria

Even though an entire era of purported graceful living and good manners was named after Victoria, her manners needed quite a bit of work – According to Kate Hubbard, in her book, “Serving Victoria: Life in the Royal Household” Victoria, “loved her food. She was greedy and she gobbled. She liked her dinners to last no more than half an hour. Guests would quite often find their plates whisked away while they were still eating because once she had finished, all the plates were removed. She was a hearty eater and she was a fast eater.” And as for courtly conversation" at the table? She did not like politics to be brought up, and, oddly, “She didn't like marriage being discussed in front of her youngest daughter, Beatrice, before Beatrice married. Anyone who mentioned marriage at dinner was swiftly reprimanded.”

Remarkable incidents in this most important occasion of a British ruler’s life. Striking features of ceremony from the earliest day to the last great Coronation event of the 19th Century

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The Coronation of England’s Victoria

At seventeen minutes past three on the morning of June 28, 1838, a Royal salute of twenty-one guns announced that the sun was then rising upon the Coronation day of Victoria. By 4 o'clock the streets were so thronged with carriages and pedestrians, that they were in many places impassable and the whole population seemed to have poured out in the direction of the parks and of Westminster Abbey. It was not until half-past ten that her Majesty's carriage passed Apsley House. It moved on amid the loud acclamations of her subjects. The state coach was drawn by eight cream-colored horses and attended by a yeoman of the guard at each wheel and two footmen at each floor. 

Endless grooms and guards attended the long procession. It was as splendid as befitted the rejoicing of the people over a Coronation, that made them happier than any since the time of Alfred. The London Sun of the 28th reported that: The Queen, attended, passed to the altar. Her Majesty, kneeling upon the cushion, made her first offering of a pail of altar-cloth of gold, which was delivered by an Officer of the Wardrobe to the Lord Chamberlain, by his Lordship to the Lord Great Chamberlain, and by him to the Queen, who delivered it to the Archbishop of Canterbury, by whom it was placed on the altar.

After elaborate services followed the sermon by the Bishop of London, then came the oath and the anointing. Then there were further ceremonies of the spurs, the sword, the mantle, the orb, ring and scepters, and at last came the Dean of Westminster bearing the Crown. Tho Archbishop took and placed it on her Majesty's head, when the people, with loud and repeated, shouts, cried: “God save the Queen.” There was a doffing of caps, a sound of trumpets, a beating of drums, a firing of guns. The old report says: “Never did we hear louder or more hearty plaudits, that almost rent the walls of the old abbey, setting at naught all etiquette and ceremony, than those which burst from the lips and hearts of her attached and loyal people, when the Crown was placed on the head of their young and lovely Sovereign.” –San Francisco Call, 1901

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

Queen Victoria’s Breakfast Etiquette

A trend for tartan and tweed was inspired across the Kingdom due to Queen Victoria’s and Albert’s love of Scotland. They visited Scotland repeatedly, and after taking possession of Balmoral in 1848, they actually built a castle of their own.

The Queen’s Scottish Breakfast

A correspondent, after picturing the simplicity of the life at Balmoral during the Queen’s stay there, describes one of her ordinary, everyday breakfasts. The following is the menu of the breakfast served one day last week: 

Scotch porridge, cold rump steak pie, hot rump steak, cold gammon of bacon, boiled eggs, Scotch scones, brown bread, butter, honey, tea, coffee, and a kind of cocoa specially prepared for the Queen. The porridge was placed on the sideboard, and was served to each guest in blue and white china basins. These basins were filled by the attendants, as a matter of course, without any question as to whether porridge was wanted or not. It was evidently required by Court etiquette that the meal should be begin with this solid foundation, and that individual tastes of the honored visitors had to be kept in abeyance. 

Our informant expresses surprise that there was no game on the table, considering that to his certain knowledge, the larder was full of grouse shot by Prince Henry and the keepers, which certainly wanted eating. He is probably not aware that the Queen cannot tolerate the smell of game the first thing in the morning, and only allows it at the  later meals, out of deference to the tastes of others.—London Correspondent for The New York World, 1888

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

Queen’s Acts “Contrary to Etiquette”

A bodyguard was just what Queen Victoria was in need of, when she decided to eschew the constraints of etiquette, especially in the Scottish Highlands. John Brown fit the bill, but Victoria's children and ministers resented the high regard she had for Brown, after the loss of her husband, Prince Albert. Predictably, rumors that there was something improper in Victoria’s relationship with John Brown, circulated throughout Royal circles . The 15th Earl of Derby, Edward Stanley, noted in his diary, that Brown and Victoria slept in adjoining rooms, “contrary to etiquette and even decency,” while the Queen's own daughters joked that the burly Scotchman was their, “mama's lover.” The Queen dismissed all this chatter as “ill-natured gossip in the higher classes.”

John Brown is a burly, grey-haired Scotchman, who is known as Queen Victoria’s bodyguard. A gentleman seeing from a tavern door, the Queen riding by, and Brown seated at the back of the carriage, was thus spoken to by the host: “There he goes to take of her. Shouldn't like to be the man who tried to touch her when he was by. He's as big as a house, and as strong as a lion. He looks after her, he does, and quite right of him too; he’s paid to do it.” This was not bad as a rude definition of the position and definition of this favored servant. 

The extreme simplicity of the Queen’s life has long made some domestic of this sort necessary. In the Highlands, the Queen loves to roam about in perfect freedom from etiquette and ceremony, and yet it would not do to have her roam quite alone. She is no longer young; there are dangers by flood and field in such a region; and besides there are more fools than a passing stranger in the world. 

Brown exactly supplies the want; he would lay down his life for her, not without requiring two or three in return, and, en attendant, he thinks nothing of carrying her in his arms, and perhaps a Princess or two to follow her, across a fordable stream. When she rides, he takes his place at the head of the pony, and if the pony were too troublesome, he probably would not make much difficulty about carrying him. Brown is not a lacquey—he wears no livery; on the other hand; he is not a gentleman by birth. He has a sort of undeterminate office as Strong Man. He is death on all intruders on the Queen’s privacy. 

Once when he met some reporters whom he suspected of dogging her footsteps for “copy,” he ordered them off the public highway as though he held all the Highlands in fee. It was grossly illegal, but they went. He has saved the Queen in a greater strait. When young, mad O'Connor darted out on her from the shrubbery at Buckingham Palace, pistol in hand, he positively plucked the puny wretch up from the ground as if he had been an offending kitten, and held him out so, clawing the air with his paws, until the Queen had passed out of harm’s way. He is a true clansman in the character of his service; he worships the Queen. He thinks there never was such a Queen, and there never was such a woman in the wide world. 

The Queen treats him with the condescending confidence which often subsists between the very great and the very little in our older society. She knows there can be no mistake about their positions; it is those who are nearer to her who are kept the farthest off. He is “the old servant” who is also the old friend of the family. He has seen most of  “the children’’ grow up. He probably knows a good deal more about family affairs than many a minister of state. To do him justice, he lets nothing out to his more distinguished colleagues of the Cabinet. A true Scotchman, he is as close as the grave. It is rather through the Queen’s own frank avowal, that we may judge of the extent of her confidences to him. – Youth’s Companion, 1879

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

Royal Etiquette and Brewers

The Sole Exception –A Brewer is 

the Only Tradesman Permitted to Dine with Queen Victoria

“A very handsome woman now attracting attention in English society is a Lady whose title would appear to indicate that her lineage extended back at least to the crusaders. She is a fine figure to look upon; her manners are faultless, her carriage stately, her pride immense. She is always a conspicuous figure in London drawing-rooms, and the society papers have as much to say of her as though she were a Royal Princess, yet she will not be found further back than the last edition of Burkes. She is Lady Iveagh, wife of Edward Guinness, manufacturer of beer. 

It is a strange rule that in England a successful brewer is regarded with affection by the Sovereign, and may dine with her after he has become wealthy. No other tradesman or manufacturer is allowed a similar privilege, nor is ever ennobled. Beer is regarded as fondly as poetry by the aristocracy of the country. It applauds when the laureate is created Lord Tennyson, and exults when an Irish brewer is made Lord Iveagh. There is a wide range of intellectual appreciation in this that is startling but admirable. It is hoped that Tennyson will write an ode commemorative of the beauty of the scheme before he dies.”— Chicago Herald, 1891

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

Etiquette and Francatelli's Legacy

"At Windsor Castle, Francatelli, and then the royal chefs who followed him during Victoria’s long reign, had at least two Yeomen of the Kitchen and 24 assistant chefs to prepare these meals, and then, of course, all kinds of servers and lackeys were involved in washing, table-setting, serving and clearing away." —M.F.K. Fisher 

"Her Majesty’s (Queen Victoria's) French? Italian? English? chef, Charles Edme Francatelli, wrote ''The Modern Cook'' in 1846, and it sold almost as well in America as in England. Few kitchens here could follow all its directions for the light Gallic dainties Francatelli introduced to counteract the basic heaviness of royal dining habits, but gradually his style of making two courses of a meal, with a predominance of sweet dishes in the second, was adapted by our housekeepers to shape the way we now eat lunch and dinner.

In the Queen's menus, there were often three soups, three fishes, a kind of savory (for instance, marrow patties with a fines-herbes sauce), four dishes and eight entrées in the first course, all served at once. In the second there were three roasts and poultry and game, three sweet desserts, two more side desserts of pastry, and 12 entremets, including vegetables, aspics and fruit tartlets.

At Windsor Castle Francatelli, and then the royal chefs who followed him during Victoria’s long reign, had at least two Yeomen of the Kitchen and 24 assistant chefs to prepare these meals, and then, of course, all kinds of servers and lackeys were involved in washing, table-setting, serving and clearing away. 

Nonetheless, American housewives as far west as Iowa and then beyond, helped by one or two immigrant servants, read ''The Modern Cook'' and its lesser imitators and gradually changed the accustomed pattern of one long hodge-podge of dishes served together, even in a plain Family Meal, to two courses, with sweets alone finally constituting the second course. This might consist of two kinds of pies or tarts, a cool pudding, a jelly and a tall layered cake, but at least these did not appear side by side with roast pigeons, asparagus soup and a haunch of venison flanked by boiled vegetables." — From Food: The Arts (Fine and Culinary) of 19th Century America
By M. F. K. Fisher