When One Queen “Cut” Another

“If Margaret had been a person of great length and breadth of vision, of surpassing sweetness of temper or of real tact, she would have gone to see the Queen and looked her prettiest, though she would have liked to scratch her eyes out.” MEOW!!

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Queen Margaret (Margherita) was the Queen consort of the Kingdom of Italy from 1878 to 1900, by her marriage to Umberto I (Humbert). –Public domain image of Margherita of Savoy, Queen of Italy

A LADY OR A TIGER… WHICH?

Society circles as well as Court circles in Europe are seriously concerned over the Florence episode of a few days ago. It seems that Queen Victoria, who was staying at Florence for a season, received a call from King Humbert, but not from Queen Margaret, nor did the latter even send a message or a token of any sort to the Empress of India. It now turns out that this curious cut was all on account of a failure of Victoria to return a call made upon her by Queen Margaret five years ago. Time heals all hurts but those of wounded pride. Such wounds never wholly heal —in the case of women, at least. Men get over such things, but women never. It may even be doubted if time is even a mollifier of this sort of wound, with women who have abundant leisure, and therefore opportunity for reflecting upon the small, as well as, the great things of life.

We are sorry for Margaret, for the great woman knows about the particulars of what happened to her five years ago, when she went over to London to do her fall shopping. At best, most people will say it was small business not to call on so distinguished a person who had come to honor the city of Florence with her presence, whatever might possibly be urged concerning the strictest etiquette in the case. Besides, Victoria is very old, was a mighty sovereign before Margaret was through vulgar fractions, and is also about to retire forever from the gaze of the public, and deserved especial consideration on that account. 

Goethe, who spent many of his early years at Court, declared that true politeness made it important and necessary to exhibit and embellish trifles even to the building them into a system of behavior. This must often demand the finest sense of what is safest to avoid, as well as what to do, and insist upon others doing. If Margaret had been a person of great length and breadth of vision, of surpassing sweetness of temper or of real tact, she would have gone to see the Queen and looked her prettiest, though she would have liked to scratch her eyes out. Or if Humbert had occupied the place in that family that a man should occupy, he would have just dragged his wife over to call. We are sorry for Margaret. – Los Angeles Herald, 1893

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

Etiquette and a Royal Alpine Hostess

The Italian Alps (above) – “The Queen was overtaken by a severe snowstorm, which obliged her and her few attendants to take refuge in a hut belonging to the Alpine Club, which was soon full of climbers of all nationalities, who, when they knew who she was, at once offered to leave the humble quarters entirely at her disposal. “On no account,” exclaimed the Queen, “the hut must do for all. I am the hostess, and we will spend the night as comfortably as we can.”

Margherita on the Mountains –  Italy’s Queen’s Prowess as an Alpine Climber

Queen Margherita, the delicate woman of fashion, the somewhat indolent beauty of the Quirinal, where the strict and severe etiquette of the House of Savoy surrounds her as with a cloak, has left Rome, and has arrived at Gressoney, in the midst of the Alps, where a metamorphosis takes place and the admired Sovereign becomes an Alpine climber in the real meaning of the word. She dresses in the peasant costume with short skirt, good stout boots and Tyrolese hat, and, alpenstock in hand, does her climbing either on foot or riding a favorite donkey. 

During a famous ascent in 1888 of the Peak of the Giant, 12,4000 feet above the level of the sea, the Queen was overtaken by a severe snowstorm, which obliged her and her few attendants to take refuge in a hut belonging to the Alpine Club, which was soon full of climbers of all nationalities, who, when they knew who she was, at once offered to leave the humble quarters entirely at her disposal. “On no account,” exclaimed the Queen, “the hut must do for all. I am the hostess, and we will spend the night as comfortably as we can.” After this, the Italian Alpine Club presented their Sovereign with a magnificent diploma, of which she is very proud, and replaced the hut with a refuge to which they gave the name of “Regina Margherita.”

The Italian Sovereign during her stay at Gressoney stops at the villa of the Barons de Peccoz. In the Peccoz family, the duty of accompanying the Princes of the House of Savoy in their Alpine climbs seems almost hereditary. The late Baron, who in his youth accompaned the Duke of Genoa and Prince Thomas, father and brother of the Queen, in all their mountain excursions, was the faithful guide of Queen Margherita, until in the summer of 1895, when, while ascending a mountain at her side, he suddenly fell at her feet and died in a few moments. Now his sons have taken his place. The sturdy mountaineers of this part of the Alps tramp many miles to see her, and when she enters any of their villages, they receive her with flowers and enthusiastic manifestations of devotion—her climbing powers, added to her kindness and personal attractions making her come next to the Madonna in their hearts. One might ask. where Margherita feels more a sovereign – in the Quirinal, or on the Alps? — Rome correspondence Pall Mall Gazette, 1897

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