Court Etiquette and Royal Perogative

King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra had other strange court etiquette, too. Every man and woman who has been invited down to Norfolk on a visit to their Majesties, gets weighed by either the King or Prince of Wales before leaving.

Edward was Rebuffed

It appears that one of the barbaric prerogatives of Royalty, which survives even in England, is the right of a member of the “Royal blood” to ask an introduction of any woman his fancy strikes. This custom is designated as “court etiquette.” The lady must feel highly honored, and the husband not offended, according to the law-givers of the court. 

This abominable practice was not allowed to lapse by the present King when he was the gay Prince of Wales, and an incident where he was rebuffed by an American woman has been recalled through the appointment of her son as one of the Secretaries to the special embassy named by President Roosevelt to attend the coronation.

Twenty years ago the Prince was at watering place, and espying the American woman, he sent an aide to ask her to lunch with him. She informed the aide that she had no desire to meet the Prince, and upon his approaching her with the evident determination of forcing an acquaintance, she turned her back and walked away.

It is now intimated that the son may find things uncomfortable in England when he goes on his mission. We think not. If the King has the horse sense of his average subject, he admired the woman all the more and appreciated her American spirit of independence and strict adherence to the laws of propriety. 

That a nation as enlightened as Britain should tolerate such a custom, ever under the guise of court etiquette, is one of the many inexplicable things in the world. To the true American woman the Prince of Wales is no more than any other man, and his presumption in seeking an introduction would be resented by the average American woman of to-day in the same commendable spirit as was displayed in the instance noted. — Stockton Record, 1902

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

Duke Experiences Royal Cut Direct

A portrait of probably the most famous Duke and Duchess of Marlborough, with their children and their Blenheim spaniels. – Consuelo Spencer-Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, was a member of the prominent American Vanderbilt family. Her marriage to Charles Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough became an international symbol of the socially advantageous, but loveless, “Dollar Princess” marriages, which were so common during the Gilded Age.

Queen Snubs Marlborough

Duke Gets Cut Direct from Alexandra

Appears in Society While His American Wife Enjoys Herself on the Riviera 

Queen Is Friend of the Duchess Now

LONDON, Feb. 23.-While the Duchess is enjoying herself with her kin on the Riviera, the Duke of Marlborough is showing himself conspicuously here, and society is talking volubly of Queen Alexandra's manifestations of sympathy with the Duchess and of her Majesty's evidence of disapproval of the Duke.

He was at the opening of parliament. Some close observers say that when the Queen ascended the throne she bowed pointedly to the Duke of Argyle on the one side and Lord Londonderry on the other, while she ignored the Duke of Marlborough. The Duke’s aunt and a member of the Queen's household bore a most sympathetic letter from her Majesty to the Duchess before her departure from London for Paris. The Queen wrote that she hoped for a complete reconciliation between the Duchess and her husband, expressed affectionate interest in the future of their two sons and asked for a new photograph of them in which their mother should appear.

The photograph was taken, and with the signatures of mother and boys was sent to the Queen. In this connection it is interesting to note that a very short time ago King Edward took it upon himself to punish the Duchess of Marlborough in a like manner, snubbing her in an unmistakable way. — Special Cable to The Herald, 1907

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

Princess Enjoys Kittens and Cash

“When royalty descends openly to business of this sort for what can be made out of it, aristocratic folk of the humbler variety surely need not feel that they lose caste by engaging in trade of any kind. Yet when a woman of title gets hard up and goes in for millinery, dressmaking, or any form of shopkeeping, she thereby loses her right to presentation at court... Some day, quite likely, we shall have a radical parliament proposing to dock the allowance made to Princes and Princesses who engage in money making schemes in which their rank gives them such a tremendous advantage.” – Princess Victoria was the fourth child and second daughter of King Edward VII and Alexandra of Denmark, and the younger sister of King George V. – photo source, Pinterest  

Princess Finds Profit in Cats!

Victoria breeds pets for income, advertises them for sale 

Special Cable to The Herald. LONDON, Sept. 16.— Every one knows by this time that Queen Alexandra is a cat lover, but it has come as a surprise to a number of English women that her daughter, Princess Victoria, is not only a lover of cats, but an energetic and enthusiastic breeder as well. The Princess does not breed cats, it appears, merely to increase the number of her feline pets. Her “catteries” are worked on a solid commercial basis, and apparently with considerable profit to her private pocketbook. That her enterprise is conducted on thorough business lines may be seen from the following announcement which appears in a weekly paper whose space is mainly devoted to sales and exchanges of miscellaneous articles:

“Her royal highness, Princess Victoria, has for sale several handsome chinchilla kittens. Sire, Puck 111., ex-Chela, also Chela, splendid mother, lovely green eyes; blue Persian female; cheap to good homes; must sell. Mrs. Amor, Cumberland Lodge, Windsor Great Park.”

Picture of Princess Victoria ("Toria"), daughter of Edward VII & Queen Alexandra (1868-1935) holding a cat on the royal yacht. The picture was taken in about 1914 –Pinterest

A hint for plebeians: Mrs. Amor, I am told, occupies an important position in the household staff at Cumberland Lodge. “Cheap” is always a relative term, but in this instance it stands for anything between $25 and $100. When royalty descends openly to business of this sort for what can be made out of it, aristocratic folk of the humbler variety surely need not feel that they lose caste by engaging in trade of any kind. Yet when a woman of title gets hard up and goes in for millinery, dressmaking, or any form of shopkeeping, she thereby loses her right to presentation at court. In view of the fact that his Majesty does not even draw the line at making money out of cats in his own exalted family circle, it would seem that he ought, in justice, to rescind this rule. 

Of course there are lot of folks here— and not a few, I imagine, in the land of triumphant democracy— who would consider a cat bred by royalty worth many times more than a cat from a plebeian home. Such competition seems hardly fair to those who are compelled to sell cats solely on their merits. Some day, quite likely, we shall have a radical parliament proposing to dock the allowance made to Princes and Princesses who engage in money making schemes in which their rank gives them such a tremendous advantage. – Los Angeles Herald, 1905

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

Etiquette and Entertaining Royalty

It is a most unusual thing for the Sovereign and his consort to both be guests of a commoner at the same time. A few months ago, the King spent a week-end with this popular couple, and the Queen was entertained by them when she was the Princess of Wales. Of course, Mrs. James plays an excellent game of bridge. She is also a clever amateur actress and shares with the King his fondness for yachting.

To Be Host to the King and Queen – Willie James is to Enjoy the Honor of a Visit This Month 

LONDON, Nov. 19. — The announcement that the King and Queen will visit Mr. and Mrs. Willie James at West Dean Park, Chichester, this month is regarded as an exceptional mark of Royal favor, for it is a most unusual thing for the Sovereign and his consort to both be guests of a commoner, at the same time. A few months ago the King spent a week-end with this popular couple, and the Queen was entertained by them when she was the Princess of Wales. Of course, Mrs. James plays an excellent game of bridge. She is also a clever amateur actress and shares with the King his fondness for yachting. Mr. James, by the way, is of American descent.

Another house which the King will probably visit soon again is Rufford Abbey, the Nottinghamshire seat of Lord and Lady Saville. He recently told a friend, and that friend told others, why he finds a charm in Rufford Abbey that is conspicuously absent from several other aristocratic countryhouses which he visits. It is because at Rufford Abbey his host and hostess treat him much as an ordinary guest, while still observing those points of etiquette which are always associated with Royalty. 

At most places where he is entertained, a gorgeous flunkey is at every door through which he is likely to pass, to open it for him with a profound obeisance. At Rufford he is allowed to open doors himself, and can stroll about the house or the grounds without having it thrust upon him at every turn, that he is regarded as a special object of reverence and adulation. –  San Francisco Call, 1904

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

Etiquette and Privileges of the King

It is the accepted etiquette that the King never writes a letter. It must not be supposed he never sets pen to paper to his relatives on personal matters, and Queen Victoria was a voluminous correspondent with her official ministers, but outside such cases the only exception one can call to mind of recent years was the letter the King wrote to George Herring in connection with the latters munificent assistance to the Hospital Saturday fund. The accepted story is that Mr. Herring was offered a knighthood and declined, and that the letter was written in consequence, but the story is sometimes told differently. 

There are many curious matters of law, of rule and regulation and of etiquette, which constitute the divinity which "doth hedge a King." For some there are historical reasons in their origin; for others such reasons still exist; others arc mere matters of admitted propriety; others simply the crystallization of long custom and observance. On some matters, the King is governed by statute, in others he and his mere wishes are supreme, but even in the latter category, there are matters in which that pleasure must be conveyed in writing. 

The constitutional position of the Sovereign accounts for one, and to many of us groaning under the budget, a most important difference. The Sovereign pays no rates or taxes. The reason for this is that theoretically all taxes are levied in the King’s name for the purpose of carrying on the government and that, as in fact it would have been before the days of the civil list. To tax the income of the King for the purpose of defraying the King’s expenditure, was simply taking money from one of his pockets to put it into another. 

It is the accepted etiquette that the King never writes a letter. It must not be supposed he never sets pen to paper to his relatives on personal matters, and Queen Victoria was a voluminous correspondent with her official ministers, but outside such cases the only exception one can call to mind of recent years was the letter the King wrote to George Herring in connection with the latters munificent assistance to the Hospital Saturday fund. The accepted story is that Mr. Herring was offered a knighthood and declined, and that the letter was written in consequence, but the story is sometimes told differently. 

Those who need to correspond with his Majesty, who are aware ot the right procedure, usually write to the King's secretary or a member of the household, asking that the matter be placed before the King  but petitions for the exercise of the prerogative in any form on matters of state are required to be submitted through the home office. The King does not accept invitations and a visit of any form is not preceded thereby, but by his intimation that he will pay it. In other words, he always invites himself, and in matters of  social intercourse, the same etiquette extends to other members of the Royal family. The Queen never accompanies her husband to the establishment of a bachelor. If the King proposes to visit any house a list of the proposed guests has to be submitted to him beforehand, and this list the King revises, striking out and adding names at his pleasure. 

There are a number of little details of etiquette which are observed, the most noticeable of which is that finger glasses are never placed upon the table if a member of the royal family is present. The reason for this goes back to the Jacobite days, when the toast of the King was converted into treason by the passing of the glass “over the water.” The King never accepts a present from a private person except, of course, his own relatives, and never permits the dedication of a book to himself if there is the smallest likelihood of the exploitation of this dedication for commercial purposes. The rule, however, is relaxed to the extent of the frequent acceptance of copies of books from the authors, but in such cases the book is required to be bound according to a specified pattern. – The London Express, 1910

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

Royal Etiquette Weirdness

Very odd customs of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra– Every man and woman who has been invited down to Norfolk on a visit to their Majesties, gets weighed by either the King or Prince of Wales before leaving. 

One of the queerest customs in vogue at Sandringham, the favorite country house of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra

Yet another oddity connected with Sandringham house is that of the festivities attending the departure of guests. Every man and woman who has been invited down to Norfolk on a visit to their Majesties, gets weighed by either the King or Prince of Wales before leaving. This is the parting function on the morning of departure. 

Each guest's weight and a description of his or her dress is set down in a book kept for that especial purpose. No one knows the origin of this queer custom, but the King began practicing it years ago as the Prince of Wales and keeps it up as King. – Los Angeles Herald,1903

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

More Weird Royal Etiquette

"Why yes... I have heard of the queer customs in vogue at Sandringham!"

One of the queer customs in vogue at Sandringham, the favorite country house of King Edward and Queen Alexandra, has to do with Sunday church service. It is an understood thing that unlucky thirteen numbers the minutes of the reverend gentleman's discourse. No preacher is expected to preach longer than thirteen minutes. 

The habitues of the Sandringham pulpit understand and rarely pass the limit. The men who from time to time step fresh into the greatness of sermonizing to King Edward are always duly informed of the restriction and stop as near the thirteenth minute as they can.

Another point of etiquette in the King's home, church is that the clergyman always speaks in the direction of the lower left hand corner of the little building. The acoustic properties of the church are such, that owing to her deafness, the Queen can hear what is said only when the speaker looks neither to the right nor left; but into that particular corner. — San Francisco Call, 1903

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

Versailles Court Etiquette in Africa?

In 2012, the Barotseland royal household in western Zambia demanded independence, accusing the government of ignoring a 1964 treaty. In 1902, Barotseland's King Lewanika visited London for the coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, where he was treated with much respect, and had an audience with King Edward, and an informal meeting with the Prince of Wales. When asked what he would discuss with the British sovereign, he said "When we kings meet, we always have plenty to talk about".

A Gorgeous King: Lewanika, the King of Barotseland, is held in great fear and respect by his people. His court has as much etiquette and ceremonial as that of Louis XIV. His band of musicians make both day and night hideous with their performances. The music is done to drive away evil spirits.

Lewanika himself is an imposing spectacle. The King wears a long blue dressing gown trimmed with red, braid trousers and shirt. and on his head, a scarlet nightcap, and above it a black terrai hat. – Sausalito News, 1898

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