Etiquette and Madagascar's Queen

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.

(source: afrikanwomen)

The Palace of the Queen is 2,500 feet above the level of the sea, the capital being located on an elevated plateau. By the time Mr. Finklemeir reached the city he was out of food; the Queen, however, sent him a fat ox for food, and the Chief Minister sent turkeys, geese, chickens, lamb, onions, rice, potatoes and other things in abundance; so they fared well.

Next day, the Queen sent to ask how he endured the fatigues of the journey, and notified him that she would see him on the next Sunday, the 8th of December. On Sunday she sent an escort of Palace officers to conduct him to the throne, where she sat in state with her Ministers around her, and large numbers of ladies and gentlemen, all in European costumes, the Queen wearing white brocade with a Hammelyn cloak hanging from the shoulder. 

She arose and extended her hand for him to kiss as Mr. Finklemeir entered, and he kissed her white kid gloves according to Court etiquette. The Queen is about fifty years of age, quite tall and well educated, and quite graceful. Mr. Finklemeir was astonished to see her skin was what we in America would call "white," and looking young for her age. Mr. Finklemier was next introduced to all the ministers and guests. 

A great deal of gold and embroidery was displayed in the Court dresses of those preterit, and the display was really quite brilliant. After fifteen minutes he witndrew. The officers afterward told Mr. Finklemeir that the Queen was very well pleased with his appearance. The Queen asked him during the interview if he had served in the late war in America, and if he had a family. 

The next day he dined with the Chief Minister, per invitation. The dinner took from 4:00 p.m. to 10:00 at night, and was given in a splendid hall, with a fine band of music playing before the forty guests. The dinner and wine could not be excelled even in Europe. The finest of china and silver sets adorned the table. 

Mr. Finklemeir toasted the Queen in the American language, and the Chief Minister toasted the President and Secretary Seward. Mr. Finklemeir remained in the Capital until the 8th of January, when he bade his adieu, and returned as he came. —1867

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

Anglo-Indian "At Home" Etiquette

The strictly fashionable calling time is between 12:00 and 2:00 every day except Sunday—a relic, it is said, of the past when our grandmothers and grandfathers considered four o’clock the State dinner hour.

Society in Muree is like Indian society in general, in all save the three principal cities. The military element very largely predominates, and in custom much of the etiquette of the first Anglo-Indian communities is retained. Still, English people in India have not yet introduced weekly "at home" days, as in the plains, the strictly fashionable calling time is between 12:00 and 2:00 every day except Sunday—a relic, it is said, of the past when our grandmothers and grandfathers considered four o’clock the State dinner hour. 

At 12:00 punctually therefore, each day the firing of the gun which sets the true time for the station reminds people that they must either be to pay calls or preparing to receive them. Duly at that time, ladies sally forth on their formal duties, regardless of the power of a full tropical sun and the probable chances, even in the hills, of an attack of sunstroke. Those who are of homely dispositions will ask their friends to come and see them in the afternoon, but that has its drawbacks, as tennis parties and other gayeties cause almost the whole station to be “not at home" after 4:30 or 6 o’clock.

The calling hours are, however, not the only alteration in home customs which a new-comer has to observe if she would escape social ostracism, for English etiquette is in some respects, entirely reversed. The last arrival, for instance, has to call upon all the other visitors in the station, unless she happens to be a bride, and in that case she calls nowhere until others have honored her. Other customs, again, of very recent introduction, such as the practice of every lady coming to a hotel making a formal call upon every other lady in the same hotel, are noteworthy, not only for their local peculiarity, but as typifying the extreme of Anglo-Indian society. —London Queen, 1888

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

Etiquette and Persian Shahs

Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar, was the fifth Qajar king of Persia. It is said he found it difficult to live up to European etiquette. He could not overcome the impulse to take his food in his fingers, for example, and he was almost sure to throw what was left, over his shoulder, when he had eaten all he cared to of its contents. 

The Way of Shahs

Some very amusing anecdotes are related in the current Harper’s Weekly of the Shah of Persia, Mozaffar ad-Din, one of the most eccentric of Monarchs. He seems not to be altogether an up-to-date person. He is able to manipulate a knife and fork and to eat properly from a table; but he much prefers to sit on a stool with his food at an elevation of about the same height and use his fingers. 

Although one of the wealthiest sovereigns in the world, Mozaffar ad-Din is not over-particular about the payment of his debts on his journeys abroad. During his visit to Paris in 1900 he created something of a sensation among European Royalties by conferring the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Lion and the Sun, which had hitherto been confined exclusively to reigning Sovereigns, upon an American dentist who had relieved him of an obstinate toothache. 

Mozaffar's father, Nassr-ed-Din, was apparently no less eccentric than his son. He attended many State banquets during his tours in Europe, but he generally satisfied his appetite alone, before he came to the table, since he found it difficult to live up to European etiquette. He could not overcome the impulse to take his food in his fingers, for example, and he was almost sure to throw what was left over his shoulder, when he had eaten all he cared to of its contents.

The story is told that he was once sitting at the right of Queen Victoria at a formal dinner at Buckingham Palace, when he bit off the top of a piece of asparagus and handed the remainder to his hostess to finish, as a particular mark of esteem. – Sacramento Daily Union, 1907

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

Papal Dining Etiquette

Pope Leo XIII, reigned as Pope from early in 1878, until his death in 1903. He was the oldest Pope, and had the third longest pontificate, behind those of Pius IX and John Paul II.

Pope Leo's Habits

Most of the modern Popes, says The St. James's Gazette, have been ascetics, and Leo XIII is no exception to the rule. His holiness rises at 6 o'clock alike in summer and winter, and immediately he is dressed he says mass in his private chapel. Then he "assists" at another mass celebrated by a prelate of the household, and at 7 he breakfasts. 

The Papal breakfast consists of coffee and two boiled eggs. The midday dinner is as simple as the breakfast; soup, a dish which it pleases the Italians to regard as a beef steak, dessert, and one glass of Bordeaux—of course not the Bordeaux which common people drink. After dinner the Pope takes an hour's nap. The early supper is composed of salad and eggs, and a very admirable supper that is in a hot climate. 

It is etiquette for the Pope to take all his meals alone—a custom which must be very bad for the digestion. Leo XIII works as hard in his study as Queen Victoria does, but he enjoys splendid health for so old a man, and promises to wear the tiara for many a year to come. —1887

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19th C. Etiquette for Jewish Girls

When she is acquiring her education, it is true, she may go to the public school, but even there the teachings of her home are strong upon her, and she is not so free with her boy companions as is her Christian contemporary. 

America's Daughters of Israel

The Hebrew girl, except among the very wealthy and most thoroughly Americanized families, lives in a state of semi-oriental seclusion. When she is acquiring her education, it is true, she may go to the public school, but even there the teachings of her home are strong upon her, and she is not so free with her boy companions as is her Christian contemporary. 

Her school days once over, she becomes a home bird to a very great extent. It is not proper according to Jewish etiquette for her to accept an invitation to a theater from a young man to whom she is not engaged, if she does, it is immediately taken for granted that the couple are engaged.

 If she goes to a sociable or party her brother or some other member of her family, is almost invariably her escort, though, once arrived at the place of merriment, she mixes as freely with those about her as do Christian girls. Her jollity on such occasions is unconfined and sometimes smacks of old-time Methodist heartiness. 

The kissing games of our ancestors are occasionally introduced with effect; and she proves herself one of the most lively and charming of girls, a perfect romp in fact. The party over, however, away she goes home; in charge of her brother, whose place no young man can usurp unless he engages himself to her. – American Queen, 1884

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Etiquette When Emperors Meet

The Hohenzollerns have always been distinguished for their contempt of the stage trickeries of royalty. They have from the earliest days been devoting themselves to facts in this world. Not so, however, with the Hapsburgs. They have always been stern defenders of etiquette. There is no ruling family which has been more devoted to the artificialities of the purple than they. 

The Rules for Emperors

"For two men of the ordinary grade to meet for the transaction of business is ordinarily a very simple matter. In that case there is nothing to do but fix the time and place, walk in, shake hands and go to work. With Emperors, however, it is a different thing. Imperious etiquette must be satisfied beforehand on a great many points which to general mankind appear to be not only trivial but absurd. 

Every motion has to be satisfactorily settled before the royal personages can come together. There must be no doubt as to which is to be the host and which the guest — which is to advance to meet the other; the manner in which salutations are to be exchanged; the extent to which personal freedom is to be allowed; how they are to be seated and how they are to be got off the stage when the interview comes to an end. 

Before that extraordinary pageant was enacted at Versailles, in which the King of Prussia assumed the title and insignia of Emperor of Germany, he could have no speech with Francis Joseph unless he had previously kissed his hand in token of submission and inferiority. The two Emperors are now on an equality. Francis Joseph has been expelled from Germany and William reigns there in his stead. It is clear that if there is to be hand-kissing now, the operation will have to be mutual, if such, indeed, be possible — that one cannot sit on a higher seat than the other — that there must be equality in ceremony and equality in general demeanor. 

The telegraph has not informed us of the cause of the delay in the meeting of the two Emperors; or of the secret of the evident coyness of the Austrian Potentate, or of the reason of the change from Gastein to Salsenburg, as the telegraph gives the name, but probably correctly Salzburg, but we have but little doubt that it was something of the weighty character above set forth that was at the bottom of it.

Not that we think that Kaiser William is at all a stickler for such trivialities. Rugged old soldier that he is he probably, if he had his own way, would have preferred to stride into the place designated for the interview, with a military attendant or two, shake Frances Joseph by the hand, deposit his iron helmet on the table and proceed to business without further fencing.

The Hohenzollerns have always been distinguished for their contempt of the stage trickeries of royalty. They have from the earliest days been devoting themselves to facts in this world. Not so, however, with the Hapsburgs. They have always been stern defenders of etiquette. There is no ruling family which has been more devoted to the artificialities of the purple than they. The ceremony at the Austrian Court is as rigid, and unbending as in the palace of the brother of the Sun and the Moon at Pekin, for it not unfrequently happens that when the substance of power has faded away the forms under which it was originally exercised are adhered to with a tenacity all the greater. It is more than likely, therefore, that the coyness which the Austrian Emperor has been exhibiting is to be attributed not so much to any deep political purpose, as to some disagreement in relation to handshaking or bowing.

Be this as it may, it is at least certain that there is some historical significance in the substitution of Salzburg for Gastein. In it is a cave, in the hill in the rear of that city, that old Barbarossa, in German legend, is supposed to have been sitting for centuries past, his red beard grown through the table upon which his elbows rest, sitting there in profound silence waiting for the regeneration of Germany. Can he look down on the strange meeting which is now about to take place and still maintain his stony composure? 

Germany is consolidated now, at least, or nearly so. She will now present as solid a front as when he raised his shield on the Roncalic plains, giving notice to all who passed that way that if aggrieved justice could be obtained by an appeal to him. One thing is certain, if this interview is ever to be transferred to canvas, it is tolerably clear that Kaiser William will be the central figure, no matter how etiquette may now decide, or how rigidly it may provide for Austrian preeminence. It is he who has realized the dream of the red-bearded Emperor, who has so long been waiting for the resurrection of Germany in the gloomy caverns of the hill of Salzburg. (break)" — The Daily Alta, 1871

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

Etiquette of Royal Handshakes

King Humbert of Italy... A declared foe to all kinds of Court ceremonies, he avoids having anything more to do than is absolutely necessary with his Court officials, but in his excursions in the country likes to shake hands with the farmers and peasants.

Royal Handshaking –Only Humbert of Italy Likes It —Other Monarchs and M. Faure Do Not

Kaiser Wilhelm, who lately has had many occasions for public greetings, does not at all like to offer his hand to any one in public. He rarely makes exceptions in this matter and then usually only for commanding officers at the time of the great army maneuvers. Even more than he does the Emperor of Austria abstain from the custom of handshaking, for it is only Archdukes that he greets or parts from in this fashion. The Czar when he receives Princes is wont always to shake hands cordially with his guests. Only one has he embraced so far, M. Felix Faure.

The Queen of England, with traditional feminine grace, holds out her hand to be kissed; but her son, the Prince of Wales, often seizes the opportunity of giving people a hearty handshake. The King of the Belgians is fond of holding in his, a lady's slender hand, and never fails to imprint a kiss on it; but he objects to shaking hands with men. The amiable young Queen of Holland would like, if etiquette did not forbid, to shake hands with everybody.

The simplest of all rulers, however, is King Humbert of Italy. A declared foe to all kinds of Court ceremonies, he avoids having anything more to do than is absolutely necessary with his Court officials, but in his excursions in the country likes to shake hands with the farmers and peasants. As regards President Felix Faure, he embraces the czar, kisses her gracious majesty's hand, shakes the right hand of the Queen regent of Spain's Ambassador, especially when it bears him a Golden Fleece, but considers it beneath his dignity to hold out his hand to any one as low as a secretary of legation.—Munchener Zeitung, 1899

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

Etiquette for George V

Yards of ermine. ~ George V's Coronation portrait.

King George's Coronation Will Enrich the Ermine Trust

By W. B. Northrup

Most Gorgeous Coronation England Ever Saw

Calls for Distinctions Between Strawberry Leaves, Silver Balls, Jewels, Furs and Geegaws Which Lost Their Actual Meanings Generations Ago

London, Sept. 1910— Though King George's coronation will not take place till next June, active preparations, and even rehearsals for the great event are now well under way. Members of the English nobility are already making purchases of ermine and other necessary materials to be used during the elaborate and costly ceremonies. A significant fact in this connection is the present "'corner" in the ermine market; the price of this fur having gone up 50 per cent during the last month.

Ermine skins are now nearly $5 each instead $2.50, the price prevailing a few months ago. Crimson velvet, silk, and other materials necessary for the great state function are also rapidly advancing in price and court dress makers are rushing their orders so as to get them in before the further rise in price anticipated in the very near future. 

Several large firms of court jewelers have already received orders for fitting up crowns and coronets in conformity with the somewhat rigid requirements of English Court etiquette. 

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