The Sun.
London, England, 1863-06-27 00:00:00

THE GUARDS' BALL.

The Guards' Ball, " The bright particular star"
of this season, was given last night, and was a most

magnificent and brilliant success. There is proba-
bly no social problem so difficult to solve as that of
giving a very large ball with even tolerable success,
and the difficulties increase tenfold when, as last

night, Royalty has to be entertained on a scale of
magnitude and splendour which gave almost a na-
tional importance to the fete. The whole arrange-
ments, then, for such an occasion must be absolutely
perfect, and the events of the evening succeed each
other with Courtly regularity, for the failure of
one involves the confusion of all. With 2,000 of

the highest and most distinguished of the land to
receive and accommodate, the task of entertaining
with cc/at becomes therefore formidable, for a con-

tretemps at these fetes is never forgotten. It is no
slight praise, therefore, to the officers of the Guards
to say that on this great occasion they achieved a
triumphant success, and that their fete was one
which for the future is likely to be taken as the

.•
model of what such entertainments should be. From

beginning to end, from the Brat arrival of the visi-
tors to the reception of the guests of the evening,
_ _

'rom the commencement of the dancing to the sup-

per in the wonderfully decorated supper-room, it
was emphatically a most brilliant fete, which those
who witnessed will long and pleasantly remember.

Nothing could be more appropriate than that the
Brigade of Guards should entertain the Prince and
his fair young bride—for this noble corps is with-
out dispute the foremost and finest representative of
the English army; and though our young Heir Ap-
parent is not, literally speaking, a Guardsman, still
it was as a Colonel attached to the Regiment of
Grenadiers that he graduated in the army. Be•
fore even the Princess Alexandra had landed in
this country the Household Brigade determined on
giving their late comrade an entertainment, which,
as a matter of course, when the Prince was con-
sulted as to its nature, was at once decided to be a
ball. Nearly a month ago the preparations com-
menced, and terminated only about an hour before
the visitors began to arrive. In these preparations
nothing which the most perfect good taste could
suggest or the most profuse expenditure effect was
neglected, and the result was, as we have said, suc-
cess ; and that this la as achieved so completely is
due mainly, if not entirely, to the exertions of the
committee of officers who had charge of it all:--
Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Charles Russell, Grenadier
Guards; Lieutenant-Colonel the Hon. H. Byng,
Coldstream Guards; Lieutenant-Colonel White,
Scots Fusilier Guards; Lieutenant-Colonel the Hon.
Charles Hay, Scots Fusilier Guards; Colonel
Francis Seymour, C. 8., Scots Fusilier Guards ; Cap-
tain Lane, Coldstream Guards ; Captain the Hon.
W. Clive, Coldstream Guards; Lieutenant-Colonel
Verschoyle, Grenadier Guards; Colonel Dudley
Carleton, Coldstream Guards; Lientenant-Colonel
Lord Eustace Cecil, Coldstream Guards. These
gentlemen had the whole of the arrangements to
organise, perfect, and mature. It was they who
laboured at it till they were scarcely able to bear
the additional fatigue of the ball itself, and it was
they who, if anything had gone wrong, would have
had to bear such a load of Brigade and Regimental
obloquy as would have left them no resource but
instant emigration. In reward for their zealous
hard work all went well, and Colonel White, Colonel
Verschoyle, and Colonel Sir Charles Russell deserve
all the praise they have, above all others, so hardly
earned in bringing about the success of last night.
Nine o'clock was the hour fixed for the admission
of visitors, and of course before that time there was

a long array of carriages waiting, while there was
still some finishing touches to be put to what was to
be done inside. But, punctual to the minute, the
officers of the Brigade were at their posts, and as 9
struck the doors were opened and the visitors began
to arrive, at first fitfully and in little groups, but
soon in a broad rich stream that covered the stairs.
Occasionally the guard that lined the staircase
"stood to present" as a guest of royal rank ascended,
causing quite a flutter of expectation among the
visitors above, but these visitors were so numerous
that the false alarms ceased to excite much attention
till his Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge came
who, as the most popular officer in the service, was of
course welcomed with profound respect and sin-
cerity. Then came the Duke and Duchess d'Aumale,
then the Prince and Princess of Leiniegen, then
the Count de Paris, the Due de Nemours, the Due
and Duchess de Chartres, the Prince and Princess
de Joinville, the Duc de Montpensier, the Due
Phillippe de Wurtemburg, Count and Countess
Gleichen, his Royal Highness the Prince of Orange,
Baron de Pallandt, his Royal Highness Dhuleep
Singh, his Serene Highness the Prince of Reusse,
Prince and Princess Bandini.
Within the entrance in the Cromwell-road the
wide platform which formerly gave access to the
Processes Court of the Exhibition was enclosed in a
kind of draped pavilion, red and white, and bril-
liantly lighted. Here, on the left, was a sort of
boudoir cloak-room for the use of all royal visitors ;
but those to whom the fete was given, the Prince and
Princess of Wales, had a special apartment to
themselves, a wonderful fairy-looking sort of gossa-
mer structure, with walls of satin and roof of lace,
in the gallery above. The wide flight of stairs by
which the central entrance to the picture galleries
used to be gained was draped with the traditional
red, white, and blue, the colours of the regiment,
with here and there central shields bearing the
names of the most famous struggles of the Guards,
from Steenkerke to Inkerman, the chronology of
which events was, as it appeared to us, in some in-
stances capable of more accurate adjustment, if any
one ever minded chronology at a ball. Men in
armour, with groups of banners and lofty mirrors,
with here and there fine statues and clusters of
plants, made up the rest of the adornments at the
entrance, which looked imposing and stately enough.
Its best and most characteristic ornament, however,
consisted of the tall, martial-looking forms of the
Guardsmen themselves, the very elite of the rank
and file of the brigade, men who had survived not
only the pestilential atmosphere of Varna, but the
still more desperate ordeals of Alma, Inkerman, and
Sebastopol—men many of whom bore on their
breasts not only the medal and clasps, but the
medal for good conduct and the molal for distin-
guished conduct in the field. The presence of these
men was one of the most striking as it certainly
was one of the most pleasant features in the very
beautiful scene. The first entrance-room was where
the gallant hosts of the evening, all in full uniform,
received their visitors. This apartment was fitted
up as a drawing•room. The walls were hung all
round, and to a considerable height from the floor,
with a noble series of tapestries lent by her Majesty,
who had, with the kindest condescension, offered to
the officers of the brigade the use of any ornaments
or statues they might require from Buckingham
Palace. Between the tapestries were festoons of
coloured cloth to relieve and heighten the effect,
while the lofty screen which divided the furthest
end of the apartment from the conservatory was
filled in with what may almost be called spacious
mirrors, festooned around with amber-coloured satin
hangings, and massive fringes and tassels to match.
Tables with ornaments, with sofas, couches, and