St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-04-17
lTALYS BEAUTIFUL QUEEN.
A Grand Court Ball in the Famous
Quirinal Palace.
SHE SPEAKS FIVE LANGUAGES
Royalty Ablaze With Diamonds
and Royal Decora-
lions.

A presentation at court in Rome is
thus described by correspondent of
the San Francisco Chronicle:
At $3.50 o'clock our carriage drives
into the large court of the Quirinal and
we are assisted to alight by one of the
porters in red uniform. After passing
long line of royal guards in red and
giving up our cards of invitation to one
of them, we leave our wraps in the vest
ibule, as there are no dressing-rooms
provided at the presentation, and
are ushered into one of the recep-
ton rooms, where the Marchesa di
v, the lady of honor to the queen,
advances with a gracious smile TO re-
ceive us and conduct us to our seats in
an adjoining room.
AT III O'Clock we all rise as the charm
ing queen OF Italy enters, accompanied
solely by the Marchesa di V, who
has list with all our names, and who
presents us as her majesty slowly
passes around the room, speaking to
each person in turn.
1t was naturally somewhat difficult
for the queen to converse in one of five
different languages with every one, but
her manner is so charming that she puts
one at ease Immediately. She asked
people about the place of their resi-
dence, or how they liked Italy, etc,
and if any of the gentlemen were decor
ated, as was the case with one American
and several Spaniards, she naturally i'll
quired about the decorations they wore
and for what service they had obtained
them.
She was dressed in pale-blue satin,
brocaded in silver gray, and wore many
| diamonds and her celebrated necklace
| of pearls, which has now nineteen
| strings of those jewels, as she has been
| married that many years.
1t took Her Majesty about three-quar-
| tiers of an hour to make the circuit of
| the large room, and as she went into
| the adjoining room to speak to the gem
| tlemen, we again seated ourselves, and
| ices were served by servants dressed in
| red coats, blue breecheS and pink stock
ings.
| AT 11:15 the queen retired, and after
paying our respects to the MarcheSa di
| v we went into an adjoining room,
where tea, coffee and cakes were
served, and we left the palace before
midnight.
THE ROYAL BALI. IN THE PALACE.
Etiquette requires every one to leave
visiting cards the day after the presenta-
ton at the royal palace for lie Marchese
and la Marchesa di V and the pre-
feet of the palace. The following day
those who have been presented receive
large cOlored engraved cards, with the
royal cOat-Of-armS, which read:
'The prefect of the palace and the
lady of honor to the queen, by order Of
their maiesties, have the honor to in
vite il SignOr -- to the ball, which
will take place at the Quirinal palace
Monday. Jan. %, 1888, at 10 p. ms
Long before the hour named carriages
arrived at the palace, and by 10 O'Clock
| the room in which the royal family were
to be was crowded. Three rows of
settees, covered with red plush, were
arranged around the room. These were
all occupied by the ladies', native and
foreign, and the ladies of the diplO-
matte corps, all in beautiful ball dresses,
| the cOlOrS of which were principally
cream and light shades.
| From the diamonds and other jewels
worn by the ladies flashed myriad of
colored lights, and the jeweled orders OF
| the mobiles and other decorated" men
reflected the soft light of the numerous
candles burning above. Back of tho
three rows of lovely ladies stood a num-
Der of gentlemen, waiting. until after
the queen should open the ball before
they could join their partners and take
| part IN the dance.
The gentlemen of the court, cabinet
ministers, mobiles and diplomats stood in
the open square, soon to be filled with
swift-whirling dancers, or talked to
each other and the,ladies until the fan
fare" played by the orchestra at 1850
announced that the royal family were
about to enter the room.
The king appears with the charming
| queen on his arm, followed by his
brother and the young prince of Naples,
whose first court ball it is, as he has
only recently passed his eighteenth
birthday. The queen was dressed in
lovely shade of pink silk, and wore
diadem of diamonds and pearls and her
| pearl necklace, besides other Jewels.
The queen dances the first quadrille
with the Russian ambassador, having
for vis-a-yiS the ambassador from
Turkey with an American lady, now
Roman princess. After this other per-
sons continue the dancing until after
the royal family retire at 2:15 a. nj.
There were many rooms thrown open,
and one could walk quite distance
without returning on ones steps, but
| the ballroom was crowded all the time,
| consequently the space for dancing was
| quite limited. Ices were passed around
between the dances, and i'll one hour
there was buffet, but the supper was
not served until o'clock.
| Single men were obliged to eat stand
| ing in a room by themselves, while gen.
tlemen with ladies passed on into
large room, where the supper was served
| at small tables.