The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-06-10
VIcTORIA.s COURT.
The Private Life of the Royal Family
Of England.
From The Neio YORK Herald.

AASCOuAtl y COuslu uthhluR SNORT stay III
| London city esteems himself lucky if his
visit comedies with the spring function of
a drawing room. He can stand in Pail
/ Mall or st. James' Park and see the car
riagss, freighted with fair women andn a
/ few brave men, the fair faces and Jaw
/ eled aecks of the former rising above the
I clouds OF tulle and lace, or the pillows of
brocade which fill the space round them as
| they pass slowly, with many a halt, toward
| Buckins ham Palace. For one of the most
marked changes IN these later days of the
| Victorian era is the reception by her mai
| esty of the nobility and gentry in Bucki1g-
ham instead of st. James Palace where the
! Prince ofsNales, representing his mother,
| holds the ievees.
| Granted good weather ia large grant, we
acknowledge, in our early spring., it is a
fine sight, though less deliberately grand
than it used to be forty years ago, when
the display of large family coaches, with
| bewlgged coachmen, powdered footmen,
| voluminous hammer cloths las the orna-
mented cloth covers Of the driving seats are
| called and richly caparisOned horses out
| numbered the unpretending broughams and
hired cDhveyances. Now the number OF
presentees have doubled or probably quad
rupied, aad the humber vehicles preponder-
ate.
Over these changes tho old style OF conserv-
alive laments, chiefly because change of
any kind is Objectionable il his eyes, but
| also, no doubt because of dim conscious
ness that this continuous enlargement of the
| court bounds may be akin to the ominous
| swelling of that immortal and ambitious
| frog which was the precursor of its final
bust up" However this may be, a GER
tain interest hangs round "the c5uri, (which
In England is a kind of inner core of tbs
national existence, and which at the present
time IS slowly expanding and varying sym
pathetically with the gradual mutations of
social life.
For London, it must be admitted, "the
court" has virtually ceased to exist. The
hospitalIties Of Marlborough house, though
all the pleasanter for their sponta aeity and
semi-private character, are not state func-
tions, nor do they bear the solemn seal of
official admission to the sovereign's circle.
THE INNER COURT LIFE.
The separation of real ''court life" from
the outer fringe of drawing rooms. levees,
state balls and concerts always existed,
though in a much less degree, forty or fifty
years ago Then the right to be presented
was more limited, aud those admitted to
the royal presence were possibly more ac-
quainted with the sovereig I; now, when
! great scientists give new realms to the king
dom of knowledge. great inventors fresh
power to human activity, when great dis
coverers bring the unknown within the
reach of human ken, great financierS and
organizers increase the sum of human
wealth, new nobility arises, which, if they
care to demand it. not only have a right to
| appear before their sovereign, but honor
the circle which admits them. Below these
crowd the ranks of swiftly successful mann
nom seekers, who burn to stamp their
shoddy with the sacred seal of acceptance
at court. For all these there are few oppor-
tunities in London for such patent aggran-
dizement. The queen lives retired in the
| semi-seclusion naturally most acceptable to
her since the terrible bereavement which
left her perhaps the loleliest woman in the
world.
The inner file of the court has in it little
to tempt a Sybarite-simpicity dutiful-
ness, conscientious performance of work are
its characteristics. Vain and giddy girls
frisky young matrons aud dangerous gal
lantS would lind its atmosphere oppressive
and uncongenial SobrieJy and thong at
fitness are in the air; perhaps a slight de-
gree of monotony or tinge Of tristesse may
make holder and lighter spirits sigh for
flesh fields and wider range, but none can
quarrel with its mental tone or the routine
which prevails
THE QUEENS HABITS.
Ats O'Clock her maj ssty breakfasts, alone,
unless some of her children, grandchildren
| or personal friends are STAYING in the palace
.
at Osborne, Windsor, or Balmoral, this
meal is generally served out of doors in
some alcove, tent or summer house; after,
the queen either drives ia a small pony car
riage accompanied by one of the princesSes,
Or she walks attended by a lady in waiting
or maid of honor, with whom 10 converses
with friendly ease, and followed by two
Highland servants and some favorite dogs
Luncheon is served at two O'clock the
convives being her majesty's family or
royal guests. Until this hour, from her
short after breakfast exercise, the queen
is diligently occupied with official CORE
spondence and business of various kinds
Long training has made her a politician of
no mean ability and breadth of view, her
natural common sense forming an ad ira
BILE basis for such superslructure. 1t as
siSts, too, in enabling her to choose her
friends we'll and wisely, though the court
surroundings are not calculated to help
royal personages in forming a just judg-
| ment of character Human nature puts on
a somewhat too angelic guise, where every
thing may be won by Availability and notn-
ing by the reverse.
In the morning the maids of honor (there
are nine in alb in waiting for the time are
with the princesses, reading or practicing
on the piano, singing or playing lawn tennis
with them, as any young ladies', compan-
ions together, might. The lady in waiting
accompanies the queen in her afternoon
drives aud visits, which are most frequently
to the poor and to humble workers, often to
simple gentry or any one in trouble. After
ward this lady reads aloud to her majesty
in her private sitting room.
The royal dinner hour is $50 o'clock p.
Ill., and that meal is shared by those of
the royal family then residing with the
queen, by distinguished visitors and some
of the household in rotation-viz., lords and
ladies in waiting, maids of honor, equerries
and grooms in waiting, this later official
holding considerably lower position than
the equerry, though to the uninstructed it
sounds like distinction without differ
ence.
STRICT BUSINESS HABITS.
The queen is a woman Of strict business
habits and steady application; the amount
of correspondence she gets through is enor-
nous. In the private portion of this cor
respondence her majesty is assisted by her
private secretary, a lady in waiting, and
maid of honor, especially by the Dowager
Marchioness of Ely, one of the ladies who is
a valued friend.
When the court is at Windsor the men,
bers of the household in attendance are one
lady in waiting these ladies are always
peeresses), two maids of honor, a lord in
A waiting, also the keeper of The privy purse,
the private secretary, assistants in both de-
partments, and the master of the house.
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