Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-05-26
INNER COURT LIFE.
Mrs. Alexander Tells of the English
Royalty as it is To-day.
THE DAILY HABITS OF THE QUEEN
Proper Dress and Etiquette for Presenta-
tion at Court.
GREAT BRITAIEs SHADY NOBILITY.

! pooRREsPoEpENcE OF THE DIsPATeH.1
LONDON, May 15.-The country cousin
making short stay In London city esteems
himself lucky if his visit coineides with the
spring function of drawing room. He
can stand in Pail Mall or st. James Park
and see the carriages. freighted with "fair
women" and lew "brRve men" the fair
faces and jeweled neeks of the former rising
above the clouds of tulle and lace or the
billows of brocade which fill the space
round them as they pass slowly, with many
halt toward Buckingham Palace. For
one of the most marked changes in these
latter days of the Victorian era is the re-
ception by Her Majesty of the nobility and
gentry in Buckingham instead of st. James
Palace, where the Prince of Wales, repre-
senting his mother, holds the levees.
Granted good weather "a large grant, we
acknowledge, in our early spring. it is a
fine sight, though less elaborately grand
than it used to be 40 years ago, when the
display of large family coaches, with be-
wigged coachmen, powdered footmen,
voluminous hammer cloths Gas the orna-
mented cloth covers of the driving seats are
called), and richly caparisoned horses, out
numbered the unpretending breughams and
hired eonveyanees. Now the number of
! presentees have doubled or probably quad
rupled, and the humber vehicles prepon-
| derate.
| CONSERVATIVE LAMENTATIONS.
Over these changes the old style of Conser-
vative laments, chiefly because change OF
any kind Is Objectionable in his eyes, but
also, no doubt, because OF a 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, certain
interest hangs round ''the Court" which in
England is kind of inner core of the ma
tlonal existence, and which at the present
time is slowly expanding and varying
sympathetically with the gradual mutations
of social life.
For London, it must be admitted, "the
Court" has virtually ceased to exist. The
hospitalitles of Marlborough House, though
all the pleasanter for their spontaneity 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 separation of real "Court life'' from
the outer fringe of drawing rooms, leYees,
state balls, and concerts always existed,
ago. Then the right to be presented was
more limited, and those admitted to the
royal presence were possibly more acquaint-
ed with the sovereign; now, when great
scientists give new realms to the kingdom of
knowledge, great inventors fresh power to
human activity, when great discoveries
bring the unknown within the reach of
human ken, great fnanciers and organizers
increase the sum of human wealth, a new
nobility arises, which, if they care to de-
mand it, not only have right to appear be-
fore the. sovereign, but honor the eiFele
which admits them. s.- ~
INSIDE THE SACRED PRECINCTS
Below these crowd the ranks of swiftly
successful msmmon seekers, who burn to
stamp their shoddy with the sacred seal of
acceptance at Court. For all these there are
few opportunities in London for such patent
aggrandizement. The Queen lives retired
in the semi-seeluslon naturally most accept
able to her, since the terrible bereavement
which lett her perhaps the loneliest woman
in the world.
The inner life of the court has in it little
to tempta Sybarite-simplicity, dutifulness.
conscientious performance of work are its
characteristics, Vain aud giddy girls, frisky
young matrons, and dangerous gallanfs
would find its atmosphere oppressive and
uncongenial. Sobriety and thoughtiulness
are in the air; perhaps slight degree of |
monotony or tinge of tristesse may make |
bolder and lighter spirits sigh for fresh fields
and wider range, but none can quarrel |
with its mental tone or the routine which |
prevails.
At Her Majesty breakfasts alone, unless |
some of her children, grandchildren or per-
sonal friends are staying in the Palace, and |
she is rarely without them. In summer at |
Osborne, Windsor or Balmoral, this meal is
generally served out of doors in some aleove,
tent or summer-house. After the Queen |
either drives in small pony carriage, ac-
cOmpanied by one of the prineesses, or she
walks, attended by a lady-in-waiting or
mald-of-honor, with whom she converses
with friendly ease, and followed by two
Highland servants and some favorite dogs.
ROYALTY EATING.
Luncheon is served at 2, the convives
being Her Majesty's family or royal guests.
Until this hour, from her short after-break-
fast exercise, the Queen is diligently occu-
pied with official correspondence and busi-
ness OF various kinds. Long training has
made her politician OF no mean ability
and breadth of view, her natural common
sense forming an admirable basis for such
superstructure. 1t assists, too, in enabling
her to choose her friends we'll and wisely.
though the Court surroundings are not cal
culated to help royal personages in forming
a just judgment of character. Human
nature puts. on somewhat too angelic
guise, where everything may be won by
and nothing by the reverse.
In the mornings the maids-ofhonor
(there are pine In alD in waiting for the
time are with the prineesses, reading or
practising on the piano, singing or playing
lawn-tennis with them, as any young ladies,
together, might The lady-in-
waiting accompanies the Queen in her
afternoon drives and visits, which are most
frequently to the poor and to the humble
workers, often to simple gentry or any one
in trouble. Afterward the lady reads aloud
10 Her Majesty in her private sitIing-room.
The royal dinner hour is $3.50, and that
meal is shared by those of the royal family
then residing with the Queen, by distin-
yuished visitors, and some OF the household
in rotation-yiz., lords and ladies-in-wait-
ing, maids-of-honor, equerries and grooms-
n-waiting-this latter official holding a
lower position than the
'querry, though to the uninstructed it
Iounds like distinction without O differ
,nce.
STRICTLY BUSINESS.
The Queen is a woman of strict business
habits and steady application; the amount
Vt correspondence she gets through is enor-
nous. In the private portion Of this cor
espondence Her Majesty is assisted by her
private secretary, lady-in-waiting, and a
naid-of-honor, especially by the Dowager
Of Ely, one Of the ladies who
s valued friend. When the Court is at
Windsor the members 0f fha housahoId IN |