The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1891-11-13
A LIFE OF DRUDGERY.
ATTENDANCE on ROYALTY DE-
scRiBEo BY AN Ex-DlPLoMATIsT
All Independence of Speech, Manner
and Even Thought Must Be Aban-
doned by Ladies and Gentlemen In
Waiting on SovereIgns.

and Even Thought Must Be Aban-
Waiting on sovereIgns.
Especial Correspondence
NEW YORK, Oct. Sit is impossible to
conceive any more wearisome drudgery
| than that involved by attendance as gen
tleman or lady in waiting on personages
of royal and imperial rank. 1t means the
practical abandonment of all independence
of speech. manner and even thought. In
fact, it is the entire abnegation of ones
own individuality, and the merging there
of in that of ones royal master or mis-
tress. 1t is necessary to become their IN
obtrusive shadow, and their more or less
modest reflection, to laugh when they
laugh, to assume an air of profound mel
ancholy when they weep, to admire those
who happen to strike their fancy to de-
spise and condemn those whom they dis
like, to be always in good temper, always
patient and, above all, to never display
any signs of fatigue.
Yet with all this, one must possess suffi-
Gent tact to avoid any appearance Of sycO-
phancy, and to pretend just enough indie
pendence TO inspire the royal parsonage in
question with a certain amount of respect
for ones character 1t is moreover indis-
pensable that the gentlemen and ladies in
waiting should be always prepared to say
lust the right thing at the right time and
in the right place; to delicately prompt the
royal or imperial memories, which are far
from being as good as is popularity sup
posed; to keep off bores; to promote inter
course with pleasant and agreeable people,
and to see that their royal and imperial
charges neither suffer from ennui nor get
into any scrape, trouble or danger. For it
is always the members of the suite in at
tendance that will be held responsible by
the court, the government and the pub
lie in general for everything that goes
wrong.
Opinions differ as to whether the adj
vantages of the Office of gentleman or lady
in waiting are sufficiently great to recon-
pense the absolute subserViency which is
exacted to the caprices and whims of these
spoiled scions of royalty. For spoiled, in
deed, they are from the very moment ftheir
birth, living in an atmosphere of hattery
and adulation, Unaccustomed to contradic-
ton, and taught to consider themselves
not only as made of an entirely superior
kind of clay to that used for the compost
ton of mere ordinary mortals, but also as
being closely related to the Godhead-"le
cousins du bon Dieu"1.the cousins of God.
The advantages are certainly not of pc
cuniary nature, since the rate of salary at
tached to the Office never exceeds $4, 900 a
year, and, indeed, rarely attains that fig
ure, whereas the expenses are relatively
heavy. Nor are the perquisites worth
mentioning, consisting as they generally
do of presents of jewelry of minor value
for, to use French proverb, royalty is not
in the habit of tying up its dogs with
strings of sausages-and the more costly
gifts are reserved for persons unconnected
with court life, and who are most fire.
quently stars of the operatic, the dramatic
and the bouffe stage.
In fact, the only advantages-if indeed
advantages they can be called-of appoint
ments of this kind are to be found in the
brilliant uniforms, the aiguillettes and the
orders of knighthood worn by the men, in
the jeweled badges and medallions allotted
to the ladies, and in the questionable yet
eagerly sought for privilege of basking in
the sunshine of royalty. It is a privilege
that appears to be highly priced, not only
by individuals imbued with social am
billions on the lookout for everything that
could tend to ameliorate their STANDING
and prestige, but also by persons of ancient
lineage and high rank who have nothing
more to gain in that direction. Indeed,
with but few rare EXCEPTIONS it is eX-
clusively from the latter class that the
gentlemen and ladies in waiting of royalty
are selected
| have frequently been asked since my
arrival in this country to give some idea as
to the nature of the duties of persons fill
ing positions of this kind. So much has
been published, both in the American
newspapers and the Radical and Repub-
lican press of Europe, concerning the
"funkeyism of court officials" that many
people here have been led to believe that
the services are of a mental character.
This, l need hardly say, is not the case.
The functions, for instance, of ladies in
waiting to an empress, queen or to a
princess of the blood are almost identical
with those of what are known as lady
companions to the wives of rich bankers,
manufacturers and of millionaires in gen
eral
1uSN are LEGdLcu, uONcNEE, Will Lar IuOTS
consideration and delicacy and no imperial
or royal dame would ever dream of sub
hitting her attendant lady to indignities
such as Baroness Alphonso Rothschild. the
wife of the famous Partisan banker, infiicts
on her unfortunate companion. whom she
forces to sit in the landau with her back to
the horses, while black poodle occupies
the seat Of honor at the right hand of the
baroness during her afternoon drives up
the Champs Elysees to the Bots de Boul-
ogne.
The gentlemen and ladies in waiting
have usually salon devoted to their use,
where they remain on duty from early
morning until nearly midnight, awaiting
the summons of their masters or mis-
tresses, who rarely if ever stir out without
requesting their attendance They usually
dine at the royal table, except on certain
occasions when the repast is confined to
members of the family" and special
table is set for the household. 1t was at
a table of this kind, presided over by Gen
eral Sir Henry POnsonby, and graced by
the presence of two duchesses, besides
chat Of the lords, ladies and gentlemen in
waiting of Queen Victoria, that young
Jesse Grant refused TO sit, on the ground
that it was the royal funkies' table, Z"
when he accompanied his father, General
Grant, and his mother on the occasion of
their memorable visit to the British SOW
sreign at Windsor.
In addition TO the ordinary gentlemen
and ladies in wsiuing-in actual attend
ance upon royalty-there are large num-
her of persons who are authorized TO desig-
nate theT1,sp1vaS Gf11h aS we'll aS To wear
the uniform or the badges OF she Office, but
who have no duties 10 perform. and who
frequently remain for years together with