The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1892-06-27
THE COURTS OF EUROPE
Behind the Scenes With the
English and Austrian
Nobility.
CEREMONIES AT THE HOFBURG.
As Pleasant as those at Bucking-
ham Palace Are Tedious
Value of PreSen-
tatiOnS.
CEREMONIES AT THE HOFBURG.

zled by the large numbsr of American
presentations at the two drawingrooms ri
Buckingham Palace. which have recently
been held by Princess Christian on behall
OF her mother, The Queen. l fail alto
gether to understand the object whict
these transatlantic piesentees can have
In view. That they should find pleasure
J aud aovan tageN at any Of the continental
! courts is much easier to comprehend. TO-
there such a presentation carries with 4
an invitation to court dinners or cour'
balls. Moreover, instead Of consisting o
a mere ~perfunc!ory courtesy, as at Buck
| inghum Palace, it generally leads to Q
| pleasant interchange of friendly remar
| between the royal parsonage and the pre-
| sentee.
Ihs majority of American ladies who
| visit England for the first time appear to
believe that pre-, eutatlon at the British
| Court carries with it the entree to Lon
don society, Invitations to Court enter
taininents and Il personal acquaintance
with the members of the royal family.
This Is q great mistake. for there is 50
little exclusiveness by the Lori Cham
pertains de artment In restricting the
admission 10 The Queens d~rawiEeroom
that the mere fact Of presentation is alb
solutely without any social Significance
whatever.
1 II should be Thoroughly understood that
the Court authorities raise no obstacle to
til e presentation Of anybody except those
women whose husbands have procured a
divorce from them by English tribunals,
or whose anJecedents have been OF u pub
licly ~disreputable character. With these
two exceptions no restrictions are made,
and / have found myself at Bucklng lam
Palace being elbowed by Mrs. lsaacson,
the well.kuoWn Regent street modiste.
who trades under the name of "Elizs,"
and from whose sho9 | had obtained the
dress l was then wea ling.
With a certain class of British people
presentations are OF some value, for they
cannot Obtain Invitations to entertain
ments at foreign courts unless they can
furnish proof that they have previously
been presented at Buckingham Palace.
This IS why so many English women
never attend another drawing room after
their debut at court.
With regard to the ceremony itself at
Buckingham Palace 1t certainly off ers a
most dismal contrast with the functions
Of the same nature at continental courts.
Instead of tbs presentations taking place
at a reasonable hour-that /. to say, after
d~usk-they are held for the convenience
Of the Queen, who does not reside Ia Lon
don, at tue unearthly hour of two in the
afternoon. Female full dress by day
light is always displeasing, never more
so. however, than in the State apartments
of Buckingham Palace, with the sun
pouring through the huge windows OH
the extremely decollete necks and shout
ders of the ladies who attend to be pre-
seuted to the Queen.
| may add that the ventilation of the
palace is terribly defective. the alternate
intense he,t and Icy drauRhts most in.
furious To the health aud that the cru h
is intol rable. Everybody wants to gel
ahead of everybody else in order to get
through with the presentation and back
to their carriages, for a court presenta-
ton practically involves leaving one
house at noon, alighting at the palace an
hour later after interminable waits, and
| standing upon ones feat thereafter amid
an elbowings pushing. som swhat selfish
throng Of women, in an atmosphere lad en
with strong perfumes, which is d COM
| hination for artificial scents. natural
flowers ard cosmetics, until about our
| CT five o'clock. when one finally re-enters
the ca rage crunpltd, dispirited, faint
rom huuger aud fatigue and thoroughly
disappointed.
All this Is unde: gone for the mere sake
of spending about sixty seconds in the
Thloue Room, just the time required to
| walk from the GO)r to the spot where
stands the Queen, or as 1t is moe gener-
ally the cSse. one of the Princesses repre-
senting her. to whom a low courtesy is
made. The royal lady utters no word of
| welcome or greeting, but merely ac-
knowledges tue salute by a slight fu-
| clslaation Of the head, and then the pre-
seatee has to back out Of the room with
I all possible speed.
OF course 1t is hopeless to- expect tina
with the hundreds of presentations which
I fnka vlooa N = ftnaa lrn xt,tn ~ ne, {, aift \ n,
the Queen Or the Princess should. retain
thevery %fainte't recollectioa' Of any iudi-
vidual face OF the presentees.s
$50 AT H AUSTRIAN CoURT."
Absolutely different ana rar more pleas
ing and well Thought out in every respec
are the presentat at the court o
| Austria They invariably occnr at nigh
| time, eli hAr al the beginning of or during
q State ball. The latter takes pace a
the Imperial "Hofburg' or palace, an,
usually commences at auout eight o'clock
Previous TO that time all the ladies rang'
| thenseives on one side OF the Hall o
| Ceremonies and of the "Rittersaal," aD(
all the men on the other, the latter heinl
in differing uniform aud the ladies IL
magnificent court dress.
Que room Is set apart especially for thu
diplomatic corps, the ladies OF the Embas
| sizes aud their visiting country women
standing to the rear of their RESPECTIVE
| AmDnSsiute StE, WniIe on inc OLntr Slu'
of the room the secretaries and attaches
of the Embassies. with their VISITING
countrymen. stand behind Their respec
tive Ambassadors. Shortly aftel
half past eight the band. un
der the guidance Of the ramou!
'.Eddy" Strauss strikes no the na1ioua
anthem and the imperial corteRe enter,
the Throne room. led b~ytheSgrand master
of the ceiemon eS, Count Kalman HUI
yadi, wearing thc crimson and gold uni
form of an Austrian general OF eavalr,
with the white cloth, fur edged "atiila'
hanging from the left shoulder by golc
cords. Walking backward, 50 as 10 tact
the Emperor anu Eu5press,,gThe strikes III,
door with his long ivory wand OF office.
thereby Announcing IHolalF That the SOW
ereigns arb RppEoachi9e. i 4 az.
PHEASANT CEREMONIES.
The Emperer and Empress, as. soon al
they enter each eeappceeding room, part
the former stirling up to where the mel
are arranged, the Empress advancing tc
where the ladies' have taken up tneil
position. To almost each of the men tht
| Emperor addresses a friendly remark
| some he honors with a grasp of the baud
while others unknown TO him are pre-.