Eagle River Democrat. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1893-1896, 1896-08-03
DINING WITH VICTORIA.
A Girls Account of Her Dinner
with England'S
Queen.

an ordinary dinner dress; and | really
don't know which would have been
worse-to be obliged to rush into the
presence Of the Queen in an unfinished
condition or to keep her majesty waiting.
However, we were not late. My Inaid
and | worked hard; and really at the.
end, when | surveyed myself in a tall
cheval glass, / could not help feeling that
| looked rather nice. [ was all in white
my mamma says that white suits me,
and | really think it does-and the length
of my train set off the height of my
slender figure and the white feathers
nestled very becomingly in my dark hair.
| knew that | was looking my very best;
but my heart was beating uncomfOrtably
fast, and though | had looked forward
to dining with the Queen as quite the
most delightful thing in the world, now
that the moment had arrived | would
have given worlds to have been able to
escape from the ordeal. However, there
was no help for it; SO | followed my
mamma into the grand corridor, and we
proceeded slowly in the direction of the
dining room, which was right at the ex-
treme end in the Prince of Wales tower.
1t was a wonderful place, that corridor.
Imagine an endlesSly long lofty apart
ment, lighted by tall windows looking out
into the courtyard and extending round
two sides of the great quadrangle. On
the inner side innumerable doors opened
into suites on suites of rooms of all
kinds-guest chambers, including spe-
cial suite for the Prince and Princess of
Wales, and another known as the tapes
try apartment which is given to other
distinguished visitors like the Empress
Frederick or the Duke of Connaught;
the Queens own bedroom and boudoir,
the three drawing rooms, the private and
state dining rooms, and the suite devoted
70 Of pp1r0 Rno frsi0n I'm
outer side, in the spaces between the
windows, were huge pictures represent
ing events of the reign. An immense
number of portraits adorned the walls,
which were beautifully wainscoted in
sage green and gold, while the ceiling
was treated in cream and gold III most
artistic design. As for the china, it was
perfectly wonderful, and there were
quantities of it in the most exquisite
cabinets. l was told later that there was
one set of Rose du Barri which was
worth 100000, and that many of the sets
were practically priceless. wanted to
stop and gloat over all the wonderful and
beautiful things which we kept pass
ing; and especially should | have fixed to
have looked for the bust and Bible Of the
good and gallant Gen. Gordon, which |
knew were placed somewhere in the cor
ridor; but my mamma called to me PER-
emptorily whenever | loitered, and SO |
was OUHSoQ 10 hurry OH.
We turned round the angle of the corri-
dor, and then the second arm of it opened
before us with its long vista of windows,
portraits, pictures and cabinets. About
a quarter of the way down we perceived
a small group of people standing near one
of the doors. These were evidently the
other guests AS we came nearer we rec
ognized several faces. and one dear old
man began to talk to me about the ways
and wonders of Windsor. I'VE shall not
dine in the state dining ROOM" he said
but in the oak room, which is the
Queens private dining room, and there
she always receives her guests when the
party is under sixteen. That is the door,
the one near the picture of Lord Beacons-
field" He told me further that Princess
Beatrlce'S rooms were by far the most |
beautiful in the whole castle, and they
were full of the most exquisite works of
art. The Queens own rooms were mag
nifcently furnished but the style was |
stiff and antique-more grand than com
Portable. Her toilet service was one of |
the curioisties of the castle, for it had |
belonged originally to Queen Anne. An
other curiosity was a wonderful clock in |
the state apartments, which went for a |
year when wound up, and kept excellent |
time. A third was a marvellous mala- !!
chite vase; which had been given to the |
Queen by the horrid Emperor Nicholas |
of Russia, and was taller than a man. |
He was going on to tell me about some |
of the portraits, when the master of the |
household and several other officials came |
toward us and directed us to arrange |
ourselves in two rows along the corridor, |
the ladies on one side and the men on |
the other. My mamma. who was the |
most important lady present, stood furth- |
est away from the door of the oak room. |
and stood next to her; from which it |
was evident that / was the next most i'm /
1<.1sfl
the youngest, and two of the other ladies |
were wives of ministers.
we waited for few minutes in this
position and then somebody hustled in
and announced that the Queen was com
ing. My heart began to thump violently
and q curious thrill crept down my back |
and then there was her majesty in |
the black dress and white cap and small
coronet which are so familiar to us.
Then / realized that while | was staring
my mamma was cOurtsying; and so,
quite overcome by shame and, confusion. /
courtsled, too-as low as possible to
hide my bushes and not at all in my
best style, which my mamma used to
say was quite swan-like; but anyhow, I |
had just sufficient sense to take Mr..
POliticus' arm when he offered it to me.
but otherwise [ must have behaved as
II had got sOftening of the brain. How
ever, / discovered later that it did not
etiquette to speak loud or talk much,
and the proper thing really was to keep
ones attention fixed chiefly on the Queen
in the hope that she would condescend
To address one. I must admit that this
was the very last thing that I hoped for:
and as | thought it highly improbable
that she would speak to me when there
were mamma and the ministers wives to
talk to, [ allowed my eyes to wander
and to admire the beautiful gold plate
and flowers, the magnificence of the
whole display on the table, the fine
tapestry with which the walls were
adorned, and the portraits of the dear
darling Princess Of Wales, the sweet
little Duchess Of Albany, and the-well.
the Duchess Of Coburg. Nor was |
her majesty did not address
me at all, but confined her conversation
to my seniors-if that can be called a
which is chiefly carried on
by one person. In spite Of my intense
awe, | almost burst out laughing at the
sight of mamma sitting up SO mum and
saying SO little.
But after all there was a marvellous