Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1902-03-12
KING EDWARDS DINNERS.
SplcndGr of the Appointments and
Order OF Arranging Guests ON
Formal Occ4s1onx,

;plendor of the Appointments and
Order of Arranging Guests on
Formal Occasionx.
When King Edward and Queen
Alexandra give state dinner the fol-
lowing is the form of invitations:
''The lord steward is commanded by
the king and queen to invite Mrs.
Vanderbilt to dinner Thursday, the
18th, at o'clock. Full dress"
The guests assemble in the drawing
room and there arrange themselves
in a crescent to await their majesties'
entrance, which is made without an
nouncement. With the ladies only is
there handshaking ceremony. Guests
invited to private dinner find their
royal hosts in the drawing room to
receive them. The guest of honor
sits on the kings right hand and the
royal family on the left.
The precedence at state dinners is
as follows: Foreign ambassadors
take precedence of English mobiles;
archbishops rank with dukes; bishops
with earls; foreign counts and barons
take no precedence, but rank with
English baronets or great landed
| proprietors; and in entitled prece-
dence an earrs grandson, or near
relatives of the aristocracy, precede
! the esquires or country gentlemcn;
next come wives of country gentle
men of no profession; then barristers
and their wives, naval officers and
their wives, military men and their
wives. Physicians are ranked in the
| royal household 2s next to baronets.
At private dinners usually some men,
bers of the royal household are pres
ent. The royal household numbers
about 200.
! Apropos to King Edwards new
rules on precedence at his coronation,
presidents will rank with kings and
emperors. His argument is that he
desires to honor the state and not
the man. No distinctions will be
made, except perhaps in the case of
near relations of the royal family.
There is no race prejudice in England,
and had not King Edward issued de-
cree to the effect that widows of
peers who had married commoners
had forfeited thereby their preroga-
tivcs as peeresses of the realm, there
would have appeared among the lat
ter at Westminster Abbey on corona
ton day a negress of the Hottentot
type.
| On state occasions there is splen-
did display of silver and gold, crystal
and fine porcelain being more in evil
dence at private dinners. The dishes
which the funkies carry about must
be deftly balanced on three fingers.
One dinner set of pure gold will dine
100 guests; in another set there are
400 silver plates. The sideboard is
| decorated with lot of golden
trophies, some captured from the
Spanish armada; on the walls of the
banqueting room of Buckingham pal
ace are displayed many gold shields,
mounted on scarlet; a peacock of
precious stones, valued at 100000; a
tigers head with a solid gold tongue,
and diamonds for teeth. The value
of the royal plate, including services
for every function, is over $S,O0O,OOO.
To pay his yearly household expenses
about 100000 is necessary, says q
London exchange:
To return to the state dinner, there
are three servants to six guests-one
to pass the food, one to take away
the empty dishes and one to go for
the food. Each royalty has his or
her servant. The king is always
waited on by the same footman, and
he is always served first; the queen
has her special servitor.
The menus are printed on beautiful
cards, surmounted by the royal arms,
and with a picture of Windsor castle,
Buckingham palace, or whichever
royal residence may be the scene of
the function. The menu is headed:
''Their Majesties' Dinner;" this is
followed by the date, and after that
the French name of the various dishes
I-potage, joisson, hors d'oeuvre, re-
leve, entrees, sorbet! roti, salade,
frontage, dessert, fruits, varies, cafe
noir. The usual order is two kinds
of soup, two kinds of fish, in fact,
two kinds of each course, with three
different desserts and side table of
various cold meats. King Edward
drinks but little wine; nor are long
menus popular, an hour at most be-
ing the limit of the dinner hour.