The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-06-13
AT EDWARDS COURT.
CEREMONY OF THE PRESEN-
 TATION
To tho King and Queen is Much
 Shorter Than fin Queen Victoria's

Shorter Than fin Queen Victoria's Time.
 Experiences as to the kings courts
 appear to be varied, but mine were
 couleur de rose.
 1 In America l had read for so many
 years about drawing room and drawing
 room dresses, but, after all, descriptions
 always fall very short of reality, and what I had hitherto seen through a
 glass darkly" struck me with an abso-
 lutely fresh sense of magniticence and
 beauty when I saw it with mine own
 eyes for the first time.
 The beautiful palace in gala array, with banks of lovely flowers in the ball,
 and the gorgeous funkeys in their royal dress, were in themselves imposing, and f then, too, the brilliancy and beauty of i the royal circle, with it's entourage of diplomats and an endless stream of 1 lovely women, glittering with jewels,
 and distinguished men wearing court
 dress or uniform, with orders, all tend- ! ed toward a never-to- o-be-forgotten and
 impressive sight.
 lllt pIeSGll CUuI'l alIdISSllltulS el C apparently quite altered from those which which were in vogue during the last reign, and as even in the twentieth century there always seems a rooted ob- jection to change, many people were complaining of the new arrangements, and people spoke especially of the un- comfortable chairs, but one hardly ex- pected on such occasion to find deep and cosy lounges.
 As it was, there were hundreds of gilt red-seated rout chairs in every room through which we passed, and personally went through the whole ceremony in the greatest comfort, with one exception-in the cloak room, where
 the arrangements were certainly not good; many people were kept an uncon- sciousable time waiting for their right wraps.
 In old days, I understand people waited for hours out in the long gal lery heading the grand staircase, then In the state ball room. and again in the three great reception rooms, to say nothing of the long picture gallery and then the fearsone ante-room where the ladies' trains were finally let down; but at this last, and my first, court, we, being early arrivals mounted the grand staircase, walked straight down the long gallery and were ushered into the supper room, where there were chairs arranged in rows, providing sit ting room for all.
 So far there was certainly no cause for complaint. We were detained here for twenty minutes; in five minutes
 more we had passed through the great ballroom; another five and our trains were let down in the small gallery ad- joining, and we were passing their ma jesties.
 The process in the ballroom. or rather throne room, was a little more trying, so people said, than in the late queens reign. To begin with, we had to make our curtsies on slippery and highly polished floor, and the fact of not being shaken hands with as of yore made some a little nervous; the firm. findly clasp of her majesty's hand, which fin old days was invariably extended to those passing with whom she happened to have personal acquaintance, must have been always reassuring.
 However, after all perhaps no one re- quired encouragement this time, IS in stead of perhaps tean courtsies we only had to walk straight on, then face his majesty, curtsey, make two steps on, and repeat the same low bow to Queen Alexandra, and they both bowed and smiled most graciously in return while we walked straight on again, taking no heed of trains, till in another moment in the next ante-room, a civil official whisked our trains over our arms
 It had been a matter from start to finish of under an hour.
 After passing, everything was inter- esting and amusing, no crowd even in the supper room down stairs, so I stay ed on wise, if it had not been for diff faculties in the cloak rom I might have been at home again in two and half hours after leaving. As 1t was. I heard people saying rather nasty" things in the hall as at last we left, our carriage having been round, and our names called to enter it no fewer than three times which speaks pretty well for the carriage arrangements.
 The men came with their women folk, at least those specially invited did, but,
 
 majesties we lost sight of them after the sitting down in the first room (the old supper room), but they reioined us directly we had passed by a passage leading from the long gallery to the first saloon, which we entered when our presentations were over.
 Altogether, we thought the arrange ments admirable. Later on, in the pie ture gallery, we found a lot of friends penned together (the only room which I saw corded off), but those, I fancy, were very late corners. However, their troubles too were soon over, as I saw some of them twenty minutes later af- ter having passed the king and queen, and within two hours of our arrival within the palace gates their majesties and their suite passed us in one of the drawing rooms on their way to supper,
 This same passing" was lovely sight, and we thanked our stars that we had not hurried off, IS so many of our friends did, as anything more regal or stately I have never seen, not even at St. Petersburg or at the court of Vien- ma. with our lovely dress sparkling with gold and jewels gleaming on her dress and in her hair. and with the