Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-11-23
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The state dining room Is claimed to be
the finest in Europe, and Is entirely modern,
having been constructed out of three draw
ing rooms by order of Alfonso XII after the
body of his bride, Mercedes. lay In state
in the old dining room. 1t is superb
room. ninety feet long by forty feet wide,
and divided by two arches. The walls are
paneled by pillars Of precious marbles or
different cOlors highly Ornamented with
bronze. and the panels are filled with rare
tapestries. The doors are of mahogany.
embossed with exquisite bronze work; the
ceiling Is frescoed with scenes in the life
of Columbus. the central piece representing
his arrival in Barcelona with the treasures
brought from America, which he offers to
Ferdinand and Isabella. The sovereigns
are seated on the throne In gorgeous array
as he approaches them. followed by his
sailors and captives bearing strange birds
and beasts and other curiosities from the
new world.
The chandeliers are masses of crystal
prisms and the Madrid people consider them
the finest that were ever made. although
they are only twenty-five years old and
came from Paris factory. They are now
fitted up for electric lights, and when a
royal banquet is served the room blaZes
with $500 burners.
The dining table will seat 100 people, and
that number of places are always prepared
at official dinners The service is unSur-
passed, being of solid silver. gided and the
fnest Sevres, which collected by
Charles III, Charles " and Ferdinand VII.
All three of them were connoisseurS both
in ceramics and furniture.
Three official banquets are given in this
room every year-on January q. to the
diplomatic corps; on January % to cele-
brate the name day of the king. the ami
versary of st. Alfonso. and May II,
which Is the anniversary of his birth. The
guests are confined to the members of the
cabinet and the royal household. the
grandees of Spain, the generals of the
army. the admirals of the navy and their
wives. Some of their daughters and the
ladies in waiting to the queen are asked to
make up an even number.
Ceremony of Reception.
When the guests arrive under the arch
way at the foot of the grand staircase they
pass between a line of guards each resting
upon an ancient spear, and when ambassa-
doris. ministers and other guests of great
distinction pass they strike the handles of
these spears upon the steps as a salute. An
ambassador, being the representative of his
sovereign, gets three blows the prime min
lister the same number; ordinary ministers
one and two.
The coachmen and footmen from, the
royal stables are brought in to serve as
buffers and ushers and by long training do
perfect work. The cloak room and the
dining room swarm with Servants-one for
every two guests. In the cloak room when
he lays aside his wraps, each lady and gen.
tleman is handed a diagram of the table
showing where they are to sit, and they
assemble In what is known as the Camara
de Girardni. the porcelain room from
winch they are conducted into the salon de
ambassadors, where the king receives them
1ney are not paired off. each gentleman
with lady. as is customary elsewhere but
gentleman may offer his arm to any lady
he likes and conduct her to the dining
room
1t Is quite distance. and two professions
are formed. The queen leads off alone. I'M
who a civ
preference over every other guest, is polite
enough to offer her his arm No one else
mas the right to do so. The ambassador of
hrSt rank follows and sits at the left of the
queen. His wife is usually escorted to the
table by the king, and is seated upon his
right hand. while the master of ceremonies
escorts the wife of the ambassador Of sec
ond rank and seats her at the left The
rest of the party follow, pell-mell Those
VINO sit on the queens side of the table go
by one corridor, and those on the kings
SIDE s follow him through another series of
rooms IN order to avoid confusion. Each
guest Is able to tell by looking at the seat
card on which side of the table he belongs
Always the Same Dinner.
The same dinner is always given. There
is never any variation 1t is served in
twelve courses with eight kinds of wine in
hfty-hve minutes, which you must realize
requires considerable haste and the regu-
larlty OF clockwOrk. There Is waiter to
every two guests, and they are constantly
moving. In addition to the regular walters
there are twelve buffers who do nothing
out serve wine, and every glass is filled
once. To refill a glass would delay the
dinner and break the combination and al
the proper time the plates are removed no
matter whether guest has finished eating
or not. Veteran members of the diplomatic
corps who have eaten dozens of dinners at
the palace declare that they have never
seen such perfect service or So much for
mality.
At the end of the dinner the queen gives
a signal, the king rises from his chair
offers his arm to the wife of the senior
ambassador and leads the way back. to the
reception chamber while the papal nuncio
escorts the queen by another route The
ladies' are left In the drawing room chat
ting, while the gentlemen retire to the
smoking room for about half an hour
When the time Is up the master of cere-
monies gives a signal to the king who
rises and leads the way back to the ladies'
There he makes himself agreeable to those
whom he Is pleased to honor or particu-
larly admire, and half an hour later at q
certain signal bows good night and retires
The host. being a king, closes the enter
tainment No one can leave the room until
ne retires, and afterward the guests can
stay as long they like but they usually
take their departure lesurely.
Everybody who has the pleasure of at
tending these functions speaks of the grace
and affabflity of the queen. She never
fails to address directly every lady in the
party. These are the only entertainments
that have been given in the Spanish palace
since the death of Alfonso MI, with the
exception of balls, when two infantas
came out" when Mercedes was married
and at the recent coronation.
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