The Washington herald., 1911-09-11
The Etiquette of State BanquetS.

The etiquette which prevails at British
state banquets is based upon a series
of rules and regulations which came
into force in Queen Tctoria's reign and
which wefe devised by her and her
prince consort. but they hold good to
this day. Ehe guests. as they arrive,
are received by, an official OF the lord
! chamberlaIn's office, whose rapid glance
convInces him at once that they are
properly attired. This is not quite as
superiuous as 1t may appear at first
blush, for cases have been known when
guests, unaccustomed to OFFICIAL court
dress. have erred through such ignorance
in some trifiing respect. 1t was either
that they did not wear their orders and
decorations correctly, or perhaps even
horrible dictu-appeared before their
sovereign with trousers upturned.
Ridiculous as 1t may seem, the British
| premier himself, LOrd Beaconsfield, once
had to be pulled over the Goals for a
slip in the matter of dress. His faux pas
escaped the eagle eye of the court OFF,
| cial who received hrm, but it did not
escape the critical eye of the then Prince
OF Wales, the late King Edward. who
had fine and well trained eye for mat
ters Of that sort, which earned for him
the title of the best dressed gentleman
in all Europe
II was this way. Coming from a pro-
tracted cabinet meeting. Disraeli. in the
haste of dressing. had put on the trous-
ers belonging to the uniform OF an elder
brother OF Trinity House, but a Wind
sor Castle coat. The difference between
81, 4, /, Oh,
have worn is not very marked and easily
might have passed muster. but Albert
Edward observed the slip and smilingIy
drew attention to II 20 the great morti
ficatiOn OF the "discIplned' cabinet Of
ficer.
The next step in the routine Of royal
functions is to arrange all the guests
according TO their prerogatives of pre-
cedenCe. no easy thing and needing a
mighty close acquaintance with the army
and navy lists, the peeraGe, the church,
and so forth. This done. the guests
are marshaled into the corridor leading
to the banqueting saloon, ladies Being
placed in the front rank There are
usually two files. one on each side Of the
corridor
The signal having been given that
the majesties are approaching. an official
passes along the ranks and rapidly de-
scribes the place each guest is TO take
at the table. If the banquet he a large
one a printed plan Of the tables, giving |
the exact position Of each guest, is pre- |
pared beforehand and distributed. A !
similar plan. on a larger scale. is hung !
in the anteroom. or placed on table. and |
acquainted with his position.
As the King and Queen pass between |
the ranks every cne bows. and the salu- !
tations are returned Should their ma |
jesties notice any intimate friends. they |
pause and shake hands and address brief |
remarks 10 them. IN connection with |
this rather an amusing incident hap
pened at state banquet in Queen Vic |
torias time. lady from the colonies, !
the wife Of a colonial official, who had |
the honor TO be personally addressed was !
so carried away by excitement that she |
seized the Queens hand and gave II a |
pump-handle shake. The Queen smiled, |
said nothing, and passed on; but before |
the lady left she was waited upon by a |
court official, who pointed out that she |
had broken a very stringent rule. that /
the Queen was much annoyed, and that |
on no account must 1t happen again.
Ihe KING and queen. haNlnS passed, |
followed by other members of the royal |
family, who happen to be present, and |
little crowd of officials. the guests |
then pair off and do likewise, being fol- !
lowed in turn by more officials, a number |
of footmen. and beefeaters. Once inside |
the banqueting salon. all wait until the |
King and Queen ard members Of the |
royal family are seated before taking |
their places. BY the side of each plate
is a neatly written card. giving the namo
of the guest whose place II is.
1t is not etiquette to speak TO the King
or Queen until first spoken TO by one or
the other. and conversation generally has
to be carried on in very low tones. In
deed, at most state banquets there Is
very little conversation at ALL save
among those seated close TO the King
and Queen. In this respect state ban