On October 10 the King of Denmark gave a masquerade ball to his English friends, who had entertained him so lavishly. The ball took place at the Opera House in the Haymarket, and two thousand five hundred guests responded to the "royal Dane's" invitation. Queen Charlotte did not appear, she did not approve of masquerades; her virtuous husband also did not approve of them, but could not resist the temptation of being present, though he compromised with his conscience by peeping at the gay scene from a private box, behind transparent shutters. The Princess Amelia, who was old and infirm, witnessed the revels from another box, where she sat the whole evening masked. The scene was one of great brilliancy, and the value of the jewels worn on this occasion was estimated at upwards of £2,000,000. The company must have been rather mixed, and a good many people lost articles of jewellery, which they never recovered. The following account of the ball is taken from the _Gentleman's Magazine_:-- [Illustration: THE MASKED BALL GIVEN BY CHRISTIAN VII. AT THE OPERA HOUSE, HAYMARKET. _From the "Gentleman's Magazine," 1768._] "His Danish Majesty came in, masked, between ten and eleven o'clock, dressed in a domino of gold and silver stuff, a black hat and white feather, walked about with great good nature and pleasantry until twelve, then withdrew with a select company to supper and appeared no more.... The Duke of Cumberland was in a crimson domino, trimmed with gold, black hat and white feather. The Duke of Gloucester in a purple domino, white hat and white feather. Her Grace the Duchess of Northumberland appeared in the character of Rembrandt's wife, in a close black gown trimmed with gold, a rounded coif, a short apron tucked up, and a painter's brush in her hand. Lady Bel Stanhope and her sister represented pilgrims in brown gowns with blue sashes trimmed with silver, and small hats laced round with diamonds. The Countess of Harrington and the two young ladies, her daughters, were extremely simple in their appearance, but at the same time extremely elegant.... His Grace the Duke of Northumberland was in a Persian habit, with a fine turban richly ornamented with diamonds. Lord Grosvenor was in a splendid suit of the Turkish fashion. The Duchess of Ancaster, in the character of a Sultana, was universally admired; her robe was purple satin bordered with ermine, and fluttered on the ground so much in the style of Eastern magnificence that we were transported in fancy to the palaces of Constantinople.... Many of the most superb, as well as the best fancied dresses in the whole assembly were those of eminent citizens, or those who had acquired their fortunes by trade." Another account says: "The principal grotesque characters were the conjurer, the black, and the old woman. There was also a Methodist preacher, a chimney sweeper, with his bag, shovel and scraper, and a boar with a bull's head, all of which were supported with great good humour."[107]