History of King Charles the Second of England — John Shaqi
History of King Charles the Second of EnglandAbbott, Jacob
History
History of King Charles the Second of England
Abbott, Jacob
Charles II, King of England, 1630-1685
In the above table, the first column contains the name of Henry IV.,
the second those of three of his children, with the persons whom they
respectively married, and the third the four grandchildren, who, as
cousins, now found themselves domesticated together in the royal palaces
of France.
The young king was, as has already been said, about eight years old
at the time of Prince Charles's arrival. The palace in which he resided
when in the city was the Palace Royal, which was then, and has been
ever since, one of the most celebrated buildings in the world. It was
built at an enormous expense, during a previous reign, by a powerful
minister of state, who was, in ecclesiastical rank, a cardinal, and
his mansion was named, accordingly, the Palace Cardinal. It had,
however, been recently taken as a royal residence, and its name changed
to Palace Royal. Here the queen regent had her grand apartments of
state, every thing being as rich as the most lavish expenditure could
make it. She had one apartment, called an oratory, a sort of closet
for prayer, which was lighted by a large window, the sash of which was
made of silver. The interior of the room was ornamented with the most
costly paintings and furniture, and was enriched with a profusion of
silver and gold. The little king had his range of apartments too, with
a whole household of officers and attendants as little as himself.
These children were occupied continually with ceremonies, and pageants,
and mock military parades, in which they figured in miniature arms and
badges of authority, and with dresses made to imitate those of real
monarchs and ministers of state. Every thing was regulated with the
utmost regard to etiquette and punctilio, and without any limits or
bounds to the expense. Thus, though the youthful officers of the little
monarch's household exercised no real power, they displayed all the
forms and appearances of royalty with more than usual pomp and splendor.
It was a species of child's play, it is true, but it was probably the
most grand and magnificent child's play that the world has ever
witnessed. It was into this extraordinary scene that Prince Charles
found himself ushered on his arrival in France.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account