Letters of a Diplomat's Wife, 1883-1900Waddington, Mary King
History
Letters of a Diplomat's Wife, 1883-1900
Waddington, Mary King
Europe -- Social life and customs
think, as she must necessarily be so often thrown with people who never
venture to disagree with her. The Crown Prince of Sweden also came and
recalled himself to me, and the Duc d'Aoste. The Queen remained about an
hour; then the Royal party moved off in procession, and we got our
carriages as quickly as we could. I have written you a volume (but you
must say that doesn't happen often from my lazy pen, but I felt I must
write at once, or I should never have the courage). Please send the
letter to the family in America. I am dead tired, and my eyes shutting
by themselves.
#London#, June 22, 1887
We went this afternoon with the Florians, Comte de Florian, Secretary of
the Embassy, and Comtesse de Florian, Francis, Baroness Hilda Deichmann
and her children and some of the Embassy men, to the children's fete in
Hyde Park. It was very pretty, and very well arranged; 30,000 children
from all parts of London, and amusements, food, and jubilee mugs
provided for all. We got there a little after 3, and it was warm and
fatiguing standing and walking about. There were various refreshment
tents for the "quality committee," etc., and the children got iced cream
and cakes to their hearts' content, also each a jubilee mug with which
they were much pleased. The Prince and Princess of Wales, with some of
the foreign Princes, came about 4 (and horribly bored the foreigners
looked--naturally). We stood and walked about until 6, when the Queen
arrived. Her procession was rather pretty, just a troop of mounted
police, then the Life Guards, the Indian contingent, and the Queen in an
open carriage with 4 horses, the postilions in black, and two Highland
servants in costume behind. The Crown Princess of Germany, Princess
Christian, and Duke of Edinburgh in the carriage with her; and the Duke
of Cambridge (Ranger of the Park) riding at the portiere. Several Royal
carriages followed, all the women in smart clothes, and the men in
uniform, as the Queen was to make her formal Jubilee entree into Windsor
on leaving London after the fete. There was such a press and jostling
when the Queen came--even the women pushing and struggling to get to the
front, that I should have been nearly crushed with the two children (I
had Hilda and Francis with me) if Prince Hermann of Saxe-Weimar hadn't
recognised me and come to my rescue. He is very tall and broad, so he
made way for me, put the children in front, and then stood behind me so
that no one could get at me. I must say it was a fine struggle, the
ladies used their arms valiantly. A small slight woman would have had no
show at all. The Queen didn't get out of her carriage. The Prince stood
bareheaded at the carriage door all the time the Queen was there, and
various people were brought up and presented to her. I found plenty of
people to talk to, among others the German Crown Prince, who they say is
in a very bad way; he doesn't look changed, perhaps a little thinner,
but the voice has gone. He spoke in a whisper.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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