Life of Her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen — Volume 1Tytler, Sarah
History
Life of Her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen — Volume 1
Tytler, Sarah
Victoria, Queen of Great Britain, 1819-1901
the inside cleaning of the windows belonged to the Lord Chamberlain's
department, the degree of light to be admitted into the palace depended
proportionably on the well-timed and good understanding between the Lord
Chamberlain's Office and that of Woods and Forests. One portion of the
_personnel_ of the establishment again was under the authority of the
Lord Chamberlain, another under that of the Master of the Horse, and a
third under the jurisdiction of the Lord Steward." "The Lord Steward,"
writes Baron Stockmar, "finds the fuel and lays the fire, and the Lord
Chamberlain lights it.... In the same manner the Lord Chamberlain provides
all the lamps, and the Lord Steward must clean, trim, and light them.
Before a pane of glass or a cupboard door could be mended, the sanction of
so many officials had to be obtained, that often months elapsed before the
repairs were made."
One is irresistibly reminded of the dilemma of the unfortunate King of
Spain, who died from a feverish attack brought on by a prolonged exposure
to a great fire, because it was not etiquette for the monarch to rise, and
the grandee whose prerogative it was to move the royal chair happened to
be out of the way.
"As neither the Lord Chamberlain nor the Master of the Horse has a regular
deputy residing in the palace, more than two-thirds of all the male and
female servants are left without a master in the house. They can come on
and go off duty as they choose, they can remain absent hours and hours on
their days of waiting, or they may commit any excess or irregularity;
there is nobody to observe, to correct, or to reprimand them. The various
details of internal arrangement whereon depend the well-being and comfort
of the whole establishment, no one is cognisant of, or responsible for.
There is no officer responsible for the cleanliness, order, and security
of the rooms and offices throughout the palace."
Doubtless, it was under this remarkable condition of the royal household
that a considerable robbery of silver plate from an _attic_ in which
it was stored took place at Windsor Castle in 1841. Massive silver
encasings of tables, borders of mirrors, fire-dogs and candelabra,
together with the silver ornaments of Tippoo Saib's tent, disappeared in
this way.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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