The Sunny Side of Diplomatic Life, 1875-1912Hegermann-Lindencrone, L. de (Lillie de)
History
The Sunny Side of Diplomatic Life, 1875-1912
Hegermann-Lindencrone, L. de (Lillie de)
Courts and courtiers; Europe -- Social life and customs
We had the great pleasure of welcoming Prince Hans (King Christian's
brother). Johan was with him in Greece many years ago and has never
ceased to love him. He is the most polite gentleman I ever saw; he
almost begs your pardon for being kind to you. He dined with us
yesterday. We invited to meet him Prince Albert Schleswig-Holstein
(his nephew) and Prince and Princess Wied[3]. This young couple are
delightfully charming. The Prince has the most catching smile. It is
impossible not to be in good spirits when you are with him. We sat out
on the balcony after dinner and took our coffee and looked out into
the brilliantly lighted square of Brandenburger Tor with its network
of trams. I think our apartment is the most beautifully situated in
all Berlin.
[3] Now King and Queen of Albania.
_March, 1908._
Dear L.,--The King of Spain is in Berlin now on a visit of a few days
to the Emperor. We only saw him at the gala performance at the Opera.
The Kaiser had chosen "The Huguenots." It was beautifully put on.
Madame Hempel sang the part of Marguerite de Valois, and Madame
Destinn sang Valentine. The house was decorated in the usual manner,
with carpets hanging from the balconies and flowers in great profusion
everywhere. The King of Spain sat between the Kaiser and the Kaiserin.
He looks very young and very manly. After the first act, when we all
met in the foyer, the Emperor stood by him, and sometimes would take
him by the arm and walk about in order to present people to him. I was
presented to him, but I did not get more than a smile and a shake of
the hand--I could not expect more. Johan was more favored, for the
King asked him how long he had been in Berlin. You must confess that
even that was not much.
I was compensated by having quite a long talk with the Kaiser--long
for him, as he has so many people to talk to, and he feels, I am sure,
every eye of the hoping-to-speak-to-him person in the room. He said:
"I have just been reading the memoirs of General von Moltke. Did you
ever know him?"
"No," I said, "I never saw him, but I have a letter from him, written
in 1856 to my father-in-law, dated from the Tuileries."
"He often speaks in his letters of your husband's grandparents' home
in Copenhagen--how he always felt at home and happy there, and was
always sure to find a charming circle of interesting and literary
people. You must read it; it would interest your husband, too."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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