POINTS OF ETIQUETTE AS REGARDS ROYAL PERSONAGES
General society is now very frequently brought into contact with
royalty--members of the Royal Family of England and members of various
royal families of Europe.
With His Majesty this association is of frequent occurrence as regards
the general public, and persons possessing special interest are
constantly brought into communication with him.
Strict Court etiquette is greatly in abeyance, and laid aside by His
Majesty when paying visits to personal friends, or when receiving visits
from the same.
The geniality of the English princes and princesses is everywhere
acknowledged, and the restrictions of Court etiquette are frequently
relaxed by their desire when visiting at the houses of the nobility and
gentry.
The etiquette that reigns in foreign Courts--Austria, Russia, Greece,
etc.--is seldom waived, and is adhered to with much punctilio. So much
so is this the case with certain foreign princes who visit our shores,
that the observances they claim as due to their exalted position are
often felt to be a restraint upon the hosts whom they honour with their
company, in town or country, at dinner, ball, or country-house party.
On the other hand, many royal personages who occasionally visit England
are unbending and unceremonious towards society in general.
When royal personages visit London for a few weeks, whether located at
palace, embassy, or hotel, it is etiquette for any person who is
personally acquainted with or connected in any way with their Court or
cabinet, or who has been presented at their Court, to leave cards on
them and write their names in their visiting books. Persons still higher
in the social scale, give receptions in their honour, and invite them to
stay at their princely mansions.
When such visits are paid, the principal neighbours are usually invited
to meet the royal guests at dinner, ball, or reception, and on the
invitation card is written, "To meet H.R.H. the Crown Prince of ----,"
or "Her Serene Highness the Grand Duchess of ----," etc.; but a hostess
exercises her own discretion respecting the invitations she issues.
If a ball is in contemplation the county at large is invited to the
mansion, but if dinner invitations only are issued, then the circle is
necessarily restricted to a favoured few.
The neighbours who are not invited to a house where a royal guest is
staying should avoid calling on the hostess until the departure of the
royal visitors, even if calls are due.
The principal people of a county who happen to be present at an
entertainment, either dinner or dance, are usually presented to the
royal guests by the host or hostess, permission to do so having been
first solicited.
When the person to be presented is a person of rank or distinction, it
would only be necessary to say, "May I present Lord A., or General B.,
to you, Sir?" but if the person to be presented has no particular claim
to the honour beyond being popular in the county, the request should be
prefaced with a few words of explanation respecting the person to be
presented.
When the name or fame of those presented has reached the ears of the
royal guests, they usually shake hands on the presentation being made,
and enter into conversation with them; otherwise they merely bow, and
make one or two passing remarks.
A house-party is generally composed of those with whom a royal guest is
more or less acquainted. When the party includes any one who is a
stranger to the royal guests, he or she should be presented on the first
opportunity.
The members of the Royal Family have each, more or less, their
particular set, as have also the foreign princes who periodically visit
this country, and therefore house-parties are usually made up of those
moving in the set of the expected prince.
For the proper mode of addressing royal personages, see Chapter VI.
=As regards royal invitations=, all invitations from the Sovereign are
commands, and must be answered and obeyed as such, and the word
"command" must be made use of in answering such invitations. If any
reason exists for not obeying His Majesty's commands it should be
stated.
Invitations from members of the Royal Family are treated by courtesy as
commands, but in replying to such invitations the word "command" should
not be used. The answers to such invitations should be addressed to the
Comptroller of the Household, by whom they are usually issued.
Answers to royal invitations should be written in the third person, and
reasons given for non-acceptance.
A previous engagement cannot be pleaded as an excuse for refusing a
royal invitation; only personal indisposition or serious illness, or
death of near relatives, would be adequate reasons for not accepting a
royal invitation.
When a royal invitation is verbally given, the answer should be verbal
also.
At all entertainments at which royal guests are present they should be
received by the host and hostess in the entrance-hall. In the case of
serene highnesses they should be received by the host and conducted by
him to the hostess; this rule equally applies to the reception of
eastern princes.
=Henceforward there are to be= in Great Britain no Princes or Princesses
other than those of the Blood Royal. Only the children and grandchildren
of the Sovereign will hold princely rank; the titles of "Highness" and
"Serene Highness" will disappear; and that of "Royal Highness" will be
reserved to the direct descendants of the King in the male line.
=The King has deemed it desirable=, in the conditions brought about by
the present war, that those princes of his family who are his subjects
and bear German names and titles should relinquish these titles and
henceforth adopt British surnames.
=His Majesty has conferred Peerages= of the United Kingdom on the
following:--The Duke of Teck to be a Marquis; Prince Alexander of Teck
to be the Earl of Athlone; Prince Louis of Battenberg to be the Marquis
of Milford Haven; and Prince Alexander of Battenberg to be the Marquis
of Carisbrooke.
=Indian Princes.=--The exact status of Indian princes has never been
actually laid down, but all who are "Highnesses" are given precedence at
the English Court and in society after the Royal Family and foreign
princes. In the procession at Court entertainments they go in front of
ambassadors.
No Indian prince is considered to be of blood royal, and they do not
stand in the line at levees and Courts, but all have the private
_Entree_.