Within royal palaces : a brilliant and charmingly written inner view of emperors, kings, queens, princes and princesses ... . succeeded to the throne they havebeen surrounded by difficultiesof every kind, both fmancialand political, and several timesthe kingdom has been on theverore of a revolution. If theKinor has manaofed until nowto steer clear of all fatal rocksit is due in a very great mea-sure, if not altogether, to thesound common sense andsterling. I may even say mascu-line, qualities of his somewhathomely but clever and saga-cious wife, who has recentlybeen awarded by the Pope therare
Within royal palaces : a brilliant and charmingly written inner view of emperors, kings, queens, princes and princesses ... . succeeded to the throne they havebeen surrounded by difficultiesof every kind, both fmancialand political, and several timesthe kingdom has been on theverore of a revolution. If theKinor has manaofed until nowto steer clear of all fatal rocksit is due in a very great mea-sure, if not altogether, to thesound common sense andsterling. I may even say mascu-line, qualities of his somewhathomely but clever and saga-cious wife, who has recentlybeen awarded by the Pope therare honor of the Golden Rose. The King and Queen are dowager queen of Portugal. accustomed to spend their summer, or at least a portionthereof, at Coimbra, and are generally present at the curiousand ancient ceremony which takes place there in the monthof August every year. The old Gothic church of SantaCruz, where Alfonso Henrique, the first King of Portugal,lies entombed to the left of the altar, is the scene of thisceremonial, which dates from the thirteenth century. Itconsists of the solemn removal of the body of Queen. 324 WITHIN ROYAL PALACES. Isabella (the Consort of King Denis, generally called theHoly Queen, who died in 1236) from the Convent of to the church in question; wherein it lies for a fewdays exposed to the worship of the faithful, and is thentaken back with equal pomp to its usual resting-place. Of course, a Vheure ou nous sommes, the Holy Queen is nothing but a dried-up and mummified skeleton; but sheis treasured piously in a silver tomb all the year round, andwhen the anniversary of her death comes about, she is cere-moniously carried to the Church of Santa Cruz, while thewhole population goes thither to pass before the image thatstands in that edifice—a queenly figure, in Royal red mantleand ermine, a crown on its head, and a long veil spotted withgold, and the miraculous roses of the legend escaping fromher robe, while a beggar at her feet entrea
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectcourtsandcourtiers
