. Court life from within . defend themselvesjealously in their degrees of royal blood and prece-dence, and see themselves as conspicuously exaltedas if they had high scats in some hierarchy of heavenjust below the Eternal Throne. After a little experience, one can recognise theselesser royalties at a glance and pick them out ina crowded drawing-room. They all have thesame high-shouldered carriage, stiff-backed, with astretched neck to carry a raised chin. Their lipssmile very easily, but their eyes almost never. Theyare accustomed to being stared at; indeed, theywould be disappointed if they d
. Court life from within . defend themselvesjealously in their degrees of royal blood and prece-dence, and see themselves as conspicuously exaltedas if they had high scats in some hierarchy of heavenjust below the Eternal Throne. After a little experience, one can recognise theselesser royalties at a glance and pick them out ina crowded drawing-room. They all have thesame high-shouldered carriage, stiff-backed, with astretched neck to carry a raised chin. Their lipssmile very easily, but their eyes almost never. Theyare accustomed to being stared at; indeed, theywould be disappointed if they did not attract stares;and they seem to present their faces even to a pri-vate company, not nervously, nor quite self-con-sciously, but with an expression of friendly and im-penetrable self-complacency that becomes recognis-able as the royal mask. They are usually, becauseof their training, rather stupid, but their dignitymakes them look v/ise. They are always concernedwith their own popularity, are gracious by policy, 186. King Albert of Belgiuim THE REGAL POSE and try to leave each individual with the impressionthat he has been personally distinguished by theirnotice. They are not only playing a part, but theybelieve that they are really the part they play; sothat any true conversation with them is largely im-possible. Their minds, like their faces, are alwaysmaking a public appearance and considering they are alone with their own kind, theyare free to talk of the matters that really interestthem, and it is a conversation as typical as the littlegossip of a group of nuns. They have no opinionsto express on the problems of government; it is aduty that they owe the crown to express none, andconsequently they rarely acquire any. They knowlittle of the world around them, and say less. Toarrive at any speaking acquaintance with matters ofliterature and music and art, one must make a men-tal effort in study, to which the Court life of busyempty-mindedness is not conduciv
Size: 1307px × 1912px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectcourtsandcourtiers
