=When a Lady wishes to attend a Court=, after having been duly presented, it is necessary to inform the Lord Chamberlain of her wish to attend. Summonses are issued about three weeks before the date of each Court.
Having received a summons to attend a Court she should take the summons card with her, which she should show to the page-in-waiting in the corridor, and eventually hand it to the official stationed at the door of the Presence Chamber, by whom it is pa.s.sed on to the Lord Chamberlain, who announces the name to Their Majesties.
A lady attending a Court curtsys to the King; she also curtsys to the Queen, but does not curtsy to any other member of the Royal Family present.
=In the General Circle there is no Precedency= as to the order in which ladies attending a Court enter the Presence Chamber. The earliest arrivals are the first to appear before Their Majesties, without reference to rank or position; and the same rule applies to ladies who are presented, or to ladies who make presentations.
=A Married Lady presented at a Court= can, at the same Court, present her daughter or daughter-in-law; but in this case the one presented by her should enter the Presence Chamber after her, and not before her.
Although, according to present regulations, the unmarried daughters of members of the n.o.bility and gentry who have already been presented are only expected to attend a Court once in every three years, it will not prevent their being invited to Court functions, to the State b.a.l.l.s, concerts, and garden parties.
=Ladies who have been presented at a Court= have the privilege of writing their names in Their Majesties" visiting book at Buckingham Palace once during the season. The hours of calling for this purpose are generally from three to five o"clock in the afternoon.
=It is Imperative for Ladies to wear Full Court Dress= when attending or being presented at a Court, viz. low bodice, short sleeves, and train to dress not less than three yards in length from the shoulders.
Whether the train is cut round or square is a matter of inclination or fashion. The width at the end should be 54 inches.
It is also imperative that a presentation-dress should be white, if the person presented be an unmarried lady; and it is also the fashion for married ladies to wear white on their presentation, unless their age renders their doing so unsuitable.
The white dresses worn by either _debutantes_ or married ladies may be trimmed with either coloured or white flowers, according to individual taste.
=High Court Dress.=--The Queen has been pleased to permit that a high Court dress of silk, satin, or velvet, may be worn at Their Majesties"
Courts, and on other State occasions, by ladies, to whom, from illness, infirmity, or advancing age, the present low Court dress is inappropriate, viz.: Bodices in front, cut square, or heart-shaped, which may be filled in with white only, either transparent or lined; at the back, high, or cut down three-quarters height. Sleeves to elbow, either thick or transparent.
Trains, gloves, and feathers as usual.
It is necessary for ladies who wish to appear in "High Court Dress" to obtain Royal permission, through the Lord Chamberlain.
This regulation does not apply to ladies who have already received permission to wear high dress.
=White gloves only should be worn=, excepting in case of mourning, when black or grey gloves are admissible.
As a lady on presentation does not now kiss the Queen"s hand as formerly she did, she is not required to remove the right-hand glove before entering the Presence Chamber. This order, therefore, is no longer in force, and a lady wearing elbow gloves and bracelets will find it a great convenience not to be obliged to take off her glove.
=It is compulsory for both Married and Unmarried Ladies to Wear Plumes.=--The married lady"s Court plume consists of three white feathers.
An unmarried lady"s of two white feathers.
=The three white feathers= should be mounted as a Prince of Wales"
plume, and worn towards the left-hand side of the head.
=Coloured feathers= may not be worn.
=In deep mourning= white feathers must be worn, black feathers are inadmissible.
=White veils or lace lappets= must be worn with the feathers. The veils should not be longer than 45 inches.
=Bouquets are not included= in the dress regulations issued by the Lord Chamberlain, although they are invariably carried by both married and unmarried ladies. It is thus optional to carry a bouquet or not, and some elderly ladies carry much smaller bouquets than do younger ladies.
A fan and a lace pocket-handkerchief are also carried by a lady on presentation or on attending a Court, but these two items are also altogether optional.
CHAPTER XI
PRESENTATIONS AT LEVeES AND ATTENDING LEVeES
=Levees are held by the King= in person. Those who have been presented at levees held by His late Majesty, King Edward, do not require to be again presented to His Majesty King George.
=Four or more Levees are usually held every year= by the King at St.
James"s Palace.
Gentlemen are officially presented by the heads of any department or profession to which they individually belong, whether civil or military, naval or clerical; it is more usual for a gentleman to be presented by the head of his department, or by the colonel of his regiment, than by his nearest relative.
=Presentations are also made by Relatives= and friends of those presented; but these are greatly in the minority at all levees.
=Gentlemen must be again presented= at every step in their career, whether civil, military, naval, or clerical--on civil appointments, on gaining steps of naval, military, legal, or clerical rank, and on accession to t.i.tle, whether inherited or conferred.
=Those ent.i.tled to be presented at His Majesty"s Levees are= the members of the aristocracy and gentry, the members of the diplomatic corps, the Cabinet, and all leading Government officials, Members of Parliament, leading members of the legal profession, the naval and military professions, the leading members of the clerical profession, the leading members of the medical and artistic professions, the leading bankers, merchants, and members of the Stock Exchange, and persons engaged in commerce on a large scale. An exception to the rule as regards retail trade is made in favour of any person receiving Knighthood, or when holding the office of Mayor, or being made a Justice of the Peace, or on receiving a Commission in the Territorial forces.
The dates on which levees are to be held are duly announced in the _Gazette_, and in the daily newspapers.
At all future levees cards of admission will be required, as the numbers at each of these ceremonies must be limited.
The Lord Chamberlain has issued the following revised list of rules, which are to be observed at attendances and presentations in future--
All officers, whether on the active or retired lists, of the Royal Navy and the Royal Marines, of whatever rank, should communicate with and obtain their cards from the private secretary to the First Lord of the Admiralty. All civil officers of the Admiralty should follow the same rule.
All officers, whether on the active or retired lists, of the Army, Regulars or Territorials, of whatever rank, except those on the Indian and Colonial Establishments, should communicate with and obtain their cards from the Adjutant-General at the War Office, stating clearly at which levee they desire to be present, and whether they wish to attend or to be presented; if the latter, stating by whom and on what occasion.
Deputy lieutenants of counties should also communicate and obtain their cards from the War Office.