Tea at Trianon: Princess Charlene at the Vatican

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Sunday, July 31, 2022

Princess Charlene at the Vatican

2013

2022

There was some discussion online of privilège du blanc and Charlene, Princess of Monaco. As the Catholic wife of a Catholic head of state she may wear white in the presence of the Pope. Others with the privilege are Catholic queens, princesses of the House of Savoy, and the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg. From The Court Jeweller:

Charlene’s wedding and engagement rings sparkled on her left hand as she and Albert departed after the audience. The other big question I’ve seen raised about this meeting has to do with the color that Charlene is wearing. As the wife of a Catholic head of state, Charlene is entitled to wear white when meeting with the Pope. (It’s called the privilège du blanc.) So why wasn’t she wearing white for this audience?

The answer is that sometimes Charlene wears white when meeting with the Pope, and sometimes she doesn’t. There doesn’t seem to be an identifiable pattern to the instances where she wears white vs. black. I’m guessing it’s just a personal decision on each individual occasion. Above, for example, Charlene wears white for a private audience with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican in January 2013. (Read more.)