Tea at Trianon: Clarence House

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

Saturday, October 29, 2022

Clarence House

Until recently, Clarence House has been the London residence of King Charles and Queen Camilla. Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip lived there in the early years of their marriage. From Now to Love:

Clarence House is situated on The Mall in London next to St James's Palace. It was built between 1825 and 1827 for The Duke of Clarence (later King William IV) and his wife Adelaide. It sustained damage during WWII bombing raids and underwent extensive repairs before Princess Elizabeth and The Duke of Edinburgh moved in. One other notable resident was Princess Diana, who moved in to Clarence House before her engagement to Prince Charles was announced. She lived there until they married in 1981. The home is opened up to the public in August each year, where visitors can be given a guided tour of the five rooms and adjoining spaces on the ground floor. (Read more.)

NOTE: George VI was the father of the late Queen not Edward VIII as the article says. Edward VIII was her uncle. And the bust is of her father, not her uncle.