Tea at Trianon: Princess Margaret's Lady-in-Waiting

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

Monday, January 27, 2025

Princess Margaret's Lady-in-Waiting

From Newsweek:

A lady-in-waiting acts as a go-between. People came up to me and asked, "What color is she wearing tomorrow?" because they wanted flowers to compliment her outfit. I told people what she liked to drink, I found out where the lavatory was at different events—all those sorts of things in order to make her day run as smoothly as possible.
At a cocktail party or dinner, I'd find people that Princess Margaret wanted to meet and bring them over and introduce them. I had to gauge when the timing was right; if she was having a fascinating talk with somebody, I didn't want to butt in with a new person. I had to assess whether she was enjoying the conversation. A lot of that was down to eye contact.
At dinner parties, I always sat at a table where we could have eye contact, so I knew if she needed me. I became very attuned to her, and I think it helped that I'd always been her friend.
When you're traveling—which I did a lot with Princess Margaret, to Australia, Zimbabwe, Canada, all over the place—all day, it's hard work. In the evening, Princess Margaret would say, "Get into your dressing gown, Anne, and come and have a drink with me." I'd go up to her sitting room and we'd talk about the day, laugh and have a really good time together. (Read more.)