Tea at Trianon: Why Veils Mattered at the Pope’s Funeral

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, April 27, 2025

Why Veils Mattered at the Pope’s Funeral

Melania wears a black lace mantilla-style veil and double-breasted coat-dress - Marco Iacobucci/IPA/INSTARimages

I have no idea why a hat with a black netting would be considered particularly "British." From MSM:

The European royals are masters when it comes to dressing for formal ceremonies. But Melania Trump proved she could hold her own amongst them at the funeral of Pope Francis in the Vatican City’s St Peter’s Square on Saturday.
The US first lady wore a black double-breasted coat-dress, lace gloves and a black lace mantilla-style veil over her hair. Her predecessor, Dr Jill Biden, also adhered to the dress code flawlessly, donning a veil and sheer black tights. Among the royals in attendance were Queen Letizia of Spain, Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway, Queen Mathilde of Belgium and Queen Silvia of Sweden – they all wore similar head coverings, but chose to eschew the requirement for gloves. If anyone has a sense of when to bend the rules, it would be them, so Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s wife Victoria was in good company. Her black circular hat with black netting made for a very British twist on head covering. (Read more.)