Queen's House by Edna Healey

protocol with the curious eye of one observing strange customs in a foreign land. You did not knock at royal doors, you rattled the keys; you did not pass the open door of a room where royals were; you did not sit in the royal presence, unless especially invited; and you never turned your back on the royal family. Fanny Burney learned with difficulty the art of walking backwards, without ‘treading on my own heels, or feeling my head giddy’. In an Oxford college she watched with admiration a wonderful example of the ‘true court retrograde action’. Lady Charlotte Bertie, a Lady-in-Waiting, trapped with the King at the head of a long room, had to retreat.
    She therefore faced the King, and began a march backwards – her ankle already sprained, and to walk forward, even leaning upon an arm, was painful to her: nevertheless back she went, perfectly upright, without one stumble, withoutever once looking behind … and with as graceful a motion, and as easy an air, as I ever saw …
    It was a feat worthy of a skilled circus performer.
    It was on this very tiring visit to Oxford that Miss Burney observed the discreet camaraderie among courtiers. Not allowed to eat in the King’s presence, and famished, the ‘untitled attendants’ watched in an envious semi-circle while the Princess Royal sat down to a splendid collation.
    Major Price & Colonel Fairly seeing a very large table close to the wainscot behind us, desired our refreshments might be privately conveyed there … while all the group backed very near it, one at a time might feed, screened by all the rest. 22
    But through all the pains and longueurs of Court life Miss Burney retained her affection for the King and Queen – she, ‘full of sense & graciousness … speaks English perfectly well … though now & then with a foreign idiom & frequently a foreign accent’. She had not only read Miss Burney’s books but was generally well read, delighting in finding old books on bookstalls. As for the King, ‘he speaks his opinion without reserve … His countenance is full of inquiry, to gain information without asking it … All I saw of both was the most perfect good humour, good spirits, ease & pleasantness.’ Yet at the end, Miss Burney was to discover the insensitive side of the ‘sweet Queen’. When, broken by stress and ill-health, she wanted to retire, she found the Queen unsympathetic and unwilling to let her go. Even then she excused her – it was not unkindness but lack of experience.
    Mrs Papendiek’s view of Court life was different. It was she, not Miss Burney, who was in a foreign country: though born in England, her father, mother and husband and many of their friends were German. But she was bred to Court life, and the Queen was at ease with her old Mecklenburg-Strelitz acquaintances. Her father, Frederick Albert, and husband, Mr Papendiek, both cultivated, intelligent men, could count as friends some of the most distinguished artists, scientists and musicians of the time. Educated as she was to hold her own, Mrs Papendiekflourished. ‘Art & science hovering round us … attracted others & we became the centre of a charming coterie.’ 23
    In the pages of her memoirs the hierarchy of George Ill’s Court is seen with German eyes. She accepts with cheerful resignation their position. ‘People in our rank do not travel with servants,’ she writes. ‘Nor do they serve ices or have fine china.’
    But in their circle at George Ill’s Court, there was a cultural richness rarely met at other courts and to which she had an access. Through her words the famous names become human. Here are painters Reynolds and Gainsborough eyeing each other’s work warily; ‘Pretty little’ Angelica Kauffmann and the eccentric Henry Fuseli were guests at her hospitable table; the painter of exquisite miniatures, Jeremiah Meyer, and his wife were close