[Contents.]
[Index]
[List of Illustrations]
(In certain versions of this etext [in certain browsers] clicking on the image will bring up a larger version.) (etext transcriber's note)

H. R. H., the Infanta Eulalia

Photograph by Henrie Manuel, Paris

COURT LIFE
FROM WITHIN

BY
H. R. H.
THE INFANTA EULALIA
OF SPAIN

“The time has come,” the Walrus said,
“To talk of many things,
“Of shoes and ships and sealing-wax,
“Of cabbages and kings.”

ILLUSTRATED
NEW YORK
DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY
1915
Copyright, 1913, 1914
By THE BUTTERICK PUBLISHING CO.
Copyright, 1914
By THE CENTURY CO.
Copyright, 1915
By DODD, MEAD & COMPANY

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE
[I][The Seeds of Revolt][1]
[II][Irksome Duties of a Princess][22]
[III][Pulling the Strings of Sovereignty][43]
[IV][Love and Ennui][63]
[V][My Marriage—In Mourning][85]
[VI][England and the English][106]
[VII][The Kaiser and His Court][134]
[VIII][The Tsar and His People][157]
[IX][The Regal Pose][181]
[X][The Scandinavian Democracies][190]
[XI][The Courts of Italy][213]
[XII][Adventures in America][222]
[XIII][After the War][242]

ILLUSTRATIONS

[H. R. H. The Infanta Eulalia of Spain][Frontispiece]
Facing Page
[The King’s Study in Escurial][26]
[Gardens of the Alcazar, Seville][38]
[Royal Palace, Madrid][50]
[The Infanta Eulalia][72]
[Alfonso XIII of Spain][96]
[Dowager Queen Alexandra of England, Queen Maud of Norway and Prince Olaf, Crown Prince of Norway][108]
[King George V, the Late King Edward VII and the Prince of Wales][120]
[Infanta Eulalia on Horseback][138]
[German Emperor in Austrian Uniform][148]
[Nicholas II and the Heir of Russia][164]
[King Albert of Belgium][186]
[King Haakon of Norway][198]
[Infanta Eulalia at Window of Her Apartments][218]

INTRODUCTION

I have endeavoured in these pages to present a true picture of Court life. It is a life hedged about by many restrictions; to me a great deal of it all was empty and meaningless.

I say nothing of those who are actively engaged in the duties of rulership; but to the other members of Royal families, life is little more than a round of useless ceremonies, from which a mind with any pretence to independence flies in relief—does opportunity offer. I have left behind me the life of Courts and palaces. But for many years, in my own youth, and while my sons were growing up into manhood, I fulfilled my part as a Princess of Spain, after my marriage visiting practically all the Courts of Europe. I have written here of these visits and of my impressions of the rulers of Europe, and, while I hope there is much in this book of kindliness and sympathy, yet I have considered truth to be the first essential in these recollections.

I am democratic in my sympathies, and consider the day has gone by when Royalty should live behind closed blinds. The world, as I see it, is peopled by one big family. We are all brothers and sisters; let us know one another better.

Paris, 1915.