[Contents.] [Index]: [A], [B], [C], [D], [E], [F], [G], [H], [I], [J], [K], [L], [M], [N], [O], [P], [R], [S], [T], [U], [V], [W], [Y]. [List of Etched Portraits]
(In certain versions of this etext [in certain browsers] clicking on the image will bring up a larger version.) (etext transcriber's note)

R O Y A L T Y
IN ALL AGES

T. F. THISELTON-DYER, M.A. Oxon.

QUEEN ELIZABETH

R O Y A L T Y
I N A L L A G E S

The Amusements, Eccentricities, Ac-
complishments, Superstitions, and
Frolics of the Kings and
Queens of Europe
BY
T. F. THISELTON-DYER, M.A. Oxon.
WITH SIX ETCHED PORTRAITS FROM
CONTEMPORARY ENGRAVINGS

LONDON
JOHN C. NIMMO, Ltd.
NEW YORK: CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS
M D C C C C I I I
Printed by Ballantyne, Hanson & Co.
At the Ballantyne Press

PREFACE

It has been remarked that to write of the private and domestic acts of monarchs while still alive savours of scandal and bad taste, but when dead their traits of character, however strange and eccentric they may have been in their lifetime, at once become matter of history. Adopting this rule, we have confined ourselves in the present work to dealing with royalty in the past; and, in a field so wide, we have, as far as possible, endeavoured to make each chapter concise and representative of the subject treated. The following pages, whilst illustrating the marvellous versatility of royalty, when seriously analysed tend to show how vastly superior the latter-day sovereigns have been when compared with those of earlier times, many of whose extraordinary freaks and vagaries as much degraded the throne, as the refined and cultivated tastes of her late Majesty Queen Victoria elevated and beautified it.

T. F. THISELTON-DYER.

CONTENTS

CHAP. PAGE
[I.][ ROYALTY AT PLAY][1]
[II.][ FREAKS OF ROYALTY][10]
[III.][ ROYAL REVELRY][37]
[IV.][ ROYAL EPICURES][57]
[V.][ CURIOUS FADS OF ROYALTY][85]
[VI.][ DANCING MONARCHS][99]
[VII.][ ROYAL HOBBIES][120]
[VIII.][ THE ROYAL HUNT][135]
[IX.][ ROYAL MASQUES AND MASQUERADES][152]
[X.][ ROYALTY IN DISGUISE][168]
[XI.][ ROYAL GAMESTERS][184]
[XII.][ ROYALTY ON THE TURF][204]
[XIII.][ ROYAL SPORTS AND PASTIMES][223]
[XIV.][ COURT DWARFS][239]
[XV.][ ROYAL PETS][247]
[XVI.][ ROYAL JOKES AND HUMOUR][264]
[XVII.][ ROYALTY AND FASHION][288]
[XVIII.][ ROYALTY WHIPT AND MARRIED BY PROXY][306]
[XIX.][ COURT JESTERS AND FOOLS][313]
[XX.][ ROYALTY AND THE DRAMA][334]
[XXI.][ ROYAL AUTHORS][357]
[XXII.][ ROYAL MUSICIANS][376]
[XXIII.][ SUPERSTITIONS OF ROYALTY][395]
[INDEX][433]

LIST OF ETCHED PORTRAITS

[QUEEN ELIZABETH]Frontispiece
[EDWARD I.]To face page46
[EDWARD III.]136
[CHARLES II.]210
[CHARLES IX., King of France]240
[LOUIS XIV.]348