CHAPTER X
PRESENTATIONS AT COURTS AND ATTENDING COURTS
Courts are now held in lieu of Drawing-rooms by Their Majesties the King and Queen at Buckingham Palace, and at which Presentations to Their Majesties are made.
These Courts are held in the evenings at ten o'clock, but the hour at which the company should commence to arrive is intimated by the Lord Chamberlain in the notice issued of the Courts to be held.
Two Courts are usually, but not invariably, held before Easter, and two more after Easter.
Ladies who have been presented at Drawing-rooms and Courts, held during the last two reigns, do not require to be again presented to Their Majesties the King and Queen; thus, ladies who have already been presented at these Drawing-rooms, and who are desirous of being invited to one or other of these Courts, and who are also desirous of making presentations, should send in their names and the names of those to be presented by them to the Lord Chamberlain, St. James's Palace, S.W., on the 1st of January in each year, but not before that date.
Ladies are also privileged to mention at the same time when it will be most convenient to them to pay their respects to Their Majesties. If it should not be convenient for a lady to attend or be presented at the particular Court to which she is invited, it will be open to her to make her excuses to the Lord Chamberlain in writing, when her name can, if desired, and if possible, be transferred to another list.
A lady who makes a presentation to Their Majesties, must be personally acquainted with and responsible for the lady she presents. She must herself attend the Court, and cannot present more than one lady in addition to her daughter or daughter-in-law. The numbers received at each Court being necessarily limited, ladies can only receive occasional invitations. Therefore, those who cannot be included in the year's list of invitations will receive an intimation to this effect from the Lord Chamberlain in answer to their applications to attend.
The Persons entitled to be presented at Their Majesties' Courts are the wives and daughters of the members of the aristocracy, the wives and daughters of those holding high official appointments in the Government, the wives and daughters of Members of Parliament, the county gentry and town gentry, the wives and daughters of the members of the legal, military, naval, clerical, medical, and other professions, the wives and daughters of merchants, bankers, and members of the Stock Exchange, and persons engaged in commerce on a large scale.