Behind the Throne Quotes

“Also in 1992 Prince Andrew separated from his wife of ten years, Sarah Ferguson;”
― Adrian Tinniswood, Behind the Throne: A Domestic History of the British Royal Household

“Utterly disgraceful was NBC Video’s interruption of the religious service in order to show a chimpanzee,” railed the New York Times. “No apology can be adequate.”
― Adrian Tinniswood, Behind the Throne: A Domestic History of the British Royal Household

“The Duke of Newcastle, as lord of the Manor of Worksop, was entitled to supply a glove for the sovereign’s right hand and to support that hand when Elizabeth clasped the royal sceptre. Unfortunately, the duke had gone off to live in Rhodesia in 1948, and he showed no inclination to come back for the day.”
― Adrian Tinniswood, Behind the Throne: A Domestic History of the British Royal Household

“(When Lascelles suggested to George VI that he give Hardinge six months’ leave to reflect on his position, the king replied, “Certainly not—he might come back.”)”
― Adrian Tinniswood, Behind the Throne: A Domestic History of the British Royal Household

“It was a sombre message that he gave that night, full of references to the Depression and the high unemployment rates. (No one was immune: even the palace had made drastic staff reductions.)”
― Adrian Tinniswood, Behind the Throne: A Domestic History of the British Royal Household

“(Until 1922, for instance, equerries were expected to pay for their own cartridges when they were shooting with the king.)”
― Adrian Tinniswood, Behind the Throne: A Domestic History of the British Royal Household

“in contrast to Europe, where between 1894 and 1914 five heads of state, three prime ministers, and one president were assassinated.”
― Adrian Tinniswood, Behind the Throne: A Domestic History of the British Royal Household

“And it conferred power. The presentee was placed under an obligation to the presenter, and once she had been presented she magically metamorphosed into a presenter herself, able to pass on the gift to others in some curious apostolic succession.”
― Adrian Tinniswood, Behind the Throne: A Domestic History of the British Royal Household

“Married women were required to wear a court plume consisting of three white feathers; unmarried women wore two white feathers. The feathers had to be prominent enough for the sovereign to separate wives and spinsters at a glance. Those in deep mourning were allowed to wear black feathers. Women were also expected to wear a full train, not less than ten feet six inches long.11”
― Adrian Tinniswood, Behind the Throne: A Domestic History of the British Royal Household

“When Victoria’s ministers broke the news to her about the rising expenses, the waste and extravagance in her household, she was genuinely appalled. Her bed broke, and she refused to let her servants have it mended because it would cost too much. She ordered fewer kinds of bread at breakfast. And in a move which surprised her staff, she commanded that toilet paper should give way to newspaper squares in the castle lavatories at Windsor.”
― Adrian Tinniswood, Behind the Throne: A Domestic History of the British Royal Household

“If a pane of glass, or the door of a cupboard in the scullery, requires mending, it cannot now be done without the following process: a requisition is prepared and signed by the chief cook, it is then counter-signed by the clerk of the kitchen, then it is taken to the lord chamberlain’s office, where it is authorized, and then laid before the clerk of the works, under the office of woods and forests; and consequently, many a window and cupboard have remained broken for months.”
― Adrian Tinniswood, Behind the Throne: A Domestic History of the British Royal Household

“His “Observations on the Present State of the Royal Household, Written with a View to Amend the Present Scheme, and to Unite the Greater Security and Comfort of the Sovereign with the Greater Regularity and Better Discipline of the Royal Household,”
― Adrian Tinniswood, Behind the Throne: A Domestic History of the British Royal Household

“It wasn’t a conventional divorce trial. The king’s advisers wouldn’t allow that, for fear that Caroline would introduce counterevidence of her husband’s adultery, of which there was plenty.”
― Adrian Tinniswood, Behind the Throne: A Domestic History of the British Royal Household

“As far as Queen Caroline was concerned, this was another example of Frederick’s treachery, a deliberate attempt to prevent Frederick’s younger brother William, her favourite, from inheriting the throne.”
― Adrian Tinniswood, Behind the Throne: A Domestic History of the British Royal Household

“George II proved to be no more popular than his father, either during his lifetime or after it. He cared for nobody, and nobody cared for him,”
― Adrian Tinniswood, Behind the Throne: A Domestic History of the British Royal Household

“According to Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, “She was duller than himself, and consequently did not find out that he was so.”
― Adrian Tinniswood, Behind the Throne: A Domestic History of the British Royal Household

“On a typical day, the King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, Archtreasurer and Prince-Elector of the Holy Roman Empire, didn’t leave his bedroom until around noon.”
― Adrian Tinniswood, Behind the Throne: A Domestic History of the British Royal Household

“Neither Queen Anne nor her devoted and frequently drunk husband George was particularly good at socializing.”
― Adrian Tinniswood, Behind the Throne: A Domestic History of the British Royal Household

“parliamentary Committee for the Demolition of Monuments of Superstition and Idolatry,”
― Adrian Tinniswood, Behind the Throne: A Domestic History of the British Royal Household

“The master cooks were entitled to all the salmon tails and the heads of porpoises, pigs, lambs, and kids, and shared (with the sergeant of the acatery) the skins and tallow from all the oxen presented to the king and queen.”
― Adrian Tinniswood, Behind the Throne: A Domestic History of the British Royal Household