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Also in the description from The Times the Queen was sitting between King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, just as we see it in the sketch.
Do we know that the Duchess of Portland actually was present at all during this State Visit?
I wonder if the sketch could be from when the Emperor gave his speech, standing in a different position from where he was seated during the actual meal. The description quoted below suggests the royals were all seated next to each other, which does not fit the sketch.
The artist could still be trying to sketch Queen Alexandra, but it might also be that he was actually allowed into the room only during the speeches, and sketched whoever was next to the Emperor when he was standing up, facing his guests? Note that Queen Alexandra is described wearing pearls and diamonds.
The State banquet is described this way in The Times February 10, 1909:
"In the centre of the high table, which ran down the side of the room, sat the Emperor, with the King on his right. On the King´s right sat the Empress, and on the Emperor´s left the Queen. Next to the Empress came Prince Henry of Prussia, with the Crown Princess, and Prince Eitel Friedrich of Prussia with Princess Frederick Leopold of Prussia. By the Queen sat the Crown Prince with Princess Henry of Prussia, and next Prince Frederick Leopold of Prussia with Princess Eitel Frederick of Prussia.
Facing the Emperor and the King sat the Imperial Chancellor, Prince Bûlow, who had on his right the wife of the British Ambassador, Lady Goschen, and on his left the Countess of Antrim.
The guests assembled in the picture gallery and entered the hall in procession at half past 8. The Emperor wore the uniform of the 1st Royal Dragoons, of which he is colonel in chief, and the King that of a Prussian general. The Queen wore a dress of the darkest blue-green, with pearls and diamonds."
I found your post very interesting but could I just say that I doubt a duchess would have been sat next to the kaiser while he made a speech at a state banquet.
The German court was known as being second only to the Spanish court in terms of over the top formality and while a duchess did rank as book three of the almanach de Gotha, there would have been many people at the dinner who were book one, that is HRH or even HIH. It is odd that the lady looks very unlike the Queen but then, the Kaiserin isn’t an especially good likeness. I think it may just be that the men had such strong visuals that the artist didn’t bother as much with their consorts.
Kongetro
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