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17 November 1906 — Stupinigi Palace, Turin | |
Saturday. 17th [November 1906]. We assembled in the meeting room at 9 a.m. ready to start on the expedition to San Martino in the big white motor omnibus. It is very large & roomy & made to hold 8 people. The head chauffeur drove & had 2 men with him. We had plenty of rugs & furs & were very comfortable. I sat next H.M.—Mimi opposite her & the Marchesa opposite me. The 2 gentlemen Colligno & Guiccioli next to us. There was a thick fog until we got near our destination wh is on the spur of the hills– We passed thro’ Moncaliere & along a very flat road without seeing the country on account of the fog. When we got near San Martino we began to find the people expected H.M. & groups came out to look at her– Then at the place itself the population was assembled & the streets decorated with flags. There was applause & clapping of hands & the band played the Royal March. On the terrace outside the Castle was drawn up the school children of the place in rows– The tiny girls were dressed in white pinafores & red hoods & looked charming. As soon as the Marchesa Adele Alfiere had welcomed H.M. & presented her friends 2 gentlemen who were present she led the Queen to the children who led by some sisters of charity, at once set up singing—after wh they presented some chrysanthemums & the ceremony being at an end we all entered the house. It is a very pretty place full of interesting & pretty old things, china, furniture, busts of the Cavour family & other ones. At 12 oclock we had an excellent lunch for wh we had good appetite. We had taken 2½ hours to drive there. After lunch there was general smoking & chatting & the interesting collection of 17th century prints of hat & hair dressing was examined. Then we went into the garden & on the terrace wh ought to have a fine view from it—the fog cleared a little & the Queen pointed out a villa on a neighbouring hill wh used to belong to her father & where she had lived as a child. She said she remembered one room especially in which there was a wall papered with a sheep fold & she remembered that the pattern being repeated several times in one place it had been interrupted by a door way– That the sheep dog was one side of the door & the tail on the other! a thing that filled her with the terror of a child of 5. After sitting talking & having tea we went to the Chapel of the Villa to the evening service– The girls of the village sang the litany (I think it was) & the priest recited the prayers aloud. It is the first R.C. service wh seemed to me sensible & hearty wh I have heard & altho’ the prayers & hymns were in Latin one supposes that every body understood them more or less– The Queen’s prie Dieu was in front, mine a little way behind & her ladies behind that. Even in church there seems to be an etiquette! Then H.M. received a deputation of the chief men of the village all in black with Italian coloured rosette in their button hole—the sindic with a broad sash across his chest. When the Queen asked a question they all answered in chorus– The burden of their song was praise of the Marchesa Adele Alfieri, her charity, her kindness & altho’ she made them signs to desist they continued to say their say about her. But the time went on & in these short days with 60 miles before us to go to Stupinigi we had to leave soon after 4. The people hurra’d—the band played—the Marchesa beamed & curtsied & H.M. got into the big white omnibus & we started. Luckily the weather had lifted & there was a picturesque gleam at sunset so that one could imagine how pretty the country near the hills might be. On the way I had much talk with the Queen. She has a wonderful memory wh I told her I observed. She said it was not so good as it had been, that she now sometimes could not distinctly remember things. “I think it is from the shock I had six years ago—since then I find my memory sometimes at fault.” I told her that it was no wonder, & that I even wondered she had kept her reason– She said one day to me that one had to try & be thankful for what God leaves to us. That there is always much to be done. I said that one felt that when one had had time to come to it—but that the feeling comes after many a bitter moment. She said that luckily her children wanted her & she could try also to help others. I feel she is a truly good woman. In talking about Venice today I lamented that some of our friends there were so called “clericale”—she said she hated that phrase that it meant politics & not religion & that religion was a thing shown by a person’s life not his dogmas. She is a truly religious woman I think, in the right way & happily God has given her a simple & kindly nature. So we talked until it got dark & we had the big lamps lit & we got to the Villa Reale at abt ¼ to 7. Had a short rest & dressed for dinner. A col. (attaché at Constantinople) dined & also Senatore Tenerani who has just come back from a tour in England enthusiastic over it & the punctuality of trains &c. There was much pleasant talk after dinner & we went to bed at 11. | |
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