1914 Kenwood House ball

Edit links
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The north entrance of Kenwood House, 2005

A

royal command performance by North American dancers; Mary specifically requested a demonstration of the controversial tango
as she had not seen one before. A ball after the dinner was attended by 2,000 members of society and was accompanied by a Viennese orchestra.

Background

Nada pictured c. 1914

Sophie of Merenberg in 1891. The morganatic marriage had been conducted in Italy without the permission of his parents and was illegal under Russian law.[2] Michael rented Kenwood House from 1910, for £2,200 a year. He was active in the London social circuit and held many parties and balls there.[2]

The 11 June 1914 ball was intended to mark the

First World War and was attended by nobility from European states that would be enemies within the following weeks.[6][a]

Dinner

King George V and Queen Mary, in 1914

In preparation for the event, the grounds and driveways of Kenwood Hall were illuminated and the rooms decorated with flowers and ferns.

King George V and Queen Mary. They were met at the house's north entrance by Michael whilst the other guests were greeted by Countess Torby in the Adam's Room.[4] The presence of the king and queen required a larger than usual number of Metropolitan Police officers (as well as the entire Palace Police contingent) due to a heightened threat of suffragette action.[7]

Other royal guests at the dinner included

Lord Annaly, former prime minister Arthur Balfour, Charles Cust and the Honorable Basil Fitzherbert.[9][4][8] Foreign attendees included Grand Duchess Anastasia of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and the Marquis of Soveral. All of the guests were seated at a single long table during the dinner.[8]

Dance exhibition

Walton and Mouvet, pictured in 1913

After dinner there was a demonstration of dancing by married couple Maurice Mouvet and Florence Walton.[8] The pair became the first American dancers to appear in a performance by royal command.[10] The tango, a relatively new dance, had been performed in Paris since around 1910 and had been danced in London since 1912, though it was opposed by the press due to its supposed immorality.[11] The dance gained popularity over the following two social seasons and it was originally scheduled to be performed at the Kenwood House ball.[11][12] It was rumoured at the time that Mary had banned the dance at the Royal Court and it was removed from the programme.[11][12]

Mouvet and Walton completed a number of other dances and Mary indicated disappointment that a tango was not demonstrated as she had never seen one before.

Alhambra Theatre of Variety.[10]

Ball

The terrace at Kenwood House in 2009

That evening some 2,000 people attended a ball at Kenwood House.[10] Attendees included the peers the Duke and Duchess of Roxburghe (who also brought with them a large party that had dined at their house), the Duke and Duchess of Rutland and her daughter Lady Diana Manners, the Duke and Duchess of Manchester and their son Lord Charles Montagu, Katherine, dowager Duchess of Westminster, Constance, Duchess of Westminster, the Duke and Duchess of Wellington, the Marquess and Marchioness of Salisbury and their daughter Lady Mary Cecil, the Marquess and Marchioness of Crewe and the Earl and Countess of Lonsdale. It was also attended by the prime minister H. H. Asquith, the speaker of the House of Commons James Lowther and his wife and daughter, the German ambassador Karl Max, Prince Lichnowsky, the Italian ambassador the Marquis Guglielmo Imperiali and the Spanish ambassador Alfonso Merry del Val.[8]

The orchestra, brought from Vienna, was sited in the house's orangery and supper was served in a marquee on the south terrace.[6][8] The marquee, which overlooked the lake, was decorated with coloured draperies and gold mouldings.[2] During the ball a tango was danced.[10]

Later events

The ball was one of the last major social events put on by Michael. He lost his fortune, derived largely from a

Harold Augustus Wernher, who had married Zia in 1917.[2] He was forced to relinquish the lease on Kenwood House that same year.[14] The coming-out ball for Zia and Wernher's daughter Georgina in 1937 was also attended by the reigning monarch, George VI (son of George V and Mary).[5]

Nada married

Prince George of Battenberg in 1916. Michael's wife died in 1927, and he died in 1929.[2]

Notes

  1. ^ The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the catalyzing event for the war, occurred on 28 June; the war officially began on 28 July.

References

  1. ^ Gilbert, Martin (2020). The First World War A Complete History (Audio book). Tantor Audio. p. Chapter 1: Prelude to War 51:45 to 52:30.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "A Romanov at Kenwood" (PDF). Newsletter 119 – December 2017. Friends of Kenwood. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
  3. ^ Mayfair and Town Topics. Mayfair and Town Topics, Limited. 1911. p. 605.
  4. ^ a b c "Social Record". Daily Mail. 12 June 1914. p. 4.
  5. ^ a b "King and Queen at Coming-out dance". Evening Standard. 29 June 1937. p. 25.
  6. ^
    ISBN 978-0-7953-3723-9
    .
  7. ^ "Double Guards About the King of England". Scranton Truth. 12 June 1914. p. 14.
  8. ^ a b c d e f "Social and Personal". Liverpool Daily Post and Mercury. 12 June 1914. p. 10.
  9. ^ "Royalty Guests of Duke". Washington Post. 12 June 1914. p. 1.
  10. ^
    New York Tribune
    . 12 June 1914. p. 9. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  11. ^
    ISBN 978-1-134-55407-2
    .
  12. ^
    ISBN 978-0-7864-5360-3
    .
  13. ISBN 978-0-09-190509-5
    .
  14. ^ "Wealthy New York Woman Leases Former Estate of Grand Duke". The Times. 24 November 1917. p. 5.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1914_Kenwood_House_ball&oldid=1295018353"