SPANISH COURT LIFE.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1832, 4 May 1888, Page 2

SPANISH COURT LIFE.

(FROM OUR PAKIS CORRESPONDENT) The interior life of the Spanlah Ooatt has andergono a great change ainoe King Alphonßo brought home hts Austrian bride. It ia uo longer the cold, unhappy, ceremonious oantre that it was m days gone by. Even the exterior of ths huge atone palsce Feems t> present a more oheerfnl and becoming aapeo 1 -. The large plate glass windows are now thrown opan to let pure air and warm Bunshlne into the immense ohambers which were so chilly and uninviting during the reign of Queen Isabella, The laughter of tha Lioyal children !b often heard m the courts, and the Qieen's own balcony is bright with fl iwers, whence she sotn9« times louka about when the ohange of guard takes place m the Plozi de Armeria. Then the soldiers see he* with her little son m her anna, and B«rear inwardly to be all the mora faifchfal to the widowed Regent and the baby K>ng. Th 9 Qjeen has always oocapled the same apartments since her marriage, and has made them comfortable and homelike. The grand old fnrniture and msßßlve carved cabinets and tables of the Houses of Austria and Bourbon still remain m miny room?, but their Btiffneas has beon Boftened down with numerous pretty and ooatly ornamenta, pictures by modern Spantah artists, bronjsaß, ohina, and brio st brao. Fiuwera are always found m profuaion m the Q leen's apartment a. Although th c royal child-en lire somewhat separated from theic mother, thoy are frequently with her, and at any hoar of the'day or night Bhe on have ensy access to thorn. The Queen has always one lady of honor with nor, the Dacheae da Medina de las Torrea, a widow who is no longer young, and who is very Bloat. People Bay that the Duchosa ia very clever, and that she has ingratiated herself into the good graces of the Ragent who fiada a certain oharm m her conversation. Besides the Duchess, the Regent has many other Damas de honor, nearly all court beauties or wives of grandees of Spain. These ladies live In theic own palaces, end take turns m remaining a Week with the Queen de servicis, or en duty, aa they say m Spain, ' The ladleß of honor, generally two at a time, aro with her Majjsty irom morning until night, and if the Queen reoeives a vioit or goes out to make one, they stand or sit behind her chair. The Regent's household is rated by the Dake of Medina Sidonia, an old, grey-haired coortler,