Skip to main content

The Krankenstadt Tageblat -- Society Page

Grand Duke Embarrassed by Palatial Hijinks

Krankenstadt, The Grand Duchy of Stollen

Yesterday evening, a large state function, given by Grand Duchess Frederikka von Schwerin und Hoch, was held at the Palace of Krankenstadt on the picturesque heights above the city, to celebrate the recent rise in tourist-based trade and commerce here in the Grand Duchy of Stollen. Many visiting dignitaries, diplomats, and aristocrats of the region were in attendance, including the newly appointed minister of tourism and travel, Herr Peter-Erich von Euelenspiegel, who was the guest of honor. Also in attendance were Stollen's Minister of War Heinrich-Schatzi von Pelznikkel, the Minister of Trade,Herr Rastus-Uwe Georg von Gebogenius an der Pickelhaube, and Prussia's new ambassador to Stollen, the gregarious and perpetually bemused Honorable Herr Heinz von dem Salat.

Led by the gallant Oberfeldwebel Klatschen, a company of the Leib (Grand Duchess Sonja’s Own) Grenadiers was in attendance outside the palace, standing guard and assisting guests as they arrived and debarked from their carriages to enter the palace. As guests entered the palace, they enjoyed music provided by a local chamber ensemble, playing favorites by the usual Baroque and Rococo composers that we have come to know and love here in The Grand Duchy.

Inside, the main hall where the ball took place was decorated with bunting in the traditional Stollenian colors of light blue and orange, while large crystal chandeliers illuminated the main floor where over 80 couples danced endless rounds of the Minuet at the height of the evening. The dinner, scheduled for 22:15, was of several courses, including a main dish of roasted boar's heads and a dessert of Trifle without the cake -- in other words, limp fruit soaked in Cointreau.

Unfortunately, the evening was marred by a slight miscalculation in attire. The Grand Duke Irwin-Amadeus II was announced to guests at exactly 22:00. However, it seems he was misinformed as to the precise nature of the evening. Thinking that the event was a costume ball, Irwin-Amadeus II turned up wearing a lobster costume instead of the usual version of state attire that one expects at such a function. It goes without saying that hilarity ensued at the Grand Duke's expense, and Irwin-Amadeus II withdrew hastily, bowing to guests and offering, "I thought it was a costume ball. I thought it was a costume ball," as he backed his way quickly out of the room.

This morning, speculation is rife across the Grand Duchy of Stollen as advisors around the capital try to determine precisely who the practical joker was behind the millinary misinformation fed to Irwin-Amadeus II, regarding his choice of dress. Opinions vary, but it is widely thought that perhaps the enigmatic Grand Duchess Frederikka von Schwerin und Hoch could be behind the events of yesterday night.

For his part, Irwin-Amadeus II has remained in his chambers since last evening, admitting only his personal assistant Johannes P. Flickenhoffer with a tray of tonic and smelling salts earlier today at approximatly 8:45. As more news becomes available, concerning this latest social blunder by a member of the Stollenian court, we will bring it to you right here.

-- Katrina-Bettina von Heffelfinger

Comments

Umm....don't we mean "debarked" from their carriages, not "debauched" ? Ahem.
Bluebear Jeff said…
Were any citizens or agents of Stagonia at the ball?

Stagonia's vile ruler, the Graf Maurice von Hirschbock, is well-known as a ruler who likes to embarrass others.


-- Jeff of Saxe-Bearstein
Gentlemen,

Yes, it's quite possible that Graf Maurice von Hirschbock was in attendance. Who knows? He might have even had a hand in the joke with Grand Duchess Frederikka von Schwerin und Hoch. It's certainly not beyond the realm of possibility.

Debauched? Or debarked? Well, according to my Merriam Webster's, debauched would work as it meant to scatter forth or disperse in Middle French (debaucher) from the Old French (debauchier), but perhaps that is a bit of a stretch. So, I amend it to "debarked". Still, given that it's (imaginary)18th century nobility we're talking about, debauchery of any kind has its place!
To the Honorable Herr Johannes P. Flickenhoffer, Grand Duchy of Stollen

His Royal Excellency Augustus, Duke of Saxe-Huack, wishes to send his warm acceptance of diplomatic and trade offers from your regal lord.

An appropriate home with offices has been found close by the ducal palace in our capitol city of Huack for the pleasure and use of those members of your diplomatic corps whom you may send to us.

On behalf of our estate we are sending Prince Paul von Lettow, nephew of our noble lord, to Stollen to act as our ambassador there. He shall bring with him a case of red wine from the duke's personal vineyard, one of our best vintages, year 1648. May it bring hours of drinking pleasure to your court and your grace's royal person.

I have the honour to be, &c.,
//signed//
Alexander von Jagow
Foreign Minister
Baron of Lettow
http://saxe-huack.blogspot.com/

Popular posts from this blog

It's Early Days Yet. . .

M aking some early progress with Batch A of the Anhalt-Zerbst Regiment over the last several days/evenings.  Nothing terribly exciting just yet, but the basic black, brown, and flesh areas are done as are the green bases, and gray undercoat.   The latter two areas needed some careful retouching early in the week.  Next up, the neck stocks.   I might just do these in red for the enlisted men although some of my source material suggest they were black, but I always look for an excuse to shake things up a bit.  Any errant splotches of red (or black) can be covered with another application of light gray before I move onto the next step.   "Giddy up!" as one Cosmo Kramer might have said. -- Stokes

A Little More Brushwork. . .

    A little more brushwork on the first batch of (my version of) the Anhalt-Zerbst Regiment yesterday (Saturday).  Taking a different tack this time and addressing many of the details first before the white coats and other larger areas of uniform.   The eagle-eyed among you will notice that I've painted the (dark) red stocks of the enlisted men.  Always a difficult and frustrating item to paint, it made sense to paint from the inside out as it were and get that particular detail out of the way first rather than try to paint it in later after much other painting has been accomplished.  Trying to reduce the need for later retouching of other items on the figures you understand. Hopefully, I will be able to get back to these later today after a second trip back to the Apple Store for help with a couple of new iPad issues and, following the return home, some revision of Google Slides for tomorrow's meetings with my students. -- Stokes P.S. And according t...

And We're Off!!!

  Arrrgh!  Gotta go back into camera settings on my iPhone to bring all of the frame into focus.  Blast! Painting is underway on the 60 or so Minden Austrians, which are slated to become my version of the Anhalt-Zerbst Regiment of AWI renown.  More or less indistinguishable from Austrians of the era really, right down to the red facings and turnbacks, but the eventual flags (already in my files) will set them apart.   I went ahead and based-coated all of them over a couple of days lthe last week of August, using a mix of light gray and white acrylic gesso, before next applying my usual basic alkyd oil flesh tone to the faces and hands.  In a day or two, I'll hit that with Army Painter Flesh Wash to tone things down a bit and bring some definition to the faces and hands.   As usual, the plan is to focus on about 20 figures at a time, splitting the regiment roughly into thirds along with the color party and regimental staff.  Depending on ...