The State Apartment was a kind of stage on which the ruler showcased his power. The most important instrument of this power was the ceremonial, and its director was the master of ceremonies. He set out the order of events for each production and paid a great deal of attention to the constantly shifting balances of power in the games of political intrigue.
That was why the master of ceremonies made a number of enquiries before setting out the ceremonial. He checked the instructions issued for previous receptions and gathered information from other courts about their traditional ceremonial. In this, he was assisted by Saxony’s envoys and by the other masters of ceremonies. The levers he could pull to influence the production were many and varied, running from the obvious to very subtle.
For instance, the host would traditionally send a carriage to pick up his guests. By deciding on the number of draft horses harnessed to the vehicle and the rank of the court official attending it, the host could convey the level of esteem his guests enjoyed. Or not.
The same strategy was used at the palace. From the domestic staff sent by the master of ceremonies to welcome them, visitors could work out the extent to which they were in favour with their host. On their way to the Audience Chamber, visitors were attended by officials of ever higher rank. The higher the rank, and the sooner the official appeared, or the farther they came to meet the visitors, the more important were the guests.
The Audience Chamber finally was the grandest of the rooms and the culmination of the sequence of State Rooms. That’s easy to see if you go and stand in line with the door to the right of the wall painting of August the Strong. The State Apartment’s ‘enfilade’ – the series of rooms with doorways exactly aligned – leads with dramatic intent towards the chair in the Audience Chamber.
