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Thousands of lights glistened from the chandeliers. The sovereigns were seated to the right of the royal box, and tables for the guests were set out on the floor. The ball was followed by a dinner in the Royal Opera House. Napoleon III waltzed with Victoria, and Albert with Eugénie. Gold and diamonds glistened everywhere among the men dressed in evening attire and the women in crinoline dresses. Hundreds of chandeliers, girandoles and torches were reflected in the mirrors, and large garlands of flowers were hung from the ceiling. Four orchestras had been positioned in the corners of the hall, conducted by Isaac Strauss and Dufresne and surrounded by flowers and plants. The Marble Courtyard, the Hall of Mirrors and the Royal Opera House were illuminated using gas lamps and the first photographs were taken in the Hall.Ī ball was also organized there, attended by 1,200. A museum in tribute to the Queen was opened there for the Universal Exhibition of 1867.įor the new official ceremonies, the Emperor wanted to employ the latest innovations.
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In 1853 he showed Empress Eugénie the Petit Trianon of Marie-Antoinette, which she fell in love with. He had come to the Palace for the first time on 11 April 1849 and later returned on 5 July for the inauguration of the Chantiers train station and the Paris-Chartres line.
![victoria iii of germany victoria iii of germany](http://stockarch.com/files/12/12/victory_statue.jpg)
Following an afternoon tour of the Palace on the 20th, the emperor put on a splendid reception for her at Versailles on 25 August. The Emperor went to meet her personally at Dunkirk and accompanied her back to Paris. After his stay in London in April 1855, Queen Victoria came on a return visit to France from 17 to 28 August 1855. In 1854 he became England’s ally in the Crimean War. He was aware of the fatal mistakes of his uncle Napoleon I and, using every diplomatic weapon available to him, strove to instigate the first Entente Cordiale. If Friedrich III had been a less intensive smoker and not developed cancer, world history might have taken a different course.The emperor was very favourably disposed towards the English, having spent many years of his exile there, and wanted to establish lasting and sincere reconciliation. After his death his son, emperor Wilhelm II, took a quite different course, that led to World War I. During his 99 days as emperor he could only communicate by writing, and he had not power enough left to fulfill his intention to dismiss Bismarck and initiate a liberal policy, including friendship with England - his beloved wife was the eldest daughter of queen Victoria. He declined a radical operation as too risky but was soon compelled to have a tracheotomy performed, when he was on the point of being choked by the cancer. Later on it became apparent that the crown prince suffered from cancer. The year before he succeeded his father as emperor Friedrich III, he became hoarse and the doctors i.e., the English laryngologist Mackenzie inspected his vocal cords and took a biopsy, which Virchow diagnosed as a benignant inflammatory reaction. Friedrich Wilhelm was doomed to remain crown prince without influence for most of his life, since his father lived unto 91 years of age. He opposed Bismarcks war-policy, argued in favour of a peaceful unifying of Germany and fought for parliamentary influence on politics and the responsibility of ministers to parliament. One of Friedrich Wilhelms political sympathizer was Rudolf Virchow, the great pathologist, who was also a liberal member of parliament in Prussia and later in Germany. He was educated in European culture and decided liberal in his political way of thinking and came in opposition to his father, the soldier-king and to the "iron-chancellor" Bismarck, who had the dominant influence over his father and over German politics. Friedrich Wilhelm, born 1831, was the eldest son of Wilhelm I, king of Prussia 1861 and the first German emperor 1871.