Duchess Of Richmond's Ball
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The Duchess of Richmond's ball was a
ball A ball is a round object (usually spherical, but sometimes ovoid) with several uses. It is used in ball games, where the play of the game follows the state of the ball as it is hit, kicked or thrown by players. Balls can also be used for s ...
hosted by Charlotte Lennox, Duchess of Richmond, in
Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
on 15 June 1815, the night before the
Battle of Quatre Bras The Battle of Quatre Bras was fought on 16 June 1815, as a preliminary engagement to the decisive Battle of Waterloo that occurred two days later. The battle took place near the strategic crossroads of Quatre Bras and was contested between el ...
. Charlotte's husband Charles Lennox, 4th Duke of Richmond, was in command of a reserve force in Brussels, which was protecting that city in case
Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...
invaded.
Elizabeth Longford Elizabeth Pakenham, Countess of Longford, (''née'' Harman; 30 August 1906 – 23 October 2002), better known as Elizabeth Longford, was an English historian. She was a member of the Royal Society of Literature and was on the board of trustees ...
described it as "the most famous ball in history". "The ball was certainly a brilliant affair", at which "with the exception of three generals, every officer high in Wellington's army was there to be seen". The proceedings were interrupted soon after the arrival of the
Duke of Wellington Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they ar ...
, when he was notified of Napoleon's unexpected advance on the nearby crossroads of Quatre Bras, located to the south. This forced him to depart after ordering his officers to leave to join their regiments. Some of the officers would soon die in battle and the poignancy of the drama has provided an enduring theme for artists, novelists and poets.


The ball

According to Lady Georgiana, a daughter of the Duchess: Lady Louisa, another of the Duchess's daughters, recalled: While the exact order of the dances at this ball is not known, there is a comment from a contemporary critical observer about the season in Brussels:
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (; 1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was a British Army officer and statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures in Britain during t ...
with his intimate staff arrived some time between 11 pm and midnight. Shortly before supper, which started around 1 am, Lieutenant Henry Webster, an aide-de-camp to
William, Prince of Orange William, Prince of Orange (Willem Nicolaas Alexander Frederik Karel Hendrik; 4 September 1840 – 11 June 1879), was heir apparent to the Dutch throne as the eldest son of William III of the Netherlands, King William III from 17 March 1849 until ...
, arrived with a message for the Prince. The Prince handed it to Wellington, who pocketed it unopened. A short time later Wellington read the message — written at around 10 pm, it reported that Prussian forces had been forced by the French to retreat from Fleurus. As Fleurus is north-east of
Charleroi Charleroi (, , ; ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It is the largest city in both Hainaut and Wallonia. The city is situated in the valley of the Sambre, in the south-west of Belgium, not ...
this meant that the French had crossed the river
Sambre The Sambre () is a river in northern France and in Wallonia, Belgium. It is a left-bank tributary of the Meuse, which it joins in the Wallonian capital Namur. The source of the Sambre is near Le Nouvion-en-Thiérache, in the Aisne department. ...
(although Wellington couldn't tell from this message in what strength) — Wellington requested the Prince to return to his headquarters immediately, and then, after issuing a few more orders, went into supper, where he sat between Lady Frances Wedderburn-Webster and Lady Georgiana Lennox. To his surprise the Prince of Orange returned and in a whisper informed him of another dispatch, this one sent by Baron Rebecque to the Prince's headquarters at
Braine-le-Comte Braine-le-Comte (; ; ) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. On January 1, 2018, Braine-le-Comte had a total population of 21,649. The total area is which gives a population density of 260 inhabi ...
, and timed at 10:30 pm. It informed the Prince that the French had pushed up the main Charleroi to Brussels road nearly as far as Quatre Bras. After repeating to the Prince that he should return to his headquarters, Wellington continued to sit at the table and make small talk for 20 minutes more, before announcing that he would retire to bed. He rose from the supper-table and: The atmosphere in the room changed when news circulated among the guests that the French were crossing the border: Katherine Arden, daughter of
Richard Arden, 1st Baron Alvanley Richard Pepper Arden, 1st Baron Alvanley (20 May 1744 – 19 March 1804) was a British barrister and Whig politician, who served as the Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas. He was a Member of Parliament from 1783 to 1801. Biography H ...
, described the events towards the end of the ball and the rest of the night:


Ballroom

At the time of the ball no accurate record was kept of the location of the ballroom. In 1887, a plan of the house provided by her younger brother was published by Lady de Ros (daughter of the Duchess of Richmond); both were residents in the house. It was later reprinted in "Reminiscences of Lady de Ros" by the Hon. Mrs J. R. Swinton, her daughter. Sir William Fraser examined the site and concluded that the room proposed as the ballroom by Lady de Ros was too small a space for the number of people who attended the ball. A short time after his visit, he wrote a letter to ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' which was published on 25 August 1888. He reported that he had likely discovered the room and that it was not part of the principal property that the Duke of Richmond had rented on the ''Rue des Cendres'', but was a coach house that backed onto the property and had an address in the next street, the ''Rue de la Blanchisserie''. The room had dimensions of long, broad, and about high (the low ceiling was a case where reality impinged on one meaning of
Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-kno ...
's artistic allusion to "that high hall"). Research by lawyer P. Duvivier and published by Fleischman and Aerts in their 1956 book ''Bruxelles pendant la bataille de Waterloo'' put forward an alternative theory. It proposes that, unknown to Fraser, the coach house used as a ballroom had been demolished by the time of his investigations and that the building he assumed was the ballroom was built after 1815.


List of invitations

The following were sent invitations to the ball: * Major-General
Prince of Orange Prince of Orange (or Princess of Orange if the holder is female) is a title associated with the sovereign Principality of Orange, in what is now southern France and subsequently held by the stadtholders of, and then the heirs apparent of ...
(wounded at Waterloo) * Prince Frederic of Orange-Nassau * Duke of Brunswick (killed at Quatre-Bras) * Prince of Nassau-Weilburg * Duc d'Arenberg * Prince Auguste d'Arenberg * Prince Pierre d'Arenberg * Baron Joseph van der Linden d'Hooghvorst (Mayor of
Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
) * Duc and Duchesse de Beaufort-Spontin, and their daughter * Duc and Duchesse d'Ursel * Marquis and Marquise d'Assche * Comte and Comtesse d'Oultremont * Comtesse Douairière d'Oultremont, and her daughters * Comte and Comtesse de Liedekerke-Beaufort * Comte and Comtesse de La Tour du Pin * Comte and Comtesse de Mercy-Argenteau * Comte and Comtesse de Grasiac * Comte de Belgade * Comte de la Rochefoucauld * Comtesse de Luiny * Comtesse de Ruilly * Baron and Baroness d'Hooghvorst, and their son and daughter * Baron and Baroness van der Capellen * Baron de Herelt * Baron de Tuybe * Baron Brockhausen * Lieutenant-General Carlo Pozzo di Borgo (Russian envoy; wounded) * General Karl von Vincent (Austrian envoy; wounded at Waterloo) * General Miguel Ricardo de Álava (Spanish ambassador to
The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...
) * General d'Oudenarde * Colonel Ducayler * Colonel Tripp, ADC * Colonel Jakob von Washington * Major Ronnchenberg, ADC * Captain de Lubeck, ADC to the Duke of Brunswick * Field-Marshal
Duke of Wellington Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they ar ...
* Lieutenant-General Earl of Uxbridge (commanded the cavalry; lost a leg at Waterloo) * Lieutenant-Colonel Earl of Portarlington, 23rd Light Dragoons * Captain Earl of March, 52nd Foot, ADC to the Prince of Orange *
Earl Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the Peerages in the United Kingdom, peerage, ranking below a marquess and above a viscount. A feminine form of ''earl'' never developed; instead, ...
and Countess Conyngham, and their children Viscount Mount Charles, Hon. Francis Conyngham and Lady Elizabeth Conyngham * Countess of Mountnorris, and her stepdaughter Lady Juliana Maxwell-Barry * Dowager Countess Waldegrave * Viscountess Hawarden * Lieutenant-General Lord Hill (commanded the II Corps) * Lord Rendlesham * Lord Apsley * Lady Alvanley, and her daughters Hon. Frances Arden and Hon. Katherine Arden * Lieutenant-Colonel Lord Saltoun * Ensign Lord Hay, ADC to Major-General Maitland (killed at Quatre Bras) * Major-General Lord Robert Somerset (commanded the Household Brigade of Cavalry; wounded at Waterloo) * Lieutenant-Colonel Lord FitzRoy Somerset (lost an arm at Waterloo) and Lady Fitzroy Somerset (neither were present) *
Lord Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power (social and political), power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the Peerage o ...
and Lady John Somerset * Lieutenant-Colonel Lord Robert Manners,
10th Hussars The 10th Royal Hussars (Prince of Wales's Own) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army raised in 1715. It saw service for three centuries including the First World War and Second World War but then amalgamated with the 11th Hussars (Prince ...
(wounded) * Captain Lord Charles FitzRoy, 1st Foot Guards * Captain Lord Arthur Hill, ADC * Lieutenant Lord George Lennox, ADC to the Duke of Wellington * Lord and Lady George Seymour, and their daughter * Lady Frances and Mr Wedderburn-Webster * Lady Caroline and Mr Capel, and their daughter * Lady Charlotte and Mr Greville * Admiral Sir James Gambier * Admiral Sir Sidney Smith and Lady Smith, and Miss Rumbolds * Rear-Admiral Sir Pulteney Malcolm * Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Clinton (commanded the 2nd Division) and Lady Clinton * Lieutenant-General Sir John Elley (deputy Adjutant-General of Cavalry; wounded at Waterloo) * Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Picton (commanded 5th Division; killed at Waterloo); * Major-General Sir Edward Barnes (Adjutant-General; wounded at Waterloo) * Major-General Sir John Byng (commanded the 2nd Brigade of Guards) * Major-General Sir James Kempt (commanded the 8th Brigade) * Major-General Sir Denis Pack (commanded the 9th Brigade; wounded) * Major-General Sir William Ponsonby (commanded the Union Brigade of cavalry; killed at Waterloo); * Major-General Sir Hussey Vivian (commanded the 6th Cavalry Brigade) * Colonel Sir Colin Campbell, ADC * Colonel Sir William Howe De Lancey (died of wounds received at Waterloo) and Lady De Lancey (neither were present) * Colonel Sir George Wood,
Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...
* Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Andrew Barnard (commanded the 1st Battalion the 95th Foot (Rifles); wounded) * Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Henry Bradford (wounded) * Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Alexander Gordon, ADC (killed at Waterloo); Grandson of
George Gordon, 3rd Earl of Aberdeen George Gordon, 3rd Earl of Aberdeen (19 June 1722 – 13 August 1801), styled Lord Haddo until 1745, was a Scottish peer. He sat in the House of Lords as a Scottish representative peer from 1747 to 1761, and from 1774 to 1790. He was against Will ...
.
* Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Robert Hill (brother of Lord Hill; wounded) * Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Thomas Hill (brother of Lord Hill) * Lieutenant-Colonel Sir George Scovell (commanded the Staff Corps of Cavalry) * Sir George and Lady Berkeley * Sir James and Lady Craufurd, and their daughter * Sir William and Lady Johnstone * Sir Charles Stuart (Minister at Brussels) and Mr Stuart * Lady Sutton and Miss Sutton * Hon. Mrs William Wellesley-Pole * Colonel Hon. Frederick Ponsonby (severely wounded) * Hon. Colonel Abercromby, Guards (wounded) * Hon. Colonel Acheson, Guards * Hon. Colonel Stanhope, Guards * Hon. Colonel Stewart (wounded) * Major Hon. George Dawson (wounded) * Major Hon. Henry Percy, ADC to the Duke of Wellington (delivered news of the victory to London along with two Imperial Eagles and dispatches) * Captain Hon. O. Bridgeman, ADC to Lord Hill (wounded) * Captain Hon. George Gore, 85th Foot, ADC to Sir James Kempt * Captain Hon. Francis Russell, ADC * Lieutenant Hon.
George Cathcart Major-General Sir George Cathcart (12 May 1794 – 5 November 1854) was a Scottish general and diplomat. He was killed in action at the Battle of Inkerman during the Crimean War. Military career Cathcart was born in Renfrewshire, a younger ...
, ADC to the Duke of Wellington * Ensign Hon. Seymour Bathurst, ADC to Major-General Maitland * Ensign Hon. Hastings Forbes (killed at Waterloo); * Ensign Hon. John Montagu, Coldstream Guards (wounded) * Ensign Hon. William Stopford * Hon. Ensign Edgecombe * Hon. Ensign Forbes * Hon. Lionel Dawson,
18th Light Dragoons The 18th Royal Hussars (Queen Mary's Own) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, first formed in 1759. It saw service for two centuries, including the First World War before being amalgamated with the 13th Hussars to form the 13th/18th Roy ...
* Hon. John GordonGrandson of
George Gordon, 3rd Earl of Aberdeen George Gordon, 3rd Earl of Aberdeen (19 June 1722 – 13 August 1801), styled Lord Haddo until 1745, was a Scottish peer. He sat in the House of Lords as a Scottish representative peer from 1747 to 1761, and from 1774 to 1790. He was against Will ...
.
* Hon. Mr Percival * General
Francis Dundas General Francis Dundas ( – 15 January 1824) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator who served as the acting governor of the Cape Colony from 1798 to 1799 and again from 1801 to 1803. He was the second son of Robert Dundas ...
* Lieutenant-General George Cooke (commanded the 1st Division; lost his right arm at Waterloo) * Major-General Frederick Adam (not present; commanded the 3rd Infantry Brigade) * Major-General Peregrine Maitland (commanded the 1st Brigade of Guards) * Colonel Edward Bowater, 3rd Foot Guards (wounded) * Colonel John Cameron, 92nd Foot (killed at Quatre Bras) * Colonel Cumming, 18th Light Dragoons * Colonel Robert Dick, 42nd Foot (wounded) * Colonel Fremantle, ADC * Colonel William Fuller, 1st Dragoon Guards (killed at Waterloo) * Colonel Felton Hervey-Bathurst, ADC * Colonel
Charles Rowan Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Charles Rowan (' 1782 – 8 May 1852) was an officer in the British Army, serving in the Peninsular War and Waterloo and the joint first Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, head of the London Metropolitan Po ...
, 52nd Regiment of Foot (wounded) * Colonel Robert Torrens, 1st West Indies Regiment * Colonel Alexander Woodford * Colonel Henry Wyndham,
Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, monarchy; due to this, it often ...
(severely wounded) * Lieutenant-Colonel D. Barclay, 1st Foot Guards, ADC to the Duke of York and Albany * Major Thomas Hunter Blair, 91st Foot (wounded) * Major Chatham Horace Churchill, 1st Foot Guards, ADC to Lord Hill and QMG * Major James Gunthorpe, 1st Foot Guards, ADC to Major-General Maitland * Major Hamilton, 4th West Indies Regiment, ADC to Sir Edward Barnes * Major Thomas Noel Harris, Brigade-Major to Sir Hussey Vivian (lost an arm at Waterloo) * Captain C. Allix, 1st Foot Guards * Captain George Bowles,
Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, monarchy; due to this, it often ...
* Captain F. Dawkins, 1st Foot Guards, ADC * Captain Disbrowe, 1st Foot Guards, ADC to Lieutenant-General Cooke * Captain Henry Dumaresq, 9th Foot, ADC to Sir John Byng (wounded in the chest by a musket ball while delivering a dispatch to the Duke of Wellington) * Captain James Drummond Elphinstone, 7th Hussars (taken prisoner on 17 June) * Captain
Charles Augustus FitzRoy Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Charles Augustus FitzRoy, (10 June 179616 February 1858) was a British Army officer, politician and colonial administrator who held governorships in several British colonies during the 19th century. Family and peerage ...
, Royal Horse Guards * Captain James Fraser, 7th Hussars (wounded) * Captain John Gurwood, 10th Hussars (wounded) * Captain Robert Bamford Hesketh, 3rd Foot Guards (wounded) * Captain Clement Hill, 1st Foot Guards (brother of Lord Hill; wounded) * Captain Edward Keane, 7th Hussars, ADC to Sir Hussey Vivian * Captain D. Mackworth, 7th Foot, ADC to Lord Hill * Captain Pakenham, Royal Artillery * Captain A. Shakespear, 10th Hussars * Captain C. Smyth, 95th Foot (Rifles), Brigade-Major to Sir Denis Pack (killed at Waterloo) * Captain Henry Somerset, 18th Hussars, ADC to Lord Robert Somerset * Captain William Verner, 7th Hussars (wounded) * Captain H. Webster, 9th Light Dragoons * Captain Thomas Wildman, 7th Hussars, ADC to the Earl of Uxbridge (wounded) * Captain Charles Yorke, 52nd Foot, ADC to Major-General Adam (not present) * Lieutenant F. Brooke, 1st Dragoon Guards (killed at Waterloo); * Lieutenant James Robinson, 32nd Foot * Second-Lieutenant Gustavus Hume, Royal Artillery * Ensign David Baird, 3rd Foot Guards (wounded) * Ensign George Fludyer, 1st Foot Guards (wounded) * Ensign
Algernon Greville Algernon Frederick Greville (29 December 1798 – 15 December 1864) was an English soldier, cricketer, and officer of arms who served as private secretary to the Duke of Wellington. Early life Greville was born on 29 December 1798. He was t ...
, 1st Foot Guards * Ensign William James, 3rd Foot Guards * Ensign Henry Montagu, 3rd Foot Guards * Cornet W. Huntley, 1st Dragoon Guards * Mr A. F. Dawkins, 15th Hussars (wounded) * Mr Standish O’Grady, 7th Hussars * Mr Horace Seymour, ADC to the Earl of Uxbridge * Mr Chad * Mr and Mrs Greathed * Mr Lionel Hervey (diplomat) * Mr and Mrs Lance, and their son and daughter * Mr Leigh * Mr and Mrs Lloyd * Mr Ord, and his daughters * Dr Hyde * Revd Samuel Briscall


Cultural influences

The ball inspired a number of writers and artists in the nineteenth century.
Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...
mentioned it in passing in ''Paul's Letters to his Kinsfolk''. It was described by
William Makepeace Thackeray William Makepeace Thackeray ( ; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was an English novelist and illustrator. He is known for his Satire, satirical works, particularly his 1847–1848 novel ''Vanity Fair (novel), Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portra ...
in '' Vanity Fair'' and by
Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-kno ...
in ''
Childe Harold's Pilgrimage ''Childe Harold's Pilgrimage: A Romaunt'' is a long narrative poem in four parts written by Lord Byron. The poem was published between 1812 and 1818. Dedicated to " Ianthe", it describes the travels and reflections of a young man disillusioned ...
''. Byron emphasises the contrast between the glamour of the ball and the horror of battle, concentrating on the emotional partings: Thackeray's dramatic use of the ball in ''Vanity Fair'' inspired, in turn, a number of screen depictions. One notable example comes from the 1935 RKO production '' Becky Sharp'', the first full-length
Technicolor Technicolor is a family of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes. The first version, Process 1, was introduced in 1916, and improved versions followed over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black-and ...
film released after perfection of the full-color three-strip method, which makes the Duchess of Richmond's Ball the first historical set-piece ever staged in a full-colour feature film. Critics of the day were not kind to the picture itself, but the sequence in which the officers hurry to leave the ball — the red of their coats suddenly and emotionally filling the frame — was widely praised as showing great promise for the dramatic use of colour on-screen. The ball also inspired artists, including
John Everett Millais Sir John Everett Millais, 1st Baronet ( , ; 8 June 1829 – 13 August 1896) was an English painter and illustrator who was one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. He was a child prodigy who, aged eleven, became the youngest s ...
, who painted '' The Black Brunswicker'' in 1860, Henry Nelson O'Neil who painted ''Before Waterloo'' in 1868 and Robert Hillingford who painted ''The Duchess of Richmond's Ball''. The ball was a scene in the third act of a melodrama called ''In the Days of the Duke'' written by Charles Haddon Chambers and
J. Comyns Carr Joseph William Comyns Carr (1 March 1849 – 12 December 1916), often referred to as J. Comyns Carr, was an English drama and art critic, gallery director, author, poet, playwright and theatre manager. Beginning his career as an art critic, Car ...
; it was displayed sumptuously in the 1897 production, with a backdrop by William Harford showing the hall and staircase inside the Duchess's house. Several characters attend the ball in
Georgette Heyer Georgette Heyer (; 16 August 1902 – 4 July 1974) was an English novelist and short-story writer, in both the Regency romance and detective fiction genres. Her writing career began in 1921, when she turned a story conceived for her ail ...
's novel ''An Infamous Army'' (1937), and also in '' The Spanish Bride'' (1940), her novelisation of the life of
Sir Harry Smith Lieutenant-General Sir Henry George Wakelyn Smith, 1st Baronet, GCB (28 June 1787 – 12 October 1860) was a notable English soldier and military commander in the British Army of the early 19th century. A veteran of the Napoleonic Wars, he is a ...
. The ball was used by
Sergei Bondarchuk Sergei Fyodorovich Bondarchuk (25 September 192020 October 1994) was a Soviet and Russian actor and filmmaker of Ukrainian origin who was one of the leading figures of Soviet cinema in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. He is known for his sweeping p ...
in his film '' Waterloo'' (1970) for dramatic effect. Bondarchuk contrasted an army at peace with the impending battle and in particular as a dramatic backdrop to show how completely Napoleon managed to "humbug" Wellington. In the novel '' Sharpe's Waterloo'' (1990),
Bernard Cornwell Bernard Cornwell (born 23 February 1944) is an English author of historical novels and a history of the Waterloo Campaign. He is best known for his long-running series of novels about Napoleonic Wars rifleman Richard Sharpe. He has also writ ...
uses the ball in a similar way to Bondarchuk, placing his character Richard Sharpe in the role of the aide who brings the catastrophic news to Wellington, but includes a sub-plot where Sharpe brawls with Lord John Rossendale, the lover of Sharpe's wife and a man who owes money to him. A fictional account is given of the Duchess of Richmond's ball in ''The Campaigners'', Volume 14 of '' The Morland Dynasty'', a series of historical novels by author Cynthia Harrod-Eagles. Some of the fictional Morland family and other characters attend the ball and the events that unfold are seen and experienced through their eyes. The ball serves as the backdrop for the first chapter of
Julian Fellowes Julian Alexander Kitchener-Fellowes, Baron Fellowes of West Stafford (born 17 August 1949), known professionally as Julian Fellowes, is an English actor, novelist, writer, producer, film director, and Conservative peer. He has received nume ...
's 2016 novel ''Belgravia'' (adapted for television as ''
Belgravia Belgravia () is a district in Central London, covering parts of the areas of the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Belgravia was known as the 'Five Fields' during the Tudor Period, and became a dangerous pla ...
'' in 2020). The chapter is titled "Dancing into Battle", and portrays a potential mésalliance that is avoided the next day by a battlefield fatality at Quatre Bras. Fellowes incorporates into his book real events that occurred during the ball, and inserts his fictional characters into them. On 15 June 1965 the British Ambassador in Brussels held a ball to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo and the Duchess of Richmond's ball. 540 guests attended the function of whom the majority were Belgians. This commemoration ball has now become an annual event with the money raised going to support several charities.; and


Notes


References

*, and also: * * * * * * * – reproduced on the website o
The American WideScreen Museum
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Endnotes: **Cf. Fonds Duvivier. Ce que devint l’hotel de la rue de la Blanchisserie. In: LMB. Archieffonds Franse periode Vol.III Box 25 I.3 Chapter 5 pp. 53–57 **


Further reading

* * * – Commenting on the paintings "First off, of course, the dresses and hairstyles of the women are much more fashionable for the 1860s–70s than 1815. The grandly appointed settings are at odds with Lady de Ros's description of the ball taking place ..."
pp. 154–156
* – contains a timeline on the most notable events
contemporary location
Google Map. compare with the diagram on page 307, of Fraser's book (cited in the References section above). * Cites Cf. Dalton, Ch. "The Waterloo roll call".


External links

* {{coord, 50.8535, N, 4.3592, E, source:wikidata, display=title Balls (dance party) European court festivities 1815 in the Netherlands 19th century in the Southern Netherlands 19th century in Brussels June 1815 Culture in Brussels