Will Gustavian at Last be within Grasp? «

Will Gustavian at Last be within Grasp?

Saturday 30th January 2016

With the new fur hats we were quite something on the metro train to Drotters. A very old man was possibly dead in the carriage. Drottningholm means ‘Queen’s Home’. A Drottning is a Queen in Swedish. The bus stops on quite a busy road; there’s not even a fence. Some buildings in the expanse of grass by the road, one of which is the cafe/restaurant/gift shop for visitors, a track leading up to the Palace, which is laid carelessly by a lake, quite frozen over of course in minus 15. All very social democratic, very egalitarian. No Palace Gate, no railings. It turned out that Queen Marie Evadne (or some such) had done most of Drotters in the 17th century. It’s Swedish Baroque. I like the Swedish style in all things; it’s wilfully and purposely provincial, by which I mean small scale, modest even when quite grand. Marie Evadne had done a lovely palace in the Swedish baroque style. But it was the wrong century for us. Not Gustavian. One room was grey: our hopes were up. The chandelier was sparse which is right for Gustavian. But no, the room was just rather dull. Another gallery was almost there… a lighter feel, not Baroque, some filigree decoration, some grey. But no, not the true Gustavian. After a Royal Goulash at the cafe, the only hope was to climb ever upwards towards the Royal Palace in Stockholm the next day. There we started in the dungeon looking at drains. The Royal Regalia was displayed, very spiky. No longer used, apparently. No more coronations, owing to dreary social democratic drive, I fear. There was evidence of Queen Christina. I’d forgotten about her. She was played by Greta Garbo, of course. I couldn’t say whether I ever saw the whole film, but I certainly have an image of a Gothic corridor of some grimth with Greta as Queen Christina in a white fur trimmed hood with perfect Hollywood silver screen face, misty at the edges, infinitely tragic. We dragged through a stony hall with Queen Christina’s throne in it. There were more boring rooms with medals in them even though all the Orders have been discontinued. Then galleries, bedchambers, council chambers – but all baroque or 19th century baroque. A long gallery was good, with lowish painted ceiling and great elaboration of gilt, and the White Sea Room where Prince Carl Philip had his wedding reception in June 2015. There was a photograph of it set up for the reception. They actually had little gilt chairs. Then a sudden low room and another one next to it. Exquisite, not quite pure grey, in fact the Pompeian style, with Pompeian decorative panels and red fabric panels -but as near we were going to get to Gustavian in Royal Circles. We embraced these rooms completely – everything in them was lovely – and vowed to return to Sweden in search of the true Gustavian.