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Dennis Seevers' House: travel back in time to Georgian Spitalfields | Hidden London

 

Dennis Severs' House

 

Dennis Severs' House is a historical tourist attraction at 18 Folgate Street in Spitalfields, within the East End of Central London, England. Created by Dennis Severs, who owned and lived in the house from 1979 to 1999, it is intended as a "historical imagination" of what life would have been like inside for a family of Huguenot silk weavers. It is a Grade II listed Georgian terraced house. From 1979 to 1999 it was lived in by Dennis Severs, who gradually recreated the rooms as a time capsule in the style of former centuries. Severs' friend Dan Cruickshank said: "It was never meant to be an accurate historical creation of a specific moment – it was an evocation of a world. It was essentially a theatre set.”

 

In 2021, a large trove of audio tapes were found, and were condensed to create a new Dennis Severs' Tour, conducted by an actor. The house's Latin motto is Aut Visum Aut Non!: "You either see it or you don't."

 

The house

The house is on the south side of Folgate Street and dates from approximately 1724. It is one of a terrace of houses (No.s 6–18) built of brown brick with red-brick dressings, over four storeys and with a basement. The listing for the house, compiled in 1950, describes No. 18 as having a painted facade, and with first-floor window frames enriched with a trellis pattern. By 1979 the house was very run-down; it was saved by the Spitalfields Historic Buildings Trust, an architectural preservation charity.

 

History

 

One of the bedrooms

Dennis Severs (16 November 1948, California, US – 27 December 1999, London) was drawn to London by what he called "English light", and bought the dilapidated property in Folgate Street from the Spitalfields Trust in 1979. This area of the East End of London, next to Spitalfields Market, had become very run-down, and artists had started to move in. Bohemian visual artists Gilbert & George added to the flavour of the neighbourhood; resident there since the late 1960s, they also refurbished a similar house. In addition, the historian and writer Raphael Samuel lived in the area. The group of people Severs was a part of, who began renovating houses in Spitalfields in the 1980s, is sometimes referred to as the Neo-Georgians.

 

Severs started on a programme to refurbish the ten rooms of his house, each in a different historic style, mainly from the 18th and 19th centuries. The rooms are arranged as if they are in use and the occupants have only just left. The rooms contain objects either of the period, or made by Severs. An authentic-looking 17th-century swag over a fireplace was made of varnished walnuts. A four-poster bed, that Severs slept in, was made of pallets and polystyrene. There are displays of items such as half-eaten bread, and different smells and background sounds for each room. The Victorian poverty and squalor room had smells described as disgusting, but real.

 

Woven through the house is the story of the fictional Jervis family (a name anglicised from Gervais), originally immigrant Huguenot silk weavers, who lived at the house from 1725 to 1919. Each room evokes incidental moments in the lives of these imaginary inhabitants. Peter Ackroyd, author of London: the biography, wrote:

 

The journey through the house becomes a journey through time; with its small rooms and hidden corridors, its whispered asides and sudden revelations, it resembles a pilgrimage through life itself.

 

Cultural studies researcher Hedvig Mårdh writes that Dennis Severs' House is "admittedly difficult to categorize" and that it combines scenography and artwork. The art form practised by Severs has been described as "a type of theatre unique and rare"; in Severs' obituary, Gavin Stamp defined the house as "a three-dimensional historical novel, written in brick and candlelight". Severs himself offered the term "still-life drama", which today is used in a number of notes that guide silent visitors around the house. He wrote, to describe his endeavour:

 

I worked inside out to create what turned out to be a collection of atmospheres: moods that harbour the light and the spirit of various ages.

 

Writer and illustrator Brian Selznick used the house as an inspiration for his 2015 novel The Marvels. The book concludes with a short history and photographs of Dennis Severs. Many of the characters' names and story lines are similar to what can be found in the museum.

 

The writer Jeanette Winterson, who also restored a derelict house nearby to live in, observed, "Fashions come and go, but there are permanencies, vulnerable but not forgotten, that Dennis sought to communicate". Painter David Hockney described the house as one of the world's greatest works of opera.

 

The house was bought by the Spitalfields Trust shortly before Severs, long HIV-positive, died of cancer two days after Christmas 1999. Severs wrote before his death "I have recently come to accept what I refused to accept for so long: that the house is only ephemeral. That no one can put a preservation order on atmosphere." Nonetheless, the house was preserved, and open to the public, who are asked during their visit to respect the intent of the creator and participate in an imaginary journey to another time.

 

Television

Severs appeared as himself on an episode of Tell The Truth on Channel 4, dated 9 November 1984, discussing the house. Severs and the house also appeared in the 1985 BBC documentary Ours to Keep: Incomers.

Dennis Severs' House - 18 Folgate Street ...Wonder House ... Historical Time Capsule ...

Dennis Severs' House, 18 Folgate Street is a Georgian terraced house in Spitalfields, London, England. From 1979 to 1999 it was lived in by Dennis Severs, who gradually recreated the rooms as a time capsule in the style of former centuries. It is now open to the public.



Dennis Severs' House is a time capsule attraction in which visitors are immersed in a unique form of theatre. The ten rooms of this original Hugeuenot house have been decked out to recreate snapshots of life in Spitalfields between 1724 and 1914. An escorted tour through the compelling 'still-life drama', as American creator Dennis Severs put it, takes you through the cellar, kitchen, dining room, smoking room and upstairs to the bedrooms. With hearth and candles burning, smells lingering and objects scattered apparently haphazardly, it feels as though the inhabitants had deserted the rooms only moments before. The Dennis Severs House tour is unsuitable for children as tours are conducted in silence.



Once upon a time, David Milne used to arrange all the old things from his parents’ house in the attic of their home to create his own world of play. David is pictured here in the attic of Dennis Severs’ House in Folgate St where today, as curator of the house, it is his job to arrange things – both in the general sense of maintaining every aspect of the property and also in the specific sense of arranging all the myriad objects that fill these crowded rooms.
Yet the success of David’s arrangements renders his labour invisible, since when you come upon the artifacts occupying these rooms, everything appears to have occurred naturally in the course of the daily life of the fictional inhabitants. But very little is accidental in this house of mysteries, because everything has been arranged to tell a story, and making those arrangements is David’s tour de force and his life’s passion too.
“I think I have a good understanding of what the life of a servant must have been like, except I am the servant to an imaginary family,” David confided to me after years of cleaning and polishing. Widening his eyes significantly as he revealed his qualification, “though I am a very taxing master – because everything has to be right.” and underlining the statement with such a stern glance that I almost felt pity for him, suffering such an exacting scrupulous employer.
I recognised the glance from when David instructed me to hold silence upon my arrival at the house, when I came to visit during a public opening. It was a look of such gravity that it ensured silence reigned throughout the property, no-one dared utter a word in the face of such an authoritative visage. Yet this hauteur only serves to emphasise the unexpected radiance of his smile when you greet him off duty, because the evocation of fantasy at 18 Folgate St is a serious business and David understands his dignified responsibility to set a certain tone whilst at work. It is an onerous duty that magistrates, members of the clergy, footmen and the guards at Buckingham Palace will recognise, and one which David has perfected to an art.
David discovered 18 Folgate St in his early twenties when was exploring London by following the medieval street plan and he came upon Norton Folgate while walking up through Shoreditch. He peered through the lattice-work of the dining window and spied the baroque interior. “Spitalfields at that time was dark and faded, as if the eighteenth century inhabitants had simply locked their doors and gone, and because I had seen into one of the houses, my imagination created the stories in all the others.” he told me, recalling the moment with delight.
With characteristic rigor, David decided that he would never pay to visit the house, because he knew at once that his involvement had to be more than a tour. Fortuitously, years later, he was invited to a party in the East End and found himself back outside 18 Folgate St. As he explained to me, “I came into this house, walked up to the first floor where Dennis Severs was sitting in the Smoking Room holding court with his circle of friends, and I asked him, ‘Whose house is it?’ and he said, ‘It’s mine!’ And from that moment we were friends, speaking on the telephone every day until two weeks before his death. I never came to this house to strip it down, I never asked questions, I never asked ‘Why?’ I just accepted it as his beautiful creation.”
David lives in a tiny modern flat built upon the roof of a Victorian stucco mansion block in Earls Court, that he has furnished with seventeenth century furniture and lit entirely by candlelight – like a cabinet of curiosities – existing in a manner that is completely in tune with the ambience of Folgate St. “When you live with candlelight, you learn how to use it.” David told me, “You don’t arrange your candles evenly in the room and all at the same height, as people commonly do. You place them strategically. For example, in the kitchen here, there is a low candle on the table where the cook was studying a recipe book. I like to place things together in the manner of ‘still life’ and I love the light of seventeenth century paintings, you see it everywhere in this house.”
I realised how unusual it was for David to sit and talk, because his job consists primarily of housework, revealed by the long apron that is his professional uniform. All four storeys, staircases and rooms, are cleaned twice a week, the silver, brass and copper are polished every fortnight, floors and furniture are waxed annually, bed and table linen are laundered and starched regularly, and dusting is a continuous activity. Additionally, the food is prepared daily, with the master’s breakfast cooked every morning, and tea and coffee freshly brewed. It takes all day, while the house is closed, to prepare it to open for visitors, because even maintaining imaginary inhabitants in the patina to which they have become accustomed takes a lot of work.
As with Mick Pedroli, house manager, David Milne’s involvement in the house is personal, rooted in his friendship with Dennis Severs, which ultimately led to his lifelong commitment to the vision which the house manifests. ”I used to come and stay regularly, and Dennis and I used to play together, cooking meals and taking photographs. I spent twelve Christmases in this house. When Dennis died, I decided to step up and take on the house because it needed people who understand it. Now I am waiting for the right person to walk through the door, one day, who can do my job.” said David, getting lost in thought, gazing fondly around the artfully dilapidated Dickensian attic where he stayed when he first came to visit for weekends at Dennis Severs’ extraordinary house so many years ago, “It’s a story that’s never-ending.”
(from the blog: "Spitalfields Life Daily" ...July 24, 2010
by the gentle author )

VIDEO below / Dennis Severs' House (museum): 18 Folgate Street, Spitalfields, London.

Dennis Severs' House in Folgate Street is a "still-life drama" created by the previous owner as an "historical imagination" of what life would have been like inside for a family of Huguenot silk weavers. It is a Grade II listed Georgian terraced house in Spitalfields, London, England. From 1979 to 1999 it was lived in by Dennis Severs, who gradually recreated the rooms as a time capsule in the style of former centuries. It is now open to the public.

The house is on the south side of Folgate Street, and dates from approximately 1724. It is one of a terrace of houses (Nos 6-18) built of brown brick with red brick dressings, over four storeys and with a basement. The listing for the house, compiled in 1950, describes No 18 as having a painted facade, and that the first floor [window] frames are enriched with a trellis pattern.

Dennis Severs (16 November 1948, Escondido, California – 27 December 1999, London) was drawn to London by what he called "English light", and made his home in the dilapidated property in Folgate Street in 1979. This area of the East End of London, next to Spitalfields Market, had become very run-down, and artists had started to move in. Bohemian visual artists Gilbert & George added to the flavour of the neighbourhood; resident there since the late 1960s, they also refurbished a similar house, as later did writer Jeanette Winterson.

Severs started on a programme to refurbish the ten rooms of the house, each in a different historic style, mainly from the 18th and 19th centuries. The rooms are arranged as if they are in use and the occupants have only just left—the Marie Celeste approach. There are therefore displays of items such as half-eaten bread, and different smells and background sounds for each room. Severs called this "still life drama" and wrote:

“          I worked inside out to create what turned out to be a collection of atmospheres: moods that harbour the light and the spirit of various ages.            ”

Woven through the house is the story of the fictive Jervis family (a name anglicised from Gervais), originally Huguenot (French Protestant immigrants) silk weavers who lived at the house from 1725 to 1919. Each room evokes incidental moments in the lives of these imaginary inhabitants. Writer Peter Ackroyd, author of London: the biography, wrote:

“         

The journey through the house becomes a journey through time; with its small rooms and hidden corridors, its whispered asides and sudden revelations, it resembles a pilgrimage through life itself.[4]            ”

Jeanette Winterson, resident in the neighbourhood, observed, "Fashions come and go, but there are permanencies, vulnerable but not forgotten, that Dennis sought to communicate".[5] Painter David Hockney described the house as one of the world's greatest works of opera.

Severs bequeathed the house to the Spitalfields Trust shortly before his death. It is now open to the public, who are asked during their visit to respect the intent of the creator and participate in an imaginary journey to another time.

The motto of the house is Aut Visum Aut Non!: 'You either see it or you don't'.

Emily in Paris star Lily Collins to play Audrey Hepburn in film about Breakfast at Tiffany’s / Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany's and the Dawn of the Modern Woman is a non-fiction book by Sam Wasson

 

Emily in Paris star Lily Collins to play Audrey Hepburn in film about Breakfast at Tiffany’s

 

Collins ‘honoured and ecstatic’ to play Hepburn, in film charting the dramatic making of the 1961 romantic comedy

 

Sian Cain

Mon 23 Feb 2026 23.58 GMT

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/feb/24/lily-collins-to-play-audrey-hepburn-film-about-breakfast-at-tiffanys#:~:text=Lily%20Collins%2C%20the%20star%20of,romantic%20comedy%20Breakfast%20at%20Tiffany's.

 

Lily Collins, the star of Netflix hit Emily in Paris, has been cast to play Audrey Hepburn in a new film about the making of her 1961 romantic comedy Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

 

The as-yet-untitled film will be based on Sam Wasson’s nonfiction book Fifth Avenue, 5 AM: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany’s and the Dawn of the Modern Woman, with a script written by Alena Smith, creator of the Apple TV series Dickinson. No director has been announced yet.

 

Collins, the daughter of musician Phil Collins, shared her excitement in a statement on Instagram.

 

“It’s with almost 10 years of development and a lifetime of admiration and adoration for Audrey that I’m finally able share this,” she wrote. “Honoured and ecstatic don’t begin to express how I feel … ”

 

Breakfast at Tiffany’s was initially a novella by Truman Capote, published in 1958. Set in the 1940s, the story is narrated by a struggling writer who moves into a new apartment in New York and befriends his glamorous neighbour Holly Golightly, an “American geisha” who gets by socialising with wealthy men.

 

The 1961 film was a very loose adaptation of Capote’s book, transposing the story to 1960 and turning the novella’s unnamed gay narrator into a straight man who falls in love with Golightly.

 

 

Capote wanted Marilyn Monroe to play Golightly and lobbied the studio, Paramount, to hire her, but Monroe was under contract with Twentieth Century Fox at the time. She was reportedly advised to pass because the character would be bad for her image, with her acting coach, Paula Strasberg, saying: “Marilyn Monroe will not play a lady of the evening.”

 

Shirley MacLaine and Kim Novak both turned the role down, and Hepburn was cast against Capote’s wishes. “Paramount double-crossed me in every way and cast Audrey,” he later complained. “It was the most miscast film I’ve ever seen.”

 

Ahead of the film’s release, Paramount’s publicity department desperately attempted to reframe Golightly as being as far from a sex worker as could be. “Since Miss Audrey Hepburn has never played any part that has suggested she was anything but pure, polite and possibly a princess, a hard look at Miss Golightly is in order,” one press release read. Another read: “The star is Audrey Hepburn, not Tawdry Hepburn.”

 

Breakfast at Tiffany’s received critical acclaim, making US$14m at the global box office – around $152m today – and winning two Academy Awards: best score for composer Henry Mancini and best song for Moon River, performed by Hepburn in the film.

 

The upcoming movie starring Collins will be the “first complete account of the making of the film” and will cover drama from preproduction to on-set disasters, such as when one crew member was reportedly nearly electrocuted during the film’s famous opening sequence outside the flagship Tiffany & Co store on Fifth Avenue.

 

Casting for other characters in the film, including Capote and Breakfast at Tiffany’s director Blake Edwards, have yet to be announced.

 

Hepburn has previously been played by Jennifer Love Hewitt in the 2000 TV movie The Audrey Hepburn Story. Rooney Mara was briefly attached to a Hepburn biopic directed by Luca Guadagnino, but it was called off in 2023.

Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany's and the Dawn of the Modern Woman.

Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany's and the Dawn of the Modern Woman is a non-fiction book by Sam Wasson that chronicles the making of the 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany's and its profound impact on 20th-century culture. The book explores how the film, led by Audrey Hepburn, transformed the image of the "bad girl" into a modern heroine and paved the way for social changes regarding fashion, sex, and female independence.

 

Book Overview

Central Theme: Wasson examines how the film served as a bridge between the conservative Eisenhower era and the modern 1960s, turning the "not-so-virginal" Holly Golightly into a cultural icon of autonomy.

Production Insights: The book details the challenges of adapting Truman Capote's novella, which featured a lead character who was a call girl, into a Hollywood-approved romantic comedy during a time of strict censorship.

Iconic Figures: The narrative features a cast of real-life characters, including author Truman Capote, director Blake Edwards, costume designer Edith Head, fashion designer Hubert de Givenchy, and composer Henry Mancini.

Key Revelations: According to the New York Public Library Shop, Capote originally wanted Marilyn Monroe for the lead role, and the film's famous happy ending was just one of two versions shot.

Cultural Impact and Legacy

Fashion: The book highlights how the "little black dress" designed by Givenchy became a symbol of self-sufficiency and mysterious power, moving away from the "pastel" aesthetic of the 1950s.

Social Change: Reviewers on Goodreads note that the film was a landmark for depicting a woman having sex without being "punished" by the narrative's end, a radical departure for the time.

Modern Influence: Wasson argues that modern cultural touchstones like Sex and the City owe their existence to the path cleared by Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Upcoming Film: As of February 2026, a movie based on Sam Wasson's book is in development.

Cast: Lily Collins is set to star as Audrey Hepburn and will also serve as a producer.

Production Team: The screenplay is being written by Alena Smith (creator of Dickinson), with production by Imagine Entertainment.

A Profile of Brief Encounter

Brief Encounter

 

Brief Encounter is a 1945 British romantic drama directed by David Lean that is widely considered one of the greatest films in British cinema history. Based on Noël Coward's one-act play Still Life, it tells the story of a chance meeting at a railway station between two married strangers that evolves into a brief but intense emotional affair.

Plot and Setting

The film is primarily told through a flashback narrated by Laura Jesson, a middle-class housewife, as she sits at home with her husband and imagines confessing her secret to him.

The Meeting: Laura (Celia Johnson) meets Dr. Alec Harvey (Trevor Howard) at the Milford Junction railway station when he helps her remove a piece of grit from her eye.

Development: What begins as a casual acquaintance grows into weekly Thursday meetings involving lunch and trips to the cinema.

The Conflict: Both are happily married with children and feel deep guilt over their growing love, which they realize is "impossible" given their social responsibilities.

The Parting: Their relationship ends when Alec accepts a job in South Africa. Their final goodbye at the station café is painfully interrupted by a talkative acquaintance, Dolly Messiter, preventing them from having a proper farewell.

Cast and Creative Team

The film's impact is often attributed to its understated performances and the masterful collaboration between its creators.

Director: David Lean, who later became famous for grand epics like Lawrence of Arabia, directed this intimate drama with a "masterful" focus on emotional realism.

Screenplay: Written by Noël Coward, Anthony Havelock-Allan, and David Lean, adapting Coward's original 1936 play.

Celia Johnson (Laura Jesson): Her performance, particularly her expressive eyes and "restrained passion," earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.

Trevor Howard (Dr. Alec Harvey): His portrayal of the "personable" and devoted doctor made him an international star.

Supporting Cast: Includes Stanley Holloway as the ticket inspector and Joyce Carey as the café owner, whose more overt flirtation provides a comic counterpoint to the main leads' repressed romance.

Emotional Restraint: The film is famous for depicting the "stiff upper lip" of the British middle class, where duty and social decorum ultimately triumph over personal desire.

Atmospheric Cinematography: Cinematographer Robert Krasker used shadowy, noir-like lighting and the steam-filled environment of the railway station to mirror the characters' internal turmoil.

Musical Score: Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 is used effectively throughout the film to heighten the sense of romantic yearning and tragedy.

Legacy and Remakes

In 1999, the British Film Institute (BFI) ranked Brief Encounter as the second-greatest British film of all time. It has influenced numerous filmmakers, with directors like Sofia Coppola citing it as an inspiration for Lost in Translation.

1974 Remake: A television movie starring Sophia Loren and Richard Burton was produced but was generally not as well-received as the original.

Stage and Opera: The story has been frequently adapted for the stage and was even turned into an opera in 2009 with music by André Previn.

Deluded Andrew ranted ‘I’m the Queen’s second son' as he was booted out of Royal Lodge

A tale of two brothers: could the Andrew crisis bring down King Charles?

 

Analysis

A tale of two brothers: could the Andrew crisis bring down King Charles?

Stephen Bates

Former prince’s arrest was most damaging event for the family firm in centuries – and the questions keep coming

 

Fri 20 Feb 2026 16.34 GMT

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/feb/20/former-prince-andrew-mountbatten-windsor-arrest-king-charles-brothers

 

London fashion week was probably the last public place King Charles III wanted to be on Thursday, admiring the suits and costumes that no one he knows would dream of buying, and making light conversation with designers he would have difficulty in recognising at a royal garden party.

 

Charles must have been contemplating the crumbling of all his plans and hopes for his reign. He always knew it would be short, even before his cancer diagnosis, but he probably never thought it would be upended by the alleged behaviour of his own brother.

 

Thursday was the most consequential and damaging day for the family firm in centuries, perhaps since the Glorious Revolution of 1688, or the capture of King Charles I in 1647 and his execution two years later. Certainly it is worse than Diana’s death and more threatening than the 1936 abdication crisis, because it undermines the institution itself.

 

The Andrew crisis has not been over in a week or a fortnight – it just goes on posing questions, not only containable ones limited to Andrew’s apparent behaviour, but wider ones seeping through whole aspects of the monarchy: its money, its privacy, its unaccountability, its character and, crucially, its popularity with the public.

 

If Charles really did warn their mother about appointing his brother as a trade envoy back in 2001 – if that is not just a piece of retrospective palace spin – why did it take so long for the palace to take action?

 

It must have known about “Airmiles” Andy’s extravagance, freeloading and general boorishness, which has been publicised for years. Did Mountbatten-Windsor’s staff and royal protection officers know of his other alleged proclivities?

 

If they knew and nothing was done, that was taking deference to him and the late queen too far. As Elizabeth well knew, the monarch’s chief duty is to preserve the institution for the succession. She seems to have protected her favourite son and paid at least some of his debts at a cost to Charles’s inheritance.

 

As it is now, every gradual step – the removal of public duties, military ranks, aristocratic and royal titles and the eviction from Royal Lodge – has come too little too late, where earlier it might have staunched the coming flood.

 

In Charles’s statement, rushed out in the wake of his brother’s arrest, not having been told about what was going to happen in advance, he ended with a plaintive reminder of his role: “My family and I will continue in our duty and service to you all.”

 

Hence his appearance at the fashion show, and Princess Anne’s dutiful tour of Leeds prison, ironically, on the same day her brother was in police custody.

 

In the circumstances, Charles’s assertion that the law must take its course was the least he could say: he can scarcely try to hide Andrew from prosecution as earlier monarchs did in less intrusive, pre-social media ages.

 

If the case ever comes to trial, Mountbatten-Windsor will be appearing in the king’s court, in front of a judge sitting under the royal coat of arms. If convicted and sentenced to imprisonment, he will serve time at His Majesty’s pleasure.

 

Again, any such eventuality is a long way off.

 

Duty and service are two lodestars that Andrew apparently failed to observe. “I’m not doing this trade envoy business for my own good,” he told an interviewer in 2010. His own good seems precisely what he was trying to do.

 

The king’s mind at the fashion show must have been elsewhere, probably 100 miles away in Sandringham where, at Wood Farm on the Norfolk estate, his brother had been rooted out by plainclothes police officers at 8am – over breakfast? In his pyjamas? – to be cautioned and arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office, alleged to have passed on confidential information about business opportunities gathered ostensibly for the British government.

 

Normally such investigations into a difficult crime to prove take months, if not years – this one still might – and involve junior officials and police constables, not the man who is still eighth in line to the British throne.

 

The former prince spent most of the rest of his 66th birthday being questioned by detectives at Aylesham police station. When he was released to be driven back to the farm in the early evening, Mountbatten-Windsor, far from his usual appearance of arrogant and complacent disdain, looked shell-shocked and frankly scared, an eye glowing red in a camera flash’s glare, as he sought to slump down as far as he could in the rear passenger seat.

 

It was the equivalent of what the Americans call the Perp Walk. The picture, which went round the world in minutes, has already taken its place in a growing gallery of royal portraits, alongside that of the former prince with his hand around Virginia Giuffre’s waist in 2001 and poised lubriciously and sweatily over a recumbent female figure at some unknown date, released in the most recent tranche of the Epstein files.

 

We cannot of course know what was going through Mountbatten-Windsor’s mind on Thursday. It must be uncomfortable to realise that, thanks to the Epstein files, many of the things he said to Emily Maitlis in his notorious BBC interview in 2019 – the one he thought had gone so well at the time – seem to have been proven untrue. He did not end his association with Epstein – in fact he knew him rather well. He did know Virginia Giuffre. He can sweat.

 

Did he even go to Pizza Express in Woking?

 

It is one of the ironies of the whole scandal so far that the release of the files has had a greater effect in Britain than it has in the US. The only person so far convicted is Ghislaine Maxwell, who is British. Meanwhile Donald Trump is insisting he has been totally exonerated; so totally that he keeps repeating it.

 

 

In the US it is a political football, in the UK it is a constitutional one. It may be the first time US lawmakers have ever praised the British police and legal system.

 

Hanging over all this, and so far unaddressed, is what happened to the young women trafficked by Epstein, some of them allegedly sent to England in a private jet to meet the then prince.

 

If that is the case, what happened at Stansted and Luton airports when the jet and its personnel landed? Were the passports checked, were questions asked (“Where are you staying?”) or were they just waved through?

 

The former prime minister Gordon Brown has written to numerous police authorities in the past week asking for an investigation. Presumably no one further down the chain noticed, or took an interest at the time.

 

And what of Mountbatten-Windsor’s extant roles? He is indubitably eighth in line to the throne and he remains a counsellor of state with the potential to stand in for the monarch in their absence.

 

Neither is remotely likely to come to pass. The first would require a sort of Kind Hearts and Coronets scenario, with the king and the next seven in line – William and his children, George, Charlotte and Louis, and Prince Harry and his two, Archie and Lilibet – to be wiped out first (there is a reason they don’t travel by air together).

 

Similarly, Andrew would never be called upon in any circumstance now to perform a royal duty. But still. After the fuss the palace made about how difficult it would be to remove Andrew’s titles and then how easily it was done, his removal could be waved through even if it required parliament to do it.

 

The palace always pores over its own opinion polls to gauge its continuing popularity, and public polls have marked a decline in recent months. Ipsos shows 25% saying it would be better for the monarchy to be abolished, up 10% in 10 years. Asked whether the monarchy will survive, 50% believe there won’t be one in 50 years.

 

When one asks even firm monarchists about the situation, they nervously respond that they hope the Andrew scandal doesn’t damage the crown. Very, very few seem to feel sorry for him, while very many think he has brought the trouble on himself.

 

The monarchy is not rocking yet, though a lot of hopes rest on Prince William. People, particularly the older generation, still like the pageantry and the street parties, but another serious scandal would push the family nearer the exit. The age of deference is past, and questions of accountability need to be answered.

 

To paraphrase the Victorian constitutionalist Walter Bagehot, the full glare of public scrutiny needs uncomfortably to be let in on the magic.

 

Stephen Bates is a former Guardian royal correspondent. His books include The Shortest History of the Crown and Royalty Inc. Britain’s Best-Known Brand.

How late Queen's ‘blindspot’ for Andrew could damage the monarchy | Royal Documentary

Yep, Sarah Ferguson is Even Worse Than We Thought.

 

The Boy King Who Lost Portugal: Tragic Fate of Manuel II

 

Manuel II ... The Last King of Portugal.

Young Manuel was born in the last year of the reign of his grandfather, King Luís I; he was the third child, and last son, born to Carlos I of Portugal and Amélie of Orleans in the Palace of Belém, Lisbon, seven months before his father ascended the Portuguese throne. He was baptized a few days later, with his maternal grandfather as godfather, while former Emperor Pedro II of Brazil attended, recently having abdicated the throne of Brazil.

He received the traditional education bestowed on a member of the monarchy, without the political preoccupations that befell his older brother, who was destined by birth to become King. Although he was raised as member of the upper classes, and had tendencies towards arrogance, it is known that after ascending the throne he took a more public tone, and abandoned many of the customary protocols of the monarchy. At the age of six, he already spoke and wrote in French, as well as studying languages, history and music (under his teacher Alexandre Rey Colaço). From the beginning he demonstrated an inclination to literature and reading, which contrasted with his older brother, who was more interested in physical activities. In the style imposed by his great-grandparents (Queen Maria II and King Fernando II), Manuel received a proper education that included horse riding, fencing, rowing, tennis and gardening. He was a great admirer of music, listened to Beethoven and Wagner, and played the piano.

As a youngster, the Infante would play with the children of Count of Figueiró, the children of Count of Galveias and with the rest of the families of the Court in pleasant and cordial relations. In 1902, he was taught by Franz Kerausch (in literature Latin and German), later by Father João Damasceno Fiadeiro (in Portuguese history); Marques Leitão (in Mathematics); M. Boeyé (in French and French literature); Alfredo King (in English and English literature), Father Domingos Fructuoso (in Religion and Morals) and Alexandre Rey Colaço (his piano teacher).

He travelled in 1903 with his mother, Queen Amélie of Orleans and his brother to Egypt, on-board the royal yacht Amélia, expanding his understanding of ancient civilizations. Later in 1907, he began his studies in order to enter the Portuguese Naval Academy, in preparation to follow a career in the Navy.

Lisbon regicide
His future career in the Navy was abruptly shelved on February 1, 1908. On this day, the royal family returned from the palace of Vila Viçosa to Lisbon, travelling by coach to Barreiro and from there took a boat across the Tagus River and disembarked in Cais do Sodré, in central Lisbon. On their way to the royal palace, the carriage carrying King Carlos and his family passed through the Terreiro do Paço. While the royal family was crossing the square, shots were fired from the crowd by at least two men: Alfredo Costa and Manuel Buiça. It wasn't clear if the assassins were attempting to kill the King and Crown Prince, or King Carlos' prime minister, João Franco, who had dissolved Parliament and was ruling as a dictator. The murderers were shot on the spot by members of the royal bodyguard and later recognized as members of the Portuguese Republican Party. The King was killed; his heir, Crown Prince Luís Filipe, Prince Royal of Portugal was mortally wounded; Infante Manuel was hit in the arm and Queen Amélie of Orleans was miraculously unharmed. It was Amélie's quick thinking that saved her youngest son. About twenty minutes later, Prince Luis Filipe died, and days later Manuel was acclaimed King of Portugal. The young King, who had not been groomed to rule, sought to save the fragile position of the Braganza monarchy by dismissing the dictator João Franco and his entire cabinet in 1908. The ambitions of the various political parties made Manuel's short reign a turbulent one. But, even so, in free elections held on 28 August 1910, the republicans only won 14 seats in the legislature.

Monarchy
His first act was to meet with his Council of State, and request the resignation of João Franco, whose politics may have been responsible for the tragedy. He immediately appointed a government of national unity, presided by Admiral Francisco Joaquim Ferreira do Amaral. This quieted the republican momentum, but in retrospect was seen as weakness by the same republicans.

He solemnly opened the Royal Court Assembly on 6 May 1908 in the presence of national representatives, and invoked his support of the constitution: he would continue to remain faithful to the constitution, even in exile, when he was pressured to support other forms of government as part of a possible restoration. The King received general sympathy from the public, owing to the deaths of his father and older brother, and his ascendency to the throne under these tragic circumstances. Consequently, he was always protected by his mother, D. Amélia, and sought out the support of the experienced politician José Luciano de Castro. Judging that the direct intervention of King Carlos was a principal reason for the events of 1908, he declared that he would reign, but not govern.

For his part, the new King regularly attempted to increase the monarchy's connection with its subjects. The King visited several areas of the country: on the 8 November 1908 the King Manuel travelled to Oporto accompanied by his mother and other members of the Cortes. His trips also included stops in Braga, Viana do Castelo, Oliveira de Azeméis, Santo Tirso, Vila Nova de Gaia, Aveiro, Guimarães, Coimbra and Barcelos. During these visits his subjects were captivated by the young monarch, and the circumstances of his enthronement, and was received with sympathy. On 23 November he travelled to Espinho in order to attend the inauguration of the Vale do Vouga Railway, and seized the opportunity to visit the Royal Factory of Canned Food, Brandão Gomes Inc. Between 8 November and 4 December he had visited several populations, received various requests and ingratiated himself with the people for his candour and pious character.

The warm welcomes he received during his visits were countered by republicans. One republican, João Chagas, the anti-monarchist journalist and propagandist of the Republican Party, warned the King of the problems that would develop when he declared:

"...your Highness arrives too young into a very old world...!"

The "Questão Social
"During the 19th Century, many of the intellectuals and politicians were preoccupied with the growth of the urban proletariat as a consequence of the Industrial Revolution. In Portugal, owing to lower levels of industrialisation, this was not an important question, but it was exacerbated by an economic crisis and the interventions of Republican Party, who believed a Republic would resolve the problems. The reaction taken to analyze and find solutions to this phenomenon was the Questão Social (English: Social Question) of the times.

The Socialist Party was one of the main proponents, and had existed since 1875, but it never had representation in Parliament. This was not only because it was not popular, but also because the Republican Party was the principal body to channel radical discontent within the political system. The King made some initiatives that did not necessarily infringe his constitutional restrictions, but which created incentives for the Socialist Party to retract or diminish their support for the Republican Party. In 1909, D. Manuel invited the French sociologist, Léon Poinsard, to travel the country, examine the social environment, and report back to him. In his document, Léon defended that the only way to combat clientelism, created by the system of rotational governments, would be a reorganisation of the work and duties of the local administrations. Enthusiastic, the King wrote, on June 1909, to the President of the Council of Ministers (the Prime Minister) Wenceslau de Sousa Pereira de Lima, to make him aware of the reorganisation of the Socialist Party (under Alfredo Aquiles Monteverde) and to remind him of the importance of collaborating with the Socialists, "...so that, we will empty their supporters from the Republican Party, and orient them into a useful and productive force." Notwithstanding the contacts made by the government of Artur Alberto de Campos Henriques with the Socialist Azedo Gneco, Venceslau de Lima considered this difficult after the Congresso Nacional Operário, which was boycotted by anarchists and republicans. For their part, the Socialists were enthusiastic about Royal support between D. Manuel and Aquiles Monteverde. Monteverde would later inform the King of the failure of the October 1909 trade union congress, but little was formalised between the socialists and the government, although they supported the work of Poinsard. During the government of António Teixeira de Sousa, in July 1910, that the government created a commission to study the establishment of an Instituto de Trabalho Nacional (English: Institute of National Work), that had three socialists and included Azedo Gneco. However, Aquiles Monteverde would complain that the commission lacked the resources to be effective: specifically that permanent members and unlimited transport, in order for the Socialists to promote their propaganda. Manuel II informed the government, through the Minister of Public Works, that he agreed with the establishment of the Instituto de Trabalho Nacional, but by September, it was too late for the constitutional monarchy.

During his reign he visited many parts of northern Portugal, in addition to Spain, France and the United Kingdom, where he was appointed Knight of the Order of the Garter, in November 1909. He cultivated a foreign policy that was close to Great Britain, which was not only the geo-political strategy that his father maintained, but it also reinforced his position on the throne by having a strong ally. The court also considered the marriage of a King of the House of Braganza to an English princess would secure the protection of the United Kingdom in any impending conflict. But, the country's instability, the assassination of the King and Crown Prince, and the drawn-out negotiations that were ended with the death of Edward VII, ended these pretensions. The old British monarch, personal friend of D. Carlos, would have been the great protector of the House of Braganza, and without him, the liberal government of Britain had no interest in maintaining the monarchy in Portugal. He also received King Alfonso XIII of Spain in 1909, and Hermes da Fonseca, President-elect of Brazil in 1910.

Republican revolution
The stability of the government deteriorated; seven governments were established and fell in a period of 24 months. The monarchist parties continued to fragment, while the Republican Party continued to gain ground. The legislative elections on August 28, 1910 had elected 14 new representatives (resulting in an assembly that was divided: 9% Republican, 58% Government and 33% Opposition) which helped the revolutionary cause, but which made little importance since the Setubal Congress (on 24–25 April 1909) had determined that the Republicans would take power by force. The murder of a prominent republican precipitated the coup d'etat that had been so long in coming.

Between 4–5 October 1910, the Republican Revolution erupted in the streets of Lisbon. What started as a military coup commenced by soldiers, was joined by some civilians and municipal guards attacking the loyal garrisons and the royal palace, while the guns from a warship added to the cannonade. The Palace of Necessidades (then official residence of the young King) was bombarded, forcing D. Manuel to move to the Mafra National Palace, where he rendezvoused with his mother, Queen D. Amélia and his grandmother, the Queen Mother Maria Pia of Savoy. Strangely, popular reaction to the events did not materialize: pictures from the square in front of the City Hall in Lisbon (where the declaration of the Republic occurred) did not show an overwhelming multitude, and even some in the military were fearful that their actions would not be successful. One day later, once it was clear that the Republicans had taken the country, D. Manuel II decided to embark from Ericeira on the royal yacht Amélia IV for Oporto. It is unclear whether officials of the monarchy motivated D. Manuel to change his intentions,[8] or whether he was forced to change his destination en route: the Royal Family disembarked in Gibraltar shortly later, after they received notice that Oporto had fallen to the Republicans. The coup d'etat was complete, and the Royal Family departed for exile,[10] arriving in England, where he was received by King George V.

Relationships
During a visit to Paris in July 1909, the monarch met Gaby Deslys, the actress, and immediately began a relationship that would last until the end of Manuel II's reign. It was thought that after this first meeting the King sent Deslys a pearl necklace worth $70,000: more gifts soon followed, including a diamond necklace with black and white pearl drops set in a platinum band. Their relationship was anything but discreet (she would arrive before night at the Palácio das Necessidades and would pass through Portugal unnoticed); abroad, meanwhile, they were on the front pages of newspapers in Europe and North America, especially after he was deposed. In public interviews, usually on trips, Gaby Deslys never negated the obvious, but always refused to comment on her relationship with the King. After his exile, they would continue to meet, especially while she had stage engagements in London. When Gaby moved to New York, in the summer of 1911, their relationship cooled off; Gaby became involved with a fellow stage actor, and Manuel married in 1913 (although the actress would maintain her contacts with the ex-King's personal secretary, the Marquês do Lavradio.

In the spring of 1912, Manuel visited Switzerland, where he met Princess Agusta Victoria (his cousin) and was deeply impressed by her. In the following year, on September 4, 1913, D. Manuel married D. Augusta Vitória, Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen Princess (1890–1966), his cousin (she was the grand-daughter of the Infanta D. Antónia de Bragança), and daughter of Prince William, Prince of Hohenzollern. During the mass, which was celebrated in the Chapel of Sigmaringen Castle, D. Manuel, while wearing his Order of the Garter medallion and the sash of the Three Portuguese Orders, he stood on a crate containing soil imported from Portugal. The ceremony was presided by D. José Neto, Cardinal of Lisbon, then exiled in Seville, who had baptized the Prince Royal and assisted the Prince of Wales (Edward VIII) and King Afonso XIII of Spain, as well as representatives of the Royal Houses of Europe (including Spain, Germany, Italy, France and Romania, in addition to the principalities and German kingdoms). After festivities which lasted two days, the couple went on their honeymoon to Munich, where the Princess fell ill and withdrew from the public. The marriage, a calm and serene union, lasted until the death of the former King, but the couple did not have any children.

Exile
D. Manuel remained in his residence in Fulwell Park, Twickenham, near London and his English properties (and where his mother had been born). At Fulwell Park he tried to recreate a Portuguese environment, as the attempts to restore his throne (1911, 1912 and 1919) kept on failing. He remained active in the local community, attended services at the Catholic Church of St. James, and became godfather to several children. His influence in the area is recalled by a number of toponymic references: Manuel Road, Lisbon Avenue and Portugal Gardens. He followed political events of Portugal, while in the circle of familiars, such as local monarchist associations, and showed strong concern with the anarchy of the First Republic, fearing that it could provoke a Spanish intervention and risk the country's independence. Although considered exaggerated, one could not say that this concern was without foundation.

While in exile, there was one case where the former King's direct intervention had an effect[when?]. After the overthrow of the government of Gomes da Costa, by General Óscar Fragoso Carmona, Costa was appointed Ambassador to London. Due to the continued instability and rapid succession of ambassadors during this period, the British government refused to recognize the new official's credentials. As the ambassador was to negotiate the liquidation of the Portuguese debt to England, which was of great importance, the Minister of Foreign Affairs asked D. Manuel II to exercise his influence to clarify the situation. The former monarch was charmed by the opportunity to help his homeland and contacted many of his English contacts (including, probably, King George V) in order to resolve the dispute. Even in exile D. Manuel continued to be a patriot, going as far as declaring in his 1915 testament his intention to transfer his possessions to the Portuguese State, for the creation of a Museum and showing his interest in being buried in Portugal.




In the spring of 1912, Manuel visited Switzerland, where he met Princess Agusta Victoria (his cousin) and was deeply impressed by her. In the following year, on September 4, 1913, D. Manuel married D. Augusta Vitória, Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen Princess (1890–1966)



The ex-Monarch in the robes of a Knight of the Garter. Taken while he lived in Great Britain


The Last King of Portugal in The Pena Palace with his mother Queen Amélia


The Return of The Exiled King in 1933 to Portugal after his death in 1932 in England

He died unexpectedly in his residence on July 2, 1932, suffocated by an abnormal swelling in the vocal folds of his larynx, or tracheal oedema.[14] The Portuguese government, at that time led by António Oliveira de Salazar, authorized his burial in Lisbon, after a state funeral. His body arrived in Lisbon on 2 August 1932, on-board the British cruiser HMS Concord which had made the journey from England and sailed into the Tagus River to deliver the coffin of the former King. The body was received at Praça do Comércio, where a crowd of people had gathered to follow the coffin to São Vicente de Fora and the roads were inundated with people interested in seeing the funeral procession. His body was interned in the Royal Crypt of the Braganza Dynasty in the Monastery of São Vicente de Fora. By some he was given the nickname O Patriota (English: The Patriot), for his preoccupation with the national identity; O Desventurado (English: The Unfortunate), because he lost his throne to the Republic; and O Estudioso or O Bibliófilo (English: The Studious or The Bibliophile) due to his love for Portuguese literature. Monarchists, also referred to him as O Rei-Saudade (English: The Missed King), for the longing that was felt when the monarchy was abolished.

His death has been regarded as suspicious by some because of the fact that he had been playing tennis on 1 July and was apparently in excellent health. An incident surrounding his sudden death was mentioned in the autobiography of Harold Brust, a member of Scotland Yard Special Branch in charge of protecting public figures. In his memoirs, Brust speaks of an incident which probably occurred in 1931 in which he mentions an intruder in the grounds of Fulwell Park who, when arrested, the Police confirmed as being a prominent member of Portuguese republican terrorist group known as the Carbonária and was subsequently deported to Lisbon. To date the identity of the intruder has not been confirmed. Questions remain as to the reason for the man's intrusion.

Since both the Dover and Paris Pacts did not resolve the issue of succession, the lack of a direct heir and owing to the abolition of the monarchy, the Portuguese monarchy ended with Manuel's death. Manuel also made it clear that the branches of the Portuguese monarchy (including the Imperial family of Brazil, the Braganza-Orleans, and the descendants of the Duke of Loulé) ended with the last direct male heir to the House of Braganza. Still, the monarchist Integralismo Lusitano movement acclaimed Duarte Nuno, Duke of Braganza as King of Portugal, since Miguel I of Portugal, on the death of his grandchild lead the Portuguese Royal Family. Their justification, ironically, included the fact that both branches had met to determine the line of succession in Dover and Paris, even though those accords where both later repudiated.

After his death, Oliveira Salazar founded, with the sale of his London estate for development and from the proceeds of his remaining personal possessions and those of the House of Braganza, the Foundation of the House of Braganza.






Carlos I
King of Portugal and the Algarves


Reign 19 October 1889—1 February 1908

Carlos was born in Lisbon, Portugal, the son of King Luís and Queen Maria Pia of Savoy, daughter of Victor Emmanuel II, King of Italy. He had a brother, Infante Afonso, Duke of Porto. He was baptised with the names Carlos Fernando Luís Maria Víctor Miguel Rafael Gabriel Gonzaga Xavier Francisco de Assis José Simão.

His paternal first cousins included Frederick Augustus III of Saxony, Princess Maria Josepha of Saxony, Prince Wilhelm of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen and Ferdinand I of Romania.

His maternal first cousins included Napoléon Victor Bonaparte, Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, Emanuele Filiberto, 2nd Duke of Aosta, Vittorio Emanuele, Count of Turin, Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi, Umberto, Count of Salemi.

He had an intense education and was prepared to rule as a constitutional monarch. In 1883 he traveled to Italy, England, France and Germany where he increased his knowledge of the modern civilization of his time. In 1883, 1886 and 1888 he ruled as regent as his father was traveling in Europe, as it became tradition among the Portuguese constitutional kings. His father Luis I advised him to be modest and to study with focus.

His first bridal candidate was one of the daughters of Frederick III, German Emperor, but the issue of religion presented an insurmountable problem and the pressure of British diplomacy prevented the marriage. He then met and married Princess Amélie of Orléans, eldest daughter of Philippe, comte de Paris, pretender to the throne of France.



1908 Lisbon Regicide

The King, Queen and Prince Royal had been on a month-long[26] retreat in Vila Viçosa, in the Alentejo, where they routinely spent time hunting during the winter. Ironically, the Infante D. Manuel, the youngest son, had returned to Lisbon days earlier, in order to complete his studies. The previous events had forced King Carlos to cut his retreat short and return to Lisbon: the Royal Family caught the train from Vila Viçosa on the morning of February 1. During their trip, the train was temporarily derailed at the loop near Casa Branca, resulting in a delay of an hour. The royal carriage arrived in Barreiro at the end of the afternoon, whereby the Royal Family sailed on the D. Luís to the Terreiro do Paço in the center of Lisbon. On disembarking at the Estação Fluvial Sul e Sueste, around 5:00 in the afternoon, they were met by various members of the government, including Prime Minister João Franco, the Prince D. Manuel, and the King's brother, Afonso, Duke of Oporto. Even in a climate of tension, the monarch opted to travel by open-carriage, wearing his ceremonial uniform as Generalíssimo of the Army, in order to present an air of normality. By protocol, the carriage was accompanied by armed officers and a mounted cavalryman (Francisco Figueira Freire).

At the time, there were few people in the Terreiro do Paço as the carriage rounded the eastern part of the square when the first shot rang out. As reported later, a bearded assassin had walked into the middle of the road after the carriage had passed, removed a Winchester carbine rifle hidden in his cloak, knelt on one knee and fired at the King from 8 meters distance. The shot hit the King's neck, killing him immediately, while other gunmen in the square began to fire on the carriage from various points in the square as onlookers ran in panic. The driver, Bento Caparica, was hit in one hand. The original assassin, later identified as Manuel Buíça, a teacher expelled from the Army, continued to fire: his second shot clipped the shoulder of the monarch, who slumped to the right, his back lying to the left-side of the carriage. Taking advantage of this situation, a second assassin, Alfredo Costa (a clerk and editor), jumped onto the carriage rail and, standing at the height of the passengers, fired on the slumped body of the King. The Queen, then standing, attempted to strike back with the only available weapon, a bouquet of flowers, yelling: "Infames! Infames!"(English: Infamous! Infamous!].

The assassins then turned their attentions on the Prince Royal, Luís Filipe, who had stood to remove and fire his hidden revolver, but was quickly hit in the chest. The bullet, from a small-caliber revolver, did not exit his sternum nor was it fatal, and the Prince, without hesitation fired four rapid-shots at his attacker, who fell from the carriage-rail. But, as Luís Filipe stood to repel his attacker, he was visible to the attacker with the carbine rifle and was hit by a large-caliber shot that exited the top of his skull. The young Prince D. Manuel, protected by his mother during the events, tried to stop the bleeding using a handkerchief, but it quickly became soaked with his brother's blood.

As shots continued to cris-cross the square, Queen Amélia returned to her feet to yell for assistance. The Countess Figueiró, Viscount Asseca and Marquis Lavradio jumped on the landau to support the Crown Prince. The young Prince Manuel was hit in the arm, while the coach-driver was hit in the hand. The original assassin, Buíça, then attempted to fire another round, although it is unclear whether he was aiming for the Queen, Prince Manuel or other officials of the government. Regardless, he was stopped by the intervention of Henrique da Silva Valente, a soldier of the 12th Infantry, who had appeared in the square during the commotion. During his brief confrontation with Buíça, Silva Valente was shot in the leg, but was able to distract the assassin. The cavalry-officer, Francisco Figueira, remounted his horse and fired on Costa who, wounded by the Prince Royal, was arrested by officers. Moving on to Buíça, he wounded the assassin in the leg, who attempted to escape but was quickly immobilized.




The Lisbon Regicide as depicted in the French Press, showing that attackers and Queen Amelias response (February 1908)

The great States and Kingdoms of Europe were revolted, partly due to King Carlos's popularity, as much as the manner in which the assassination was planned and orchestrated. Newspapers around the world published images, some based on false descriptions and exaggerations, but all with the defiant Queen Amélia wielding a bouquet of flowers. In London, the newspapers exhibited photographs of the coffins covered in flowers, with the headline: "Lisbon’s shame!" The English monarch, Edward VII, a friend of the assassinated monarch and heir was known to have uttered:

"They murdered two gentlemen of the Order of the Garter in the street like dogs and in their own country no one cares!"
The new monarch requested the resignation of João Franco's government for not safeguarding the Royal Family, in context of the previous elevator conspiracy and the unpopular policies of his government. Although the Prime Minister had realized that his policies had made him a target, he was never aware the monarch was also targeted by dissidents. Presiding over the Council of State on the afternoon of January 2, with his hand on his chest and in wearing his military uniform, the young monarch confessed his inexperience and lack of preparation requesting aid from his loyal ministers.

The young King voted from the resignation of the João Franco and the formation of coalition government, later referred to as the Acclamation Government, presided by the independent Ferreira do Amaral. The new Prime Minister included in his cabinet members of the Regenerator and Progressive Parties, that formally ended the administrative dictatorship and reverted parliament to normalacy. In fact, Ferreira do Amaral completely abandoned the positions of the former-King: he annulled the dictatorial measures published earlier, liberated political prisoners, provided an amnesty for marines involved in the 1906 revolt, but also going as far as consenting to some Republican demands, including permission for pilgrimages to the tombs of the assassins (at one point about 22,000 people), an event organized by the Associação do Registo Civil (English: Association of the Civil Registry).

The King was also present at the Council Minister's meeting that enacted these measures, and which acclaimed the Marquês de Soveral as Ambassador to England. Close to the Royal Family, the marques also voted for the resignation of João Franco's government. But later, resuming his functions in England, he encountered the British monarch Edward VII in London, to which he stated:

"Well, what kind of country is that, in which you kill the King and Prince and the first thing to do is ask for the resignation of the Prime Minister? The revolution has triumphed, isn't it true?"
Later, the Marques would note: "It was then that I understood the error that we had committed."

Ironically, at his resignation João Franco gave the Republicans the argument that only they were responsible for the collapse of the administrative dictatorship. Initially hesitant, the Republicans proposed a cooperation pact between themselves and the regime, but later at their national Congress in Setúbal (April 24-25, 1909) they quickly decided on forcibly taking power. The initial hesitation was due to the party's structure; the Republican Party was a collection of disenfranchised interests, political movements and dissident groups. Some Republicans were sincerely shocked by the regicide, even if it meant regime change. Rural conservatives were afraid of the effects that such actions would have with their English allies. But the Republican party could not turn their backs on their supporters, the youth of Lisbon, already indoctrinated by the party's propaganda. Consequently, although the Party condemned the act publicly (as if obligated to), its leadership continued to support its base. Magalhães Lima would later declare to the public press in Paris: "I am pleased; yes, very well pleased, for my country, to which a little calm will be restored," repudiating any responsibility for the assassinations on the part of the Republican Party.