allow. Just then the State Carriages entered the court & all the ladies of the corps took warning & commenced preparing to enter the presence of Her Most Gracious Majesty - I followed immediately behind Mr D - taking care not to tread upon her train - Made my curtsey [sic] (upon which Mr D afterwards congratulated me) & passed on to join the line stationed along the wall - the wives of the Ambassadors - for an hour at least we watched a stream of people going through the same ceremony - bowing or kissing the Queen's hand passing before her, Prince Albert the Princess Alice, [Daher?] of Cambridge & then down the side of the room where we stood & so on out into the reception room adjoining. At the end of all this the Royal family went quietly into a room behind this & we all collected our trains & descended without further parade to the cloak room - A few moments more & we had exchanged this