And the Horse He Came In On...

Of course John, one never shouts at the mess staff, but pen a stiffly worded note to The House Member or in extremis The PMC! I can’t help thinking that for the British gritting one’s teeth at poor service is a deeply ingrained quality, with ancient origins. I was once asked how a stranger to London and the English would tell if they had committed a faux pas on the Tube. I told him that he would receive the most heinous insult one English person has for one another. A soft “Tut” with perhaps a slight uplift of the head. “That doesn’t sound so bad” he said. “Trust me” I explained “they will be seething with rage inside!” Stoically tolerating insolence and poor service is a national pastime. We get enough sodding practice.

Hans-Karl,

no doubt the groom deserved the somewhat rough treatment...if he had kept the horse still in accordance with his official duty, Her Majesty would not have slipped down again on the other side.

The reprimanding beating of this incompetent servant can really not be blamed on Napoleon!

FW did not have the exuberant activity of Napoleon. He would not have been in danger of slipping off the horse, because a prussian-dutiful groom would probably have helped him to mount.

And Wellington would have been too refined to chastise his groom himself...his aide de camp would have taken care of that.

😉