Vice-Regal Saint: "Gentlemen, you may smoke"
THE LONG BAN ON SMOKING mercifully came to an end with the demise of Queen Victoria in 1901. During that long reign - the longest ever - smoking was frowned upon and not allowed at court. The Empress encouraged an anti-smoking society throughout Victorian England, even while chimney sweeps and gentlemen clubs cluttered the imperial capital. That all changed overnight when Edward VII ascended the throne at the beginning of the 20th Century, and after dinner on his first day as King pronounced, "Gentlemen, you may smoke". 
Perhaps that is why a fine cigar is a guilty pleasure for an English gentleman - it goes back to that day when eminent men in their black clad awe were mourning the passing of an era, and then that moment of embarrassed exhilaration arrives when the new King enters the room and declares that men should characterise their gravitas by puffing away! Oh, what sad and strange elation is this, the Edwardian era has arrived!
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2 comments:
Let's not be too hard on Queen Vicky. Remember, she was fond of whisky, and was quite partial to Canadian Club.
Also note that smoking was not banned anywhere, except at court. It was merely discouraged, which is a far cry with what heavy handed government does today.
Here in the land of the disobedient children of the British Empire (the USA) I often marvel at a few things every Fourth of July. The first is why we here in Texas celebrate it at all (our independence day is March 2 and we have never fought the British) and also how ironic it is that we are celebrating "independence" while the government tells us we have to drive OUR cars on OUR roads at this speed or with these safety features etc, where we can use fireworks to celebrate our "independence", in some places how far we have to be from our homes to celebrate with a BBQ and of course when and where we can smoke. I have often doubted seriously whether King George III ever would have cared what time of year someone killed a deer on their property or how much water their outhouse used.
Unhealthy as it may be I stubbornly continue to smoke (King Edward's on occasion but not often) and at least one of the reasons is the principle of the thing. I have also tried to make mental note of all the monarchs who have been smokers just to add a little lustre to my own habit.
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