Three years earlier, Stockmar, after careful enquiry, had revealed in an elaborate memorandum an extraordinary state of affairs.

The control of the household, it appeared, was divided in the strangest manner between a number of authorities, each independent of the other, each possessed of vague and fluctuating powers, without responsibility, and without co-ordination.

Of these authorities, the most prominent were the Lord Steward and the Lord Chamberlain--noblemen of high rank and political importance, who changed office with every administration, who did not reside with the Court, and had no effective representatives attached to it.

The distribution of their respective functions was uncertain and peculiar.

In Buckingham Palace, it was believed that the Lord Chamberlain had charge of the whole of the rooms, with the exception of the kitchen, sculleries, and pantries, which were claimed by the Lord Steward.