It has been said that the Court is a state within a state, an imperium in imperio.  In this state, within Prussia or within the Empire, it is the same thing for our purpose, there are two main departments, that of the Lord Chamberlain (Oberstkammeramt) and that of the Master of the Household (Ministerium des Koeniglichen Hauses).  The first deals with all questions of court etiquette, court ceremonial, court mourning, precedence, superintendence of the courts of the Emperor’s sons and near relatives, and of all Prussian court offices.  The second deals with the personal affairs of the Emperor and his sons, the domestic administration of the palace, the management of the Crown estates and castles, and is the tribunal that decides all Hohenzollern differences and disputes that are not subject to the ordinary legal tribunals.  Connected with this Ministry are the Herald’s office and the Court Archives office.  The chief Court officials include, beside the Lord Chamberlain and the Master of the Household, a Chief Court Marshal.  The Master of the Household is also Chief Master of Ceremonies, with a Deputy Master of Ceremonies who is also Introducer of Ambassadors, two Court Marshals, a Captain of the Palace Guards, a Court Chaplain, Court Physician, an Intendant in charge of the royal theatres, a Master of the Horse who has charge of the royal stables, a House Marshal, and a Master of the Kitchen.  All these officials are princes (Fuerst) or counts (Graf), with the title Highness (Durchlaucht) or Excellency.

Court officials also include the various nobles in charge of the royal palaces, castles, and hunting lodges at Potsdam, Charlottenburg, Breslau, Stettin, Marienburg, Posen, Letzlingen, Hohkoenigsberg, Homberg von der Hoehe, Springe, Hubertusstock, Rominten, Korfu (the “Achilleion"), Wiesbaden, Koenigsberg, etc., to the number of thirty or more.  The Empress has her own Court officials, including a Mistress of the Robes and Ladies of the Bedchamber, also with the title of Excellency, the Ladies being chosen from the most aristocratic families of Germany.  The Empress has her own Master of the Household, physician, treasurer, and so on.  Similarly with the households of the Crown Prince, other royal princes and the Emperor’s near relatives.

Every order the Emperor gives that is not of a purely domestic kind passes through one of his three cabinets—­the Civil Cabinet, the Military Cabinet, or the Marine Cabinet.  The cost of the first, with its chief, who receives L1,000 a year, and half a dozen subordinate officials on salaries of L200 to L350, is budgeted at about L10,000 a year.  The Military Cabinet is a much larger establishment, having several departments and a staff of half a hundred councillors and clerks.  The Naval Cabinet, on the other hand, is composed of only three upper officials and five clerks.  The Emperor’s “civil list” is returned in the Budget as L860,000 roughly.  His entire