Tri-Service

Battle Of Waterloo Ball Recreated 200 Years On

More than 400 guests have attended a glittering recreation of one of the most famous balls in history in Brussels - the one held on the eve of the Battle of Waterloo as the Duke of Wellington rallied his commanders.

Descendants and military representatives of those units who fought at the battle 200 years ago dined and danced as their forebears did in the Concert Noble, a building designed in the 19th century as a suite of ballrooms for the nobility.

From the Georgian silver centre pieces shipped out from Regimental museums, to the gin and sparkling wine, floral displays and the choice of music provided by the Band of the Coldstream Guards and the Scots Guards Pipes and Drums, everything harked back to the fateful evening in mid-June on the eve of Europe's most decisive battle.

In pride of place was a soup tureen whose handles are made from the handles of Napoleon's coach (see above) that was captured by the 10th Light Dragoons during the battle.

The Coldstream Guards Band performed to the guests (left), a statue of the Duke of Wellington (right)

In Brussels on Thursday 15th June 1815, the Duchess of Richmond assembled the great and the good in a coachmaker's barn adjoining the house that the Richmonds had rented in the Rue de la Blanchisserie.

They were joined by Wellington and his men, a few continental Allied officers such as the Prince of Orange, sixteen local noble families and English retired officers and some civilians who were in Brussels for various reasons.