Note 12 — Chapter II · THE PROGRESS OF ELÉONORE. (1666-1676.)

The theatre is in the old part of the castle at Celle, approached by vaulted, stone corridors, with walls five feet thick, and has a large stage and a number of little boxes, the Royal box of course occupying a position of prominence. The decorations are simple; most of the theatre is whitewashed. Like the rest of the castle of Celle, it has changed little, though the castle has witnessed many changes. On the death of George William, the castle passed into the possession of George III., and through him to successive kings of England. On the accession of Queen Victoria, the schloss became the property of the King of Hanover, Ernest Augustus (Duke of Cumberland), who altered it somewhat inside, not for the better, and it remained in the possession of the Royal Family of Hanover until the Revolution of 1866, when it was seized, together with other Hanoverian possessions, by Prussia, and merged into the Province of Brunswick. For some time it was used as one of the summer palaces of the present Prince Regent of Brunswick; but he rarely goes there now, and the schloss is almost dismantled of furniture, but well kept and in perfect order.