Over the next few months the Château de Chambord is paying tribute to great banquets of the past by laying out four historic table services (26 September–24 January 2027). The first speculatively recreates a supper from 1539, when the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and François I, King of France visited the castle. As well as royal goldsmithing and silverware there are furnishings and tableware specially created based on drawings from the period – and actual cuts of meat to make it feel all the more real. The other reimagined meals include Louis XIV’s final feast at Chambord in 1685, including 56 starters and soups based on 17th-century recipes (here made of resin); post-dinner drinks served on the 18th-century queen Marie Leszczyńska’s portable tea-and-chocolate set; and the exhibition’s most faithful recreation: a gala supper made for Prince Charles and Princess Diana in 1988, featuring not only the Sèvres porcelain and Savonnerie carpets but also the dress worn by the princess for the occasion.
