An Honoured Guest. The 1764 Journeys across Piedmont of Prince Edward, Duke of York and Albany

Travelling under the alias of ‘Earl of Ulster’, Prince Edward Augustus, Duke of York and Albany, was the first member of the English Royal Family who visited Italy as a grand tourist, from 28 November 1763 to 17 August 1764. Considering some contemporary archival and printed sources, this paper will focus on Prince Edward’s two journeys across Piedmont, putting them in the wider experience of the Eighteenth Century Italian Grand Tour. Particular attention will be given to the importance role played by the ceremonial rules in the social interactions that took place during the above-mentioned journeys, to the impact of Prince Edward’s presence in Turin in the context of the political and diplomatic relationships between the Kingdom of Sardinia and the Kingdom of Great Britain and to the judgments expressed on the British traveller guest by the archival sources.