Publication of the memoirs of Miguel Oliveira de la Vega, the King’s footman

Article published in O Século, 27th April 1922, Lisbon

Only four days have passed since the so-called Monarchy fell on St George’s Day, 23 April. But there were those who didn’t wait to seize the chance, taking advantage of historical reversals as a promotional break. Such is the case of Mr. Miguel Oliveira de la Vega, footman to the man who called himself King, and who immediately took the opportunity to publish his autobiography, through the publishing house Bertrand.

From the beginning of the monarchist insurrection, on 19 January 1919, Mr. Oliveira de la Vega occupied a very specific position as a footman: grooming the left shoe. Every morning, twice in the afternoon, and once in the evening, he had the duty of dusting D. Manuel II’s left shoe – only the left, it should be noted, as the right was the responsibility of his colleague Ernesto Teixeira do Gato. This is the title he chose for his autobiography: My Life as the Dust Eradicator of the Sinister Foot, in which he recounts the three years he spent in this prestigious position.

According to the testimony of Mr. Oliveira de la Vega, the dust on King Manuel II’s left shoe was of all kinds: ‘sometimes drops of blood from the Republicans, sometimes drops of blood from the wounds of our allies, sometimes mere grains of sand carried by the sea wind’. The author, and former footman, lists all the types of dirt that should be cleaned in a left shoe, which he identifies and classifies in accordance with a systematic typology worthy of the most methodical nomenclatures in Lavoisier’s work.

In addition to these detailed chronicles, of remarkable importance, the author demonstrates the extent to which the entire Monarchy rested on his shoulders. A king is defined by his army of servants, his court, his privileges, his people and his absurd royal prerogatives: without all this, he is nothing. A king without a footman is not a king, but a mere human, pathetic and mortal like everyone else.

By seeing his majestic shoes being cleaned every day, D. Manuel II felt like a king, became a king, was a king, because, as Etienne de la Boétie emphasised, it is the submission of subjects that gives tyrants their power: without them they are nothing, without belief there is no king; the weakest ones make the strongest.

‘Despite being a footman, I carried the Monarchy in my shoulders,’ observes Mr. Oliveira de la Vega. A new and interesting perspective on the bloody civil war that has just ended. Above the King’s power was the even greater power of his left shoe.