Points of Interest
The Gardens and National Palace of Queluz
Camarim in Queen Carlota Joaquina’s Apartments
Part of Queen Carlota Joaquina’s Apartments, the Camarim was a room intended for private gatherings and leisure. Traditionally associated with the storage of collections and family portraits, the meaning of the term evolved until the early nineteenth century, when it came to designate a room where visitors could be received and leisure time enjoyed in a more intimate setting. The term gradually fell out of use in palace residences, particularly from the advent of liberalism onwards, and was replaced by more specific designations reflecting the everyday functions of these rooms.
The Camarim allowed the Queen to enjoy leisure activities, including her favourite card games. A Chinese-made lacquered wooden box containing mother-of-pearl counters engraved with the Queen’s coat of arms and initials was used for games such as voltarete and whist, which required strategic skill. Listed in an inventory in 1807 in the Camarim of Carlota Joaquina’s apartments at Quinta do Ramalhão, this object bears witness to the movement of objects between the different royal residences.
About Queen Carlota Joaquina’s Apartments
Born in Spain, Carlota Joaquina (1775–1830) came to live at the National Palace of Queluz at the age of ten, following her marriage to Infante João, the future King João VI (1767–1826). A prominent and controversial figure in Portuguese and Brazilian history, she played an active political role at a time when women’s participation in public life was limited, asserting her influence in court affairs.
In 1807, she accompanied the royal family to Brazil following the French invasions, returning to Portugal in 1821. Later, she supported her son, Miguel, in defending absolutism against the liberal movement.
In the final years of her life, the Queen chose a ground-floor area of the National Palace of Queluz, close to the gardens, for her apartments. She died there in 1830. The rooms, which retain furniture and objects that belonged to her, offer an insight into her daily life and personal taste, shaped by the trends of the period.
Before the Queen occupied them, these rooms had been the residence of Pedro Carlos (1786–1812), who held a prominent position at court as an Infante of both Spain and Portugal.
