On the advice of his doctor, Luís I moved his “bed chambers” to the main floor in the last year of his life, occupying those which had accommodated the Princes Carlos and Afonso during their childhood and adolescence. After the king’s death, in 1889, Prince Afonso returned to the rooms until 1910, the year of the palace’s closure.

In 1888, this was where Luís I worked. Despite its intimate decoration, it also came to be used as a Dispatch Room. This decoration was recorded in a watercolour by Enrique Casanova, which served as the basis for this reconstruction. The wallpaper, recently manufactured, was made in France following traditional methods and reproduces the 19th century original, from the House of Tourquetil.

Pride of place on the main wall is the portrait of Maria Pia, at 33, dressed for a formal occasion in blue and white, the colours of the Portuguese monarchy, by Carolus Duran. The seating in the room is of particular historical importance. It was used on board the Príncipe Real, the ship which took João VI and his retinue to Brazil, after the invasion of Napoleonic forces.

This room was decorated by three Gobelins tapestries which were part of the Turkish Customs series. These were part of a group of four pieces, the only complete group known on the theme. One of the pieces is in the palace depository.

Ambassadors and the rest of the Diplomatic Corp, representing the respective Heads of State, came here before being taken into the Throne Room.

For almost two centuries, this was the Nation’s room to receive the highest representatives. At the entrance of the monarch, musicians would play Hino da Carta, the national anthem at the time. The musicians’ gallery, which is in this room, was taken away during the reign of King Luís and set in the João VI room.
In the period, the Hand Kissing ceremony was the most symbolic in terms of representing the Court hierarchy, and was how subjects showed their obedience and loyalty to their King.
Ceiling: Heroic Virtue, allegory on the exaltation of João VI; Manuel Piolti and Máximo Paulino dos Reis; 1820s.

It was here that most of the royal banquets were held, as well as some of the most significant ceremonies of the 19th century, such as the Acclamation of Miguel (1828) and the wedding of King Carlos (1886). The decoration always included a profusion of plants and silver which sparkled in the candlelight and were multiplied in the splendid grandeur of the mirrors. Even today, banquets given by the President of the Republic are served in this hall. The pieces of gold and silver work from the 17th to the 19th century, produced in the best national and European workshops, together with 18th century Chinese porcelain services, lining the sideboards, clearly display the artistic wealth of the tableware used by the Portuguese Royal Household.

The last room going on from the Throne Room was the Archers’ Room on formal occasions. Its excellent acoustics meant it was also sometimes used for concerts.
The ceiling, by an unknown artist, has a light blue sky, with some patches of cloud, in an elliptical architectonic structure.
The geometrical black and white marble paving has the names of its artisans inscribed on it: “Antonio Moreira Rato & F. OS EXECUTARAM 1891”.