His Most Gracious Majesty King Edward VIILowndes, Marie Belloc
History
His Most Gracious Majesty King Edward VII
Lowndes, Marie Belloc
Edward VII, King of Great Britain, 1841-1910
Some interesting hours were spent at Agra, where the King went to see
the Taj illuminated, the beautiful marble “Queen of Sorrow” erected by
the Shah Jehan in memory of his much-loved wife, Moomtaz i Mahul, who
died at the birth of her eighth child. The King was so greatly charmed
with the beauty of the Taj, lit up by myriad lights, that he would not
return to the city till nearly midnight. All through the journeys and
expeditions which immediately followed, His Majesty could not forget
what he had seen, and before finally leaving the district he paid one
more visit to the famous tomb, seeing it this time not illuminated, but
by the beautiful full Indian moonlight.
The King shot his first tiger on 5th February in the neighbourhood
of Jeypur, but it was by no means the last, for it is recorded that
he shot six tigers in one day when hunting in Nepaul with Sir Jung
Bahadur. Then he returned through Lucknow, Cawnpore, and Allahabad.
At Jubbulpur His Majesty went through the prison, and had some talk
with seven Thugs who had been thirty-five years in confinement, and
whose life in the first instance had only been spared because they had
turned Queen’s evidence. The King questioned them as to their hideous
trade, and one man, a villainous-looking individual, answered proudly,
in reply to the question as to how many people he had murdered,
“Sixty-seven.”
King Edward and his suite left Bombay for home on 13th March, just
seventeen weeks after the _Serapis_ had first dropped anchor in Bombay
harbour. During those four months he had travelled close on 8000 miles
by land and 2500 miles by sea, and during that time he had become
acquainted with more Rajahs than had all the Viceroys who had ever
reigned over India, and he had seen more of the country than had any
living Englishman.
The intelligence that Queen Victoria was about to assume the title of
Empress of India had become known before the _Serapis_ left Bombay, and
caused her son great gratification. Curiously enough, the King met Lord
Lytton, who was on his way out to Hindustan to succeed Lord Northbrook
as Viceroy, when the _Serapis_ was going through the Suez Canal.
The Royal party spent five days in Egypt. By 6th April Malta was in
sight, and the King was received there with great enthusiasm, as was
also the case at Gibraltar, where he had the pleasure of meeting his
brother, the Duke of Connaught. From there the _Serapis_ proceeded by
easy stages round Spain, the King taking the opportunity of visiting
Seville, Cordova, Madrid, the Escurial, Lisbon, and Cintra. At Madrid
King Alfonso came to meet the King at the station, and they drove
together to the Palace, going from there to Toledo in order that the
Royal visitor might inspect the famous manufactory of Toledo blades.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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