Great Britain -- History -- Victoria, 1837-1901 -- Fiction
The Queen was aroused from her sorrow over what she ever looked upon as
a disgrace to her country by the approaching marriage of Princess
Beatrice to Prince Henry of Battenberg. Their wedding was quite
different from those of the other royal children, for it was celebrated
at the country church near Osborne. No one knew how to manage a royal
wedding in a little village church, and there were all sorts of
momentous questions to be settled before the arrangements were
complete. It all came out well in the end, however. There was not room
for quite so many royalties as usual, but the wedding day was a
delightful holiday for the people of the Isle of Wight, for there were
fireworks, bands, a dinner and a dance for all the tenants and servants
on the estate, and a most beautiful display of sailing vessels and
steamers. Tennyson's home was on the Isle of Wight, and the Queen sent
him a charmingly informal invitation to the wedding. "It would give me
the greatest pleasure," she wrote, "if you would come over for the
wedding in our village church, but I fear you won't do that? But pray
come and see me when all is quiet again." Tennyson did not attend the
wedding, but the Princess must have counted among her choicest gifts
his message, "To the royal bride the old poet sends his blessing." This
marriage alone of all those in the royal family was not to bring
separation, for it was agreed that the Princess and Prince Henry should
remain with the Queen.
This Queen and Empress had now been on the throne for nearly half a
century, and throughout her dominions there was a feeling that so rare
an event ought to be celebrated with fitting magnificence. The Jubilee
feeling was in the air. Every town and every little village wished to
mark the time by something that should remain as a lasting memorial.
Libraries, hospitals, and museums were founded, and parks were
purchased and thrown open to the public. Memorial clocks, statues,
schools, and towers sprang into being in every corner of the land, and
in all the colonies. "God Save the Queen" was sung in Hindustanee on
the shores of Asia and in Hebrew in the synagogues of London. Addresses
of congratulation and loyalty came in by the score; representatives of
all the colonies flocked to England, as sons and daughters hastened
homeward to a family gathering.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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