The Life of King Edward VII: with a sketch of the career of King George VHopkins, J. Castell (John Castell)
History
The Life of King Edward VII: with a sketch of the career of King George V
Hopkins, J. Castell (John Castell)
Edward VII, King of Great Britain, 1841-1910
The Queen wore a
black velvet dress trimmed with white ermine, the Princess of Wales was
in blue silk covered with black lace, and the Prince was in the uniform
of a British General and wearing the orders of the Garter and the Bath.
At Temple Bar the Queen was formally received by the Lord Mayor and
Sheriffs of London, and the city sword handed to Her Majesty and
returned in the usual way. At one o'clock the Royal party arrived at the
Cathedral and passed up a covered way of crimson cloth to the steps,
where they were received by the Bishop of London, the Dean and Chapter
of St. Paul's and the officers of Her Majesty's Household. The vast
interior of the building had been arranged to accommodate 13,000
persons, and was crowded to the doors. Space under the dome was reserved
for the Queen, the Royal family, the House of Lords, the House of
Commons, the Corps Diplomatique and the distinguished foreigners, the
Judges and the dignitaries of the law, the Lords Lieutenant and Sheriffs
of Counties, the representatives of universities and other learned
bodies. The choir was reserved for the Clergy, and the place assigned to
Her Majesty and their Royal Highnesses was slightly raised, made into a
kind of pew and covered with crimson cloth.
The Royal procession as it moved up the aisle included, besides the
members of the Royal family, such well known officials and members of
the Court as Major-General Lord Alfred Paget, Lieutenant-General Sir
John Cowell, Colonel H. F. Ponsonby, Major-General Sir T. M. Biddulph,
General Sir William Knollys, Rear-Admiral Lord Frederick Kerr, the
(late) Lord Methuen, General Lord Strathnairn, the Marquess of
Aylesbury, the Viscount Sydney, the Countess of Gainsborough, the Lady
Churchill, Lady Caroline Barrington, the Hon. Mrs. Grey, the Countess of
Morton and Lord Harris. Most of the great names and great personages of
England were present at this function. There were 200 Peers and
Peeresses; the Archbishops of Canterbury and York and fourteen Bishops;
nearly every member of the House of Commons. Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone
were there as were Mr. Disraeli and Viscountess Beaconsfield. Lord
Northbrook, Mr. W. E. Forster, Mr. Cardwell, Mr. Chichester Fortescue,
Mr. Goschen, and Lord Granville were visible. Throngs of ladies,
brilliant in blue and mauve and crimson satin and gems were present,
and, as the sun suddenly shone through what had been sullen clouds, the
spectacle within those parts of the Cathedral touched by the stream of
light was beautiful indeed. It shone upon the bright blue of many
dresses--the Royal colour of the day--mixed up in a confusion of
effective shadings with the dark blue and burnished gold of the
uniforms, the scarlet and white plumes of the officers, the gorgeous
robes of the Peers, the white lawn of the Bishops.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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