OPENING OF PARLIAMENT.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIII, Issue 75, 27 March 1912, Page 8

OPENING OF PARLIAMENT.

BRILLIANT SCENE IN THE "ROYAL GALLERY.

IMPRESSIVE PAGEANTRY.

(From Our Lady Correspondent)

LONDON, February 10. A journalist is a being who/goes anywhere and everywhere, hears all kinds ol strange tilings and meets all sorts of interesting peop'e, and who can't help noting that the one unvarying comment hound tv be uttered by some ldasc individual near by at any elaborate Mate function is "to the effect that ail audi are "exactly alike."

Fhat a New Zealamler ever becomes hi.isc we would all. of course, hotly ,l.iiv, though it must be acknowledged that, to a certain extent, all Slate functions in England arc more or loss identical, since the pageantry that surrounds any public act on the part ol tiic Sovereign is centuries old. Hut, beyond that, each occasion is hound in exhibit little incidents of i-.s own— some pleasant, others unpleasant and unexpected, as at Carnarvon, when the Swnrd of State was found to have lioeu among the non-starters from London, and when one of the addresses to th" King also went astray and had In bn replaced by n piece ol" blank parchment. Then, two'year. ago, just ,-is King Kd ward was setting out with his I on-ort to open what was destined to be hi-*] lust Parliament, Queen Alexandra's necklet broke, and the pearls scattered in all directions, so that the whole pro-i-eodings'wcre delayed while the precious tilings wero found. One thing is practically always identical, and that is the forming up and managing of the crowds Unit collect at points the Monarch will pa-*, and. with boxes of soldiers and little civilian figures, anyone who knows their London could create a London crowd fnr amusement thousands of miles away. Burly men in blue arrive very early (though not earlier than the vendors of souvenir handkerchiefs, buttons, medals, etc.). and lino the streets some time before tho traflir is shut off. All general pedestrians—that is to -ay. those who are not fortunate possessors of the tickets of the privileged—must then pass behind that bulky wall. Very sunn mounted police take up their stauds, generally at corners or in

squares. Then tho troops who are to line the route arrive, and the spaces not filled up by the foot police arc taken possession of by them with their bayonets ready.

At first easy conversation takes place between soldiers and police, who mc inclined to be charitable to pedestrians and to pay heed to the many ijiiestions with Hhich they're plied by the latter. Let the word be given mil In- some probably quite unimport-ant-looking officer, however, and stiff as .1 ramrod stand the wall of defence—a lmily which the crowd, as it well knows, hul best treat with respect.

Sweepers and scavengers come along anil "tidy up." Orubby-faced cards that have dove duty many times before will now Vie put up at intervals marked "Ambulance Station," and men with stretcher-: and ambulance nurses, in bu*iness-like uniforms, will here take up their position. All the time the crowd v. .11 have grown thicker, and there'll bo much quiet raillery abroad and a little crnbbiness on the part of short people whose toes are being trodden on and whose. \ iew snatched by larger ones. THE SAME—YET BEAUTIFUL. .Mounted constables dear a way alioiuly clear—and whatever is to come, comes! Then beautiful cheers ring out, handkerchiefs are waved gaily, the eight galiaut little cream ponies trot by under their elaborate morocco trappings, with postilions aboard, the King and Oucon bow from side to side, and presently another historic event is recorded.

On Wednesday tbe King and Queen opened the second session of their second Parliament, and all went without a hitch.

The Royal Gallery, where the writer was a guest, is a most noble apartment, full Of objects of interest, and just betweefl the Robing Chamber and the corridor that leads to the House of Lords. ire more great paintings, so -that even the two hours we had to stand were full of interest.

Officials kept entering, too, the Duke of Norfolk, various judges and Lords .lusticcs. the Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Morley, the Great Lord Chamberlain, peeresses, wives of officials, etc.

At half-past, one the picturesque Yeomen of the Guard entered, their halberds gleaming and their quaint d*!ss making ,i sudden vivid splash of colour in a community mainly black, since the Court X of course, in mourning for the Duke of Fife. Officers all wore black bands on their coat-sleeves, some had black rosettes also on the shoulder, and nearly all the peeresses were in black, with black veils and feathers.

Next entered the Gentlemen-at-Arms, grizzled old warriors, in scarlet, with glistening helmets and tremendously long waving white cockade. and carrying pikes. These formed the advance guard of tiie King.

Then a sharp command near at hand rang out—this to the giant Guardsmen on duty on tne. stairs leading to the Royal Gallery—guns boomed in salute from St. dames' Park, tho crowd outside raised their voices in bursts of cheering, there was silence, and we knew the King and Queen had entered the Robing Chamber.

Xow the escort began to form up in the Royal Gallery just outside the great portals to the Chamber. JCarl Beauchamp, bearing the rich Sword of State, took his place, the Karl Marshal, the Duke of Norfolk, stood ready to walk! backwards, a difliciili. art at which he is an adept, the Master of the Horse -was there. Viscount Morley, the Lord Chancellor, Sir Evelyn Wood I Constable of tne Tower) ; the State Trumpeters, bright in red and gold and blue with elaborately embossed tabards attached to th°ir Ion" silver instruments, stood close 10 the door, the darter King of Anns and other such kings "richly dight,'" the various Heralds, the bearers of two golden maces, and yet others. Then, with no little pomp, the Duke of Wellington, the holder of the Cap of Maintenance, entered, and the Marquis of Crewe holding the Imperial Crown on a cushion. i A DAZZLING SPECTACLE. All eyes were on the beautiful doors, j The many electric lights in the Royal Gallery were turned on. and, as the doors opened and the Royalties came out among _.■?. the sight was almost dazzling. A shattering fanfare ring out from the trumpets, and, slowly through Inclines of the Yeomen of the Guari, the King and yuecn, hand.n hand, advanced, bowing to the guests assembled—the __mg Tn the uniform -fa Field-Marshal under his great crimspn and ermine mantle, but wearing no hAt-

The Queen made a stately picture indeed, in black save fer the blue ribbon of the Garter across her corsage, but sparkling with wonderful diamonds, a crown of them on her fair hair, a collar round her neck, and ropes of the glistening jewels, their fire seeming to leap in the light, with the peerless Cullinan on her breast. The ermine cape on her mantle showed her lovely complexion to yet greater beauty, and her long train curried by pages in old-fashioned dress gave the whole scene suddenly the pageantry of a fair}- tale.

A quarter of an hour later Parliament liatl been opened with all ceremony, and the Royel Procession passed before us once more —and it was all over.