ENGLAND'S ROYAL WEDDING

Auckland Star, Volume LIII, Issue 50, 1 March 1922, Page 5

ENGLAND'S ROYAL WEDDING

THE PRINCESS MARY MARRIED. Sunshine ancl the Nation's Goodwill. A PURELY BRITISH CEREMONIAL. King and Queen Thank die Empire. MESSAGES FROM THE NATIONS. Princess Victoria Alexandra Alice Mary, only daughter of Their Majesties King George V. and Queen Mary, sovereigns of Great Britain, Ireland, India, and the British Dominions, was married at Westminster Abbey, London, yesterday morning, to Viscount Henry George Charles Lascelles, eldest son of the Earl of Harewood. This Royal wedding, the first for centuries of a British sovereign's daughter in the Abbey, aroused most extraordinarily worldwide interest, for the reason that the Princess Mary had captured the affections not only of her own people, but also of all other races who had been allied with Britain in the war. It occasioned one of the most notable British Imperial assemblages, and most brilliant ceremonials in the history of British pageantry, and was gloriously blessed with sunshine, which burst forth from the midst of a spell of London's characteristically dull weather. The bride and bridegroom had a wonderful ovation of acclamation from the populace, and received unique greetings from France, America, and elsewhere. At the conclusion of the ceremony the King and Queen sent out to all their subjects of the Empire an official message of thanks for the affectionate good wishes showered upon them and their daughter from all quarters.

A SIMPLE CEREMONY,

BRIDE AMONG HER PEOPLE. • PURELY BBIXISH FAGEAHT. STBBZExnro mass or SPECTATORS. ,gy Cable, rrw AeeoctftOon.— Copyright) i LONDON, February 28. The Abbey, with all its wealth of historic ceremonials, was probably never the setting for one more beautiful in its simplicity, and in which public interest was so generally centred, than the wedding of the King's only daughter. It is centuries since a King's daughter was married in the Abbey. It was a thoroughly family affair, in which assembled representatives of every class, from the highest to the humblest. There were delegates from every unit of the British Commonwealth of Nations, and, unlike previous great ceremonirls, there was a notable absence of foreign Royalties, though foreign nations paid their respects through the diplomatic corps.

Remarkable enthusiasm has been evinced throughout the country since the Princess was affianced. This is mainly accounted for by the fact that the Princess, so greatly beloved, is to remain at home among her "own folk," instead of gracing some foreign court. Her amiability, together with her generous unsparing efforts in every social movement to help the lowly among her people, found a reflex in the immense crowd attracted from all quarters of the great city to accord her honour.

Well before the appointed hour the invited guests began to arrive at the Abbey. Peer, commoner, labourite, social reformers, and the heads of various religious bodies took up their allotted positions. Australia was represented by Sir J. Cook and his wife, the Agents -General and their wives. New Zealand was represented by Sir J. Allen. They occupied prominent nositions, while some eighteen Beats were found for other well-known Australian visitors.

Every part of the grey old abbey was filled with guests. The resplendent costumes of the ladies, the brilliant uniforms of the naval and military officers, and the robes of the peers made a mass of colour. Kaleidoscopic lights streamed from the rich stained glass windows on the animated scene. Outside the the scene was no less thrilling. Thou-j sands of spectators found accommodation in the huge stands within the afitoey precincts and around Westminster Hospital, while from another great stand in Parliament Square, commanding the view along Whitehall to Trafalgar Square, a eplendid coup d' oeil was obtained as the royal procession moved down this broad thoroughfare outlined in colour on either hand by the troops in gay uniforms.

Behind -the troorps the space was densely packed by sightseers. Aβ the procession swung through the Admiralty Arch into Whitehall volleys of cheering greeted the Princess, and a great ovation was accordeed her as the carriage entered Parliament Square, the latter being finely decorated in a colour scheme of blue and white. Tall silver ■columns carried blue banners, bearing the monogTams of Princess Mary and Viscount Llscelles, while the Venetian masts around the square were surmounted by gilt coronets, and bannerettes of the national colours fluttered in the breeze. From mast to mast swung white floral garlands intermingled with golden lilies. Medallions with the heads of bride and bridegroom in relief were affixed to each alternate mast.

In the g-eneral rejoicing the victims of the war were not overlooked. Such Wounded men as are still in hospitals in London were provided with special to view the procession.

TWO GREAT PROCESSIONS. There were two processions from the palace separated by a ehort interval. The Queen, with a captain's escort from the let life Guards, formed the first, which left the palace at 11J3. A minute earlier Queen Alexandra left Marlborough House with a captain's escort from the let Idfe Guards. The King with Princess Mary, who left the palace at II.MJ accompanied by a field officers , escort, formed the second procession.

St. James , Park and the Mall accommodated a great concourse of onlookers, while Oarlton House Terrace afforded a choke vantage point.

Tie route was lined by battalions from the Grenadier, Coldstream, Scots and Welsh Guards, and representative detachments of the London territorial divisions. At one point in the joyous procession there was an oasis of silence. Bntain'e monument to the glorious dead, its (base piled round with wreaths of immortelles (brought to mind that joy and sorrow were fellow travellers on life a journey.

While those in the Abbey a-waited fhe eonnng of the bride, Mr. Sydney Nicholson, the Albbey organist, played a selection of music chosen to represent early Engiltsh music and the later British compositions. The programme included Purcen's "Trumpet Voluntary," Handel s four movements from "Water Musk," Parry's <<Bridal Marcih," Elgar*e "Imperial March," and Walford Davies "Solemn Melody." Other items were Guilmant's "Marche Nuptiale," and Saint Saens' "Benediction." The Abbey choir was strengthened by the choir of the Chapel Royal. THE ROYALTIES ARRIVE. Cheering outside the Abbey announced the arrival of the royalties, and the murmur of conversation in the AWbey died away to silence as the Princess, on hex father's arm, approached the altar, accompanied by her "bridesmaids, tie Princess Maud, Lady Rachel Cavendish Lady Mary Thynne, Lady Victoria Cambridge, Lady Doris Gordon Lennox, Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, Lady Diana Bridgeman, and Lady Mary Cambridge. Each (bridesmaid carried a bouquet of sweet peas caught with silver ribbon streamers.

Viscount Lascelles, with Sir Vctor Mackenzie, awaited the arrival of the Princess at the altar. The groupings round the altar made a scene of splendour. The Archbishops of Canterbury and York, the Dean of Westminster, the Bishops of London and Oxford and other clergy in their magnificent vestments forawd an effective setting to the diaphanous draperies of the bridal party. The Dean received the King and bride at the -west door, and then with the canons of the cathedral and choir, preceded the bridal procession up the Nave singing "Lead us, Heavenly Father," the hymn selected by the bride. A TRIUMPHAL SEARCH. The Archbishop of Canterbury conducted the service. After the singing of the opening hymn, Psalm 67 was chanted and at the conclusion of the service the hymn, "Praise, my soul the King of Heaven" was sung to Gosse's musk. After the blessing was pronounced, and a s the bride and bridegroom proceeded to Edward the Confessor's Chapel, to sign the register, an anthem, "Beloved let us Love one Another," specially composed for the occasion by Mr. Nicholson was sung; then as the bridal party left the chapel and proceeded down the Nave, the organ played the bridal march from Gounod's "Romeo et Juliet," followed by Mendelsdhnn's "Wedding March" as the party quitted the Abbey. Great cheering burst out as the bridal carriage drove away, the couple bowing their achnowledgments.

There was perhaps only one thin" wanting in the Princess's happiness, and that was the fact that her elder brother, to whom she is devotedly attached was unalble to take part in the ceremony.

The return journey to Buckingham Palace was triumphal. They followed the same route as that from the Palace, except that the Princess's carriage turned out of the Mall at Mariborough

"House into. St. James Street, and thence went by Piccadilly and down Constitution 'Hill. This gave a longer route for the spectators, and also enabled their Majesties and the other Royalties to return to the Palace by a shorter route to enable them to receive the newlymarried couple at the Palace.

THE ARCHBISHOP'S ADDRESS.

The Archbishop of Canterbury conducted the service. In an address he said:—"lt is a stirring thing for any man or woman, whoever they be, to find themselves for a brief space the very foen s or centre of the interest and prayers of literally millions of people throughout the world. You so stand this morning. Around us just now in every land, and not least in our own, confused anxieties are throbbing, and urgent needs depress men's minds, but we have met for once in quietness, and confidence. This sanctuary is holy ground. It has been for long centuries dedicated to the sacring of new responsibilities. Your vows are very sacred things attested by us all and radiant with hope.

"Yet great as the occasion is, what we are gathered for is a simple, I might almost say, a homely thing, and an act familiar in.the story of every household in the land. It is to unite a man and a maiden in wedlock unbreakable while life lasts; it is to wish them bo£h God's speed upon life's pathway, to remind them of the mutual society, help and comfort that one ought to have of the other, both in prosperity and adversity. And because it is so simple the opportunities it offers are plain and large.

"It seems pro'oaDle that no daughter of a reigning King ever until to-day was married in Westminster Abbey. Certainly no marriage ever took place here under conditions quite like yours. Wartime partly created them. Each of you in the grim war years found new opportunities and used them when the fibre of British manhood was being sternly tested day by day in shell-swept trench and on bare hillside. Yours, my brother, did much more than stand the

test. Such testing and such equipment can make good its outcome in quieter after-years. No call of that King, no necessity on that scale, please God. will come again in your life-time, b,ut to those worthy of it peace brings privileges in a central place. Our central hqpnes can bestow on English life an inestimable boon if the fierce light which beats upon such homes reveals there what is honourable and pure, what is lovely and of good report. The gain is far-reaching. It spreads. There lies an opportunity for both of you. You are going to use it.

"To you, my child, the war-days of your girlhood brought occasion of glad service. Experience, however simple, in hospital ward, can give abiding stimulus to one who cares. In that effort, as also in the leadership of disciplined English girlhood, you gained thoughts and knowledge which will now contribute to securing the strength, orderliness and sunshine of a great English home. Together you will set yourselves thereto. The happiness of home life, even when blessed like yours with high traditions, is not a matter of course. It has its roots in mutual love which is not fender only but thoughtful in resources, a love unselfish in devotion but brave and unreserved in its honesty of mutual counsel.

"So may you together go from strength to" strength. The power so to do must come from on high. We are here this morning as Christians, our fealty and your fealty pledged to the living LoTd.'-The centre of inspiration, the Master in the home is Jesus Christ our Lord. It is in His Name that with gladness of heart and buoyancy of hope we to-day, on behalf of the whole Empire and people, bid you God's speed."

RUSES OF SPECTATORS. The fortunate ones were those who in the early morning hours took possession of the base of the Victoria Memorial. Less fortunate were those who packed both sides of the Mall, for the stalwart Guardsmen, whose uniforms and black bearskins added eplendour to the occasion, stood in such close formation along the route that onlookers had little chance of seeing the procession.

It was remarkable how many women had, with a forethought and knowledge gamed v from war experience, improvised periscopes on parasols to enable them to see over those in front. Such ruaes, however, were not very satisfying.

Those who had defied the police regulations and came provided with camp stools fared better, while best of all were the small boys who climbed trees along the route until it resembled a human rookery. A TREMENDOUS WELCOME. Londoners, however, notwithstanding all the disadvantages of overcrowding, gave the Princess a fitting welcome. Enthusiastic as was the reception to the Queen, with whom were the Duke of York, Prince Henry and King George, that which awaited the bride will live in her memory. Her appearance was the signal for. a roar which ran through the dense throng, from Palace to Admiralty Arch, with amazing rapidity. Princess Mary acknowledged this Joyous, deafen; ing feu de joie of cheers smilingly all the way. BLESSED BY SUNSHINE. The proverbial fickleness of the English climate showed fickleness in the right direction, for the sun shone brilliantly throughout the ceremonial. During the small hours of the morning the outlook was cheerless. Frequent rain squalls drenched London, and a cold westerly was blowing. At seven o'clock the rain clouds vanished magically, leaving a blue sky and sunlight. About ten some on>inous clouds gathered, but dispersed under the strong'wind. From the Palace there was a wonderful vista of hundreds of thousands of people | packed in the vicinity of the Palace, anxious to catch a first glimpse of the bride, and only a small portion of them obtained a satisfactory view. SCENES BT THE WAY. At the moment of the bride's arrival at the Abbey the crowd was so dense that the police had the greatest difficulty in maintaining a cordon. Dozens of women and children fainted, and were carried to the island refuges, where medical aid wa 8 stationed. At the concclusion of the ceremony, the spectators, from the Abbey to Whitehall, began to converge on the palace, while the throng was so great at Hyde Park corner that the ambulances were kept busy. Over twenty persons were treated for faintings or exhaustion.

All the clubs in Picadilly were gaily decorated, and the windows were filled w.ith cheering people as the married couple drove down Constitution Hill, and there was a tremendous acclamation from the vast crowd.

From the balcony of the Palace, Viscount Lascelles and the Princess bowed to the crowd, and Princess Mary beckoned her father, mother, and Queen A'emndra. who joined her on the balcony amid jjunultuqiis '•hpepyg.

MESSAGE FROM GEN. FOCH. The Paris newspapers devote articles to the Royal wedding. Marshal Foch i issues, through the "Matin," a. manifesto saying: "All France participates in new homage to the illustrious House, whereof Edward the Peacemaker was France's most faithful friend, George her unshakable ally, and the Prince of Wales conquered, in Picardy, her sincere affection." Marshal Foch recalls with deep emotion "the time when we stood shoul-. der to shoulder and heart to heart. We do well at this moment, when Britain celebrates the marriage of her King's' daughter, to recall that Britain and ; France sealed with blood their sons' union, which can never be transformed into a scrap of paper."

SIGNIFICANCE OF CEREMONY. THE INTEREST AMONG WOMEN. (Received 2 p.m.) LONDON, February 28. Probably there were few in that unparalleled" concourse, vast even among London's unexampled crowds, who examined the Imperial significance of the wedding, yet beyond doubt in all that mass of jammed humanty the single trend of thought was, "'our English Princess is marrying an Englishman." That was the keynote of the whole day's rejoicings, and was prompted by Princess Mary's own words when acknowledging a gift: "I am remaining in my own native land." There is an Empire-wide moral in that unstudied expression of human thankfulness. It spells Britain for the British, not for foreign alliances through Royal marriages. In a possibly subconscious realisation of this fact lay the chief factor of the extraordinary unbounded popular demonstrations. Women largely predominated in the crowds, which accounted for a remarkable colour scene. » Large numbers fainted as the- result of crushing, and kept the ambulances busy. Viscount Lascelles spoke the verws in a firm voice, which was clearly audible across the Abbey. Princess Mary's voice was also audible and unshaken, but the words were indistinguishable, as her back was to the audience.—(A. and I\.Z. Cable.) PRIVATE PRESENTS RETURNED NOT DONE IN COURT CIRCLES. {Received 11 a.m.) LONDON, February 28. The "Daily Mail" calls attention to a peculiar point of court etiquette. Many choice presents from private individuals have been returned, with a note thanking the donors. Gifts from public bodies and associations are permissible, but not from individuals who have no connection whatever with the Court or who are not friends of the Royal family. Many people apparently aTe unaware of the rule, and wealthy men and women have showered gifts of great price upon Princess Mary.—(Reuter.) FLAGS FLYING IN SYDNEY. (Received 11 a.m.) SYDNEY, this day. The shipping and many buildings in the city are beflagg*d in honour of Princess Mary's marriage. Some of the churches rang wedding peals. The Gov-ernor-General sent Australia's congratulations. The King replied with hearty thank.B.—(A. and N.Z." Cable.)