MARRIAGE PAGEANTRY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 239, 9 October 1934, Page 13

MARRIAGE PAGEANTRY.

WHEN ROYALTY WEDS.

There will be more pomp and pageantry at the wedding of Prince George and Princess Marina of Greece than there have been in England, or in the world, since Princess Mary was married to Viscount Harewood, in 1922. There will t>e a Royal procession through the streets, with the King riding in his gold State coach, and the Queen in a coach of glass. Two thousand of the most famous people in the Empire will be the guests of the Royal Family at Westminster Abbey for the ceremony. In the- ancient Abbey, the shrine of the nation, the highest churchmen of the land, will wed the Prince and Princess in the Sacrarium, where, until the wedding of Princess Alary, no child of an English King had been married for almost 900 years. The scene in the Abbey at a Royal wedding is one which no one who has ever«een it can forget. At Princess Mary's Wedding. On either side of the Sacrarium, at the wedding of Princess Mary, stood gold and crimson chairs for the bride and bridegroom. For the King and Queen, and for Queen Alexandra, were three golden thrones. There was a throne on the north side for the Dean of Westminster; on the south side for the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Royal guests, the women in costly gowns glittering with precious stones, and many of the men in bright uniforms, crowded the church. Members of the corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms, in their uniforms of scarlet and white and black and gold, and wearing their helmets with long white plumes that they do not take off even in church, '{ stood here and there among the choir. In parallel lines down the nave stood children of the Chapels Royal, in their gorgeous antique uniforms of scarlet and gold. Outside the Abbey, at the west entrance, where the members of the Royal Family were to enter, stood a guard of the Royal Hussars, with swords drawn. Each side of the pavement was lined by Grenadier Guards. The King and the Bride. A sudden stir in the crowd; a burst of cheering; Queen Alexandra arrives, to be followed-soon by Queen Mary, and the Duke of York, Prince George and Prince Henry; and then comes the King, bearing on his arm the Royal bride. They go into the church. The bride is attended by eight bridesmaids, in white and silver, with white veils and bouquets of pink carnations. Two immense Royal footmen in scarlet, with powdered hair, take Princess Mary's ermine cloak. She stands for a moment, adjusting her pearl necklace; and then, with the King, enters the railed-off Sacrarium. The bridegroom is in the uniform of the Grenadier Guards. The King is in the uniform of a Field-Marshal of the same regiment. The marriage ceremony begins. Everything about a Royal wedding is arranged with the utmost detail; and the King and Queen, and the rest of the Royal Family, have to follow a rigid time-table from which they must not vary by a minute. Strict Time-table. The time-table for Princess Mary's wedding read like this: 10.45: Latest time for Royal guests to be seated in the Abbey. 11.2: Queen Alexandra leaves Marlborough House. 11.3: The Queen, the Duke of York, Prince Henry and Prince George leave Buckingham Palace. 11.15: Bridegroom arrives at the Abbey (Poets' Corner door). 11.16: King and bride leave Buckingham Palace. 11.25: Archbishops and other clergy take their place in the Sacrarium. 11-28 King and bride arrive at the Abbey. 11.30: Service begins. 12.20: Service ends, and Royal processions leave for Buckingham Palace. 12.50: Royal processions arrive at Buckingham Palace. 3.30: Bride and bridegroom leave Buckingham Palace for Paddingtqn station.

, Costly Presents. When Prince George and Princess Marina are married, they will receive a tremendous number of presents. What these will be like may be gleaned from a glance at some of the presents given to Princess Mary and Viscount Harewood. The King gave the bride a diamond and sapphire bandeau, a diamond and sapphire bracelet, a diamond and sapphire necklace, and a diamond and sapphire pendant; and the Queen gave her a large sapphire and diamond brooch. To the bridegroom they gave some silver candelabra and a picture. Queen Alexandra gave * the bride a pearl necklace with emerald drops, and a sapphire and diamond pin; and the Prince of Wales gave her a diamond and sapphire braceletThe Royal relatives of the bride— "great uncle, great aunts, aunts, uncles and cousins"—gave her an antique clock, with a book of signatures. Gift to the Groom. The bridegroom's gifts to his bride were a large sapphire and diamond corsage ornamented with clusters and fringe, a diamond neglige with two pearl drops, and a long diamond reviere. The bridfa gave the groom a platinum and gold chain set with pearls, and a pair of antique souflle dishes. The rest of the presents ranged from tho diamond bracelets of earls to "three pairs of silk stockings" from an orphanage. There were leather blotters, Tennyson's works in nine volumes, opera glasses set with diamonds (from the Aga Khan), a photograph alburn, the Itubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, a compass, a brass bell, »a pair of black boots, a bottle of scent. From the Clarement Guild of Brave Poor Things came three wooden trays. And then there were silk jumpers, a black ;at, pictures, a grand piano, a fur motor i-ug, a handbag of grey euede, a giant powder puff, a Bible, an umbrella, and a small silver fish. There were also four straw hats!