CROWDS WAIT FROM DAWN

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21335, 30 November 1934, Page 11

CROWDS WAIT FROM DAWN

GREAT GATHERING AT PALACE GATES MISERABLE WEATHER MORNING OF THE WEDDING (Received November 30, 1 a.m.) LONDON, November 29. A dampish and unseasonably mild and murky day greeted the flood of humanity .sweeping through the streets of London from dawn. Trainload after trainload of weary-eyed travellers poured from the railway terminals from the early hours. Indeed, by 8 a.m., it seemed impossible for anybody but the privileged ones to get anywhere near the palace and the Abbey, which have been points of attraction all night. Fortunately, there was sufficient breeze to dispel the fog. Great crowds in front of the palace overran the wholo of the Victoria monument, sat on the kerb stones, and stood on the monument itself watching the lights appearing one by one in the palace windows. Princess Marina rose shortly after 7 a.m., and had breakfast in her room. An hour later she peeped through the curtains at the surging crowds outside the palace gates, stretching solidly dowr thg Mali. Immediately after breakfast M. Graude, Princess Marina's hairdresser, who had come specially from Paris, attended to her coiffure, which for the wedding, was a modification of the now famous "Marina coiffure." The Duke of Kent, who was staying at St. James' Palace with the .Prince of Wales, rose a little later than the Princess and breakfasted alone before being joined by the Prince of Wales and the Duke of York. Crowd Entertains Itself The crowds kept themselves awake by singing choruses in the tedious early hours. One party from Yorkshire lit an oil stove, heated coffee, and passed cups among the crowd, who were entertained by watching the scarlet-coated sentries marching up and down, and listening to itinerent musicians playing wedding marches. There was a scattering of people in evening dress, looking incongruous in the morning light, who had come from festivities to watch the procession. The guests at the Abbey began to take their places at 3 a.m. Nurses were busy selling programmes in the stands at Westminster Hospital, opposite the Abbey. The guests included 10 wives of unemployed men from depressed areas which the Duke of Kent had visited. Many guests arrived at the Abbey on foot owing to the traffic dislocation. They had a difficult task forcing their way through the crowd at the west door, which the police later cleared, allowing only guests to approach. Impassive sentries marched up and down outside Buckingham Palace as though this was quite an ordinary day in the year. v Inside the palace gates the privileged few, palace servants and others, were allowed to take camp stools to get the best view of the procession.

The crowd outside the Abbey indulged in good-natured raillery with some guests arriving in evening dress. This striking departure from precedent, which his Majesty

sanctioned for those not possessing court dress, was represented to his Majesty by a number of visitors unable to bear the burden of the heavy cost of court uniforms. j Police Have Hands Full i Mounted police assisted the whole iCity of London constabulary, who ! themselves were relieved by special I police. They had their hands full I from the early hours keeping the i crowds back. Piccadilly looked like ja town under siege. Barricades I were everywhere. The shopkeepers < were not taking chances of having i their windows pushed in by frenzied | crowds. Most of them had their I windows boarded up and their ! goods removed from the windows. • While tremendous congestion was anticipated, it was astonishing to find the rapidity with which the crowd swelled every open space. "Princess Marina hats were everywhere, and girls and women wore them at a saucy angle. Brisk trade was done i' small periscopes and mirrors to re.yet the scenes which, it was obvious, a great percentage of the crowd would not be able actually to see. The Guests Cheered The crowds outside the Abbey did not lack entertainment. Practically everyone arriving received a cheer. One of the guests, with a particularly striking uniform, drove himself in a small two-seater. Another took moving pictures of the spectators as his car passed by. As the hour of the wedding approached detachments of Guards, headed by bands, enlivened the scene. Led by the Lord Mayor in his robes, a procession of city dignitaries arrived in coaches. Beefeaters from the Tower arrived at the Abbey in a motor-coach, much to the crowd's amusement. Four of Scotland Yard's special branch detectives made a formal search of the Abbey overnight with electric torches. They left the great doors of the Abbey locked until the guests arrived. Crowds' of women and children, wrapped in rugs, who spent the night unmoved by the drizzle or when spattered by mud from passing ! vehicles, broke and ran early in the morning when the street cleaners turned on their hoses. A few minutes later they returned to their j soaked positions. One family group of six turned the steps of the Home Office into a bedroom, sleeping on piled rugs in the shelter of the doorway. Theatre queue entertainers were there in full force to keep the waking crowds amused. They reaped a rich harvest before they were moved. Sleeping: in Cars and Theatres Many people slept in their motorcars in the Mall until the area was closed to vehicles early this morning. Many excursionists slept in the cinemas, which were open ail night. There had been a continuous stream of cars outside the Abbey, but it ceased at 10.15 a.m., by which hour all but the Royal guests were seated. Members of the Royal suites then appeared along Whitehall. The crowds expectantly awaited the principals. Previously, occasional guests, such as Mr Ramsay Mac Donald, Mr Stanley Baldwin, and Mr Lloyd George, who were in court dress, had been recognised and applauded, but the crowd, though unaware of the identities of most of the arrivals, cheered them impartially. At 10 a.m. the Guards fixed their bayonets and took up their positions at the gates of Buckingham Palace, which were now thrown open. Princess Elizabeth A red carpet was spread on the Abbey steps just before the arrival of the bridesmaids, whose cars flew Royal standards. Princess Elizabeth was greeted with special warmth. She wore a coat of ermine over her bridesmaid's dress. Princess Elizabeth made a pretty picture, holding the hand of her young sister Margaret Rose. • The pressure of the crowd broke the cordons in Victoria street and a number of people fell into the roadway. They picked themselves up and resumed their places. The King and Queen and the [Royal procession left the palace at

a.m., the King, in naval uni- ) form. Just before the procession I dress and a diamond tiara in her | gown, appeared at an upper win- | dow, looking over the crowd and j blushing. i She left the palace with her I father at 10.46 a.m. She wore an I ermine cloak over her wedding [ dress and a diamond tiara in her. ' hair. She leaned forward in the State landau clasping her father's hand and smiling happily at the crowd. Her father was in a dark blue uniform. Long lines of British Legion banners at the Cenotaph were dipped as the King's procession approached. The carriages passed the Cenotaph at walking pace. The street lamps were alight but they were not really necessary as the haze was slight. Consequently, the spectacle was deprived of none j of its majesty. I