FUNERAL OF HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCE CONSORT.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XVII, Issue 978, 26 March 1862, Page 5

FUNERAL OF HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCE CONSORT.

On Monday, the 23rd of December, with little of the pomp and pageantry of a State ceremonial, but with every outward mark of respect, and with all the solemnity which befitted his high station and his public virtues, the mortal remains of the husband of our Queen were interred in the last resting-place o f England's sovereigns—the Chapel Royal of St. George's, Windsor. By the express desire of his

royal highness the funeral was of the plainest and

most private character; but in the chapel, to; do honour to his obsequies, were assembled all the chiefest men. of the State, and throughout England, by every sign of sorrow, and mourning, the nation manifested its sense of the loss which it has sustained. Windsor itself wore an aspect of the most profound gloom. Every sjj.op was closed and every blind drawn down. The streets were silent and almost deserted, and all who appeared abroad were dressed in the deepest mourning. The great bell of Windsor Castle clanged out its doleful sound at intervals from an early hour, and minute bells were tolled also at St. John's Church. At the parish church of Clewer and at St. John's there were services in the morning and afternoon, and the day was observed throughout the royal borough in the strictest manner. The weather was in character with the occasion,—a chill, damp air, with a dull leaden sky above, increased .the gloom which hung overall. There were but few visitors in the town, for the procession did not pass beyond the immediate precincts of the chapel and castle, and none were admitted except those connected with the castle and their friends. At 11 o'clock a strong force of the A division took possessioji-of all the avenues leading to the Chapel Royal,' ana from that time only the guests specially invited and those who were to take part in j the ceremonial were allowed to pass. Shortly afterwards a guard..of honor of the Grenadier Guards, of which regiment hjs royal highness was colonel, with the colours of the regiment shrouded in crape, inarched in and took up its position before the principal entrance to the Chapel Royal. Another guard of honour from the same regiment was also on duty in the Quadrangle at the entrance to the State apartments. They were speedily followed by a squadron of the 2nd Life Guards dismounted, and by two companies of the Fusilier Guards, "who were drawn up in single file along each side of the road by which the procession was to pass, from the Norman gateway to the chapel door. The officers wore the deepest military mourning—scarves, sword-knots, and rosettes of crape. In the Home-park was stationed a troop of Horse Artillery, which commenced firing minute guns at the end of the Longwalk, advancing slowly until it reached the castle gates just at the close of the ceremony. The Ministers, the officers of the Queen's household, and other distinguished persons who had been honoured with an iuvilation^toattend the ceremonial, reached "Windsor by a speciaTEfai«^om_Paddington. They were met by carriages provided for them at the station, arid began to arrive at the Chapel Royal soon after 11 o'clock. The Earl of Derby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Earl Russell, and the Duke of Buccleuch were among the first to make their appearance, and as they alighted at the door of the chapel they were received by the proper officials arid conducted to the seats appointed for them in the choir. The Duke of Cambridge and the Prince of Leiriingeri were unavoidably prevented by indisposition from' attending the funeral. Viscount Palmerstbn was also prevented by indisposition from being present.

In the Great Quadrangle were drawn up the hearse and ay. the mourning coaches, and all the preparations having been completed within the castle, the procession began to be formed shortly before 12 o'clock. It had been originally intended that it should leave the. castle by the St George's gate, and, proceeding down Castle-hill, approach the chapel through Henry "VTL's gateway, but at a late hour this arrangement was changed, and the shorter route by the Norman gateway was chosen. The crowd which had gradually collected at the foot of Castle-hill, owing to this change, saw nothing of the procession but the empty carriages as they returned to the castle after setting down at the chapel. The few spectators who were fortunate enough to gain admission to the Lower Ward stood in a narrow fringe along the edge of the flags in front of the houses of the poor knights, and their presence was the only exception to the strict privacy of the ceremonial. The Prince of Wales and the other royal mourners assembled in the Oak-room, but did not form part of the procession. They were conveyed to the chapel in private carriages before the coffin was placed in the hearse, passing through St. George's gateway into the Lower Ward. In the first carriage were the Prince of Wales, Prince Arthur, and the Duke of Saxe-Coburg. The Crown-Prince of Prussia, the Duke of Brabant, and the Count of Flanders followed in the next; and in the others were the Due de Nemours, Prince Louis of Hesse, Prince Edward of Saxe-Weimar, and the Maharajah Dhuleep Singh, with the gentlemen of their respective suites. Scarcely had they alighted at the door of Wolsey's Chapel, from which they were conducted through the Chapter-room to the door of the Chapel Royal, to be in readiness to meet the coffin, when the first niinute-gun fired in the distance, and the rattle of the troops reversing arms announced that the procession had started, and exactly at 12 o'clock the first mourning coach moved from under the Norman gateway. First came nine mourning coaches, each drawn by four horses, conveying the physicians, equerries, and other members of the household of the late prince. In the last were the Lord Steward (Earl St. Germans), the Lord Chamberlain (Viscount Sidney), and the Master of the Horse (the Marquis of Ailesbury). The carriages and trappings were of the plainest description; the horses had black velvet housings and feathers, but on the carriages there were no feathers or ornaments of any kind. The mourning coaches were followed by one of the Queen's carriages, drawn by six horses, and attended by servants in State liveries, in which was the Groom of the Stole, Earl Spencer, carrying the crown, and a Lord of the Bedchamber, Lord George Lennox, carrying the baton, sword, and hat of his late royal highness. Next, escorted by a troop of the 2nd Life Guards, came the hearse, drawn by six black horses, which, like the carriages, was quite plain and unornamented. On the housings of the horses and on the sides of the hearse were emblazoned the scutcheons of her Majesty and of the prince, each surmounted by a crown, the prince's arms being in black and her Majesty's in white. The procession was closed by four State carriages. The following is the order in which the procession moved, according to the official programme :rA inourning coach, drawn by four horses, conveying two valets and two jiigors of his late royal highness, viz,, Mr. Xohlein, Mr. Mayet, Mr. C. Itobertson, and Mr. E. S. Cowley. A inourning coach drawn by four horses, conveying Mr. Roland, librarian; Mr. Meyer, gentleman rider; Mr. White, solicitor to his late royal highness; and Dr. Jlobertson, commissioner at Balmoral. A mourning coach, drawn by four horses, conveying the four physicians who were in attendance upon "is late royal highness:—Sir James Clark, M.D.; Sir Henry Holland, M.D.; Dr. Watson, and Dr. Jenner.

A mourning coach, drawn by four horses, conveying an Equerry to his late royal highness, Colonel toe Hon. Alexander Gordon, C.8.; an Equerry^to "is Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, Major Tccßdale, C.B, V.C.; an Equerry to his Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge, Colonel the Hon. James Macdonald, C.8.; ajid the Controller and %ierry to her Eoyal Highness the Duchess of Cambridge, Colonel Home Burves A mourning coach, drawn by four horses, conveying Colonel the Hon. A. Hardinge, C.8., and Colonel H. F. Ponsonby, Equerries to his late royal highness ; and Bear-Admiral Blake, and Major-General

Charles W. Ridley, C.8., Gentlemen Ushers to his late royal highness. .

A mourning coach, drawn by four horses, conveying the Lord Camoys, the Lord in Waiting to the Queen; and Lieut.-General Sir Henry Bentiek, X.C.8., Groom in Waiting; the Lord Alfred Pagcfc, Clerk Marshal; and Colonel Biddulph, the Master of the Household.

A mourning coach, drawn by four horses, convoying four of the supporters of the pall of his late royal highness, viz.:—Major-General Wylde, C.8., and Colonel Francis Seymour, C.8., Groooms of the Bedchamber to his late royal highness; and Lieut.Colonel the Hon. Dudley De Ros, and Major C. T. Dv Plat, Equerries to his late royal highness.

A mourning coach, drawn by four horses, conveying four of the supporters of the pall of his late royal highness, viz.: —Lord Waterpark, Lord of the Bedchamber to his late royal highness ; Colonel the Hon. Alexander Nelson Hood, Clerk Marshal to his late royal highness; Colonel the Hon. Sir Charles B. Phipps, X.C.8., Treasurer to his late royal highness ; Lieut.-General the Hon. Charles Grey, Private Secretary to his late royal highness. A mourning coach, drawn by four horses, conveying the three great officers of her Majesty's Household—the Lord Steward, the Lord Chamberlain, and the Master of the Horse

A carriage of the Queen's.most excellent Majesty, drawn by six horses, the servants in State liveries, conveying the crown of his late royal highness; borne by Earl Spencer, Groom of the Stole to his late royal highness; and the baton, sword, and hat of his late royal highness, borne by Lieut.-Colonel Lord George Lennox, Lord of the Bedchariiber, to his late royal highness.

THE HEARSE, Drawn by six horses, attended by an escort of the '.. ' Life Guards.

A carriage of the Queen's most excellent Majesty, drawn by six horses; the servants in State liveries. .

A carriage of his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, drawn by six horses.; the servants in State liveries.

A carriage of his Royal Highness the Duke of Cam-

bridge, drawn by six horses; the servants in State liveries.

A carriage of her Royal Highness the Duchess of

Cambridge, drawn by six horses; the servants in State liveries.

Slowly the cortege wound round the base of the Round Tower into the Lower Ward, and every head was reverently bared as the hearse passed by. There was no military music; the distant boom of the minute guns and the mournful knell of the castle bell were the only sounds which broke the silence of the scene. Though the distance to be traversed was so short, it was not until 20 minutes past 12 o'clock that the hearse arrived at the door of the Chapel Royal,, where the Prince of Wales, and the other royal mourners were assembled to meet the, coffin. * THE CHAPEL. The cold, bleak, wintry aspect of the day at Windsor was mournful and cheerless enough, but even its empty streets and rows of muffled windows had an air almost of light and life compared withthe appearance of St. George's chapel. The aspect, of this was alone enough to impress with gloomy awe at least, if not with grief, even unconcerned spectators, if any such could possibly have witnessed the mournful rite. The silence of the grave itself was in and round the sacred building—a silence never broken, save by the deep, slow, muffled tolling of the funeral knell, which every minute seemed to sweep down with .the wind and rush with stealthy noise upon the gloom within. There was a dumb, cavernous air about the chapel, swathed in its ghastly trappings of black and white; there was a hushed look about the attendants, a few of whom were still busy moving to and fro completing the last details, and all of whom showed most painful evidences of grief.

As twelve o'clock drew near, the quicker halfminute tolling from all the spires of Windsor seemed to fill the very chapel with their mournful booms, and the crackling sound of the long procession approaching over the gravel came nearer every minute. With the first tokens of its approach the head of the funeral procession was formed two deep, passing along down the south aisle and up the centre of the south aisle to near the choir. The south door was then opened, and Lord George Lennox, bearing the field marshal's baton, sword and hat of the deceased prince, followed by Earl Spencer, carrying his crown, entered the aisle. In a minute afterwards the coffin was carried in by 10 bearers and laid upon the bier. Here it was entirely hidden under the heavy black velvet pall, adorned at the side with large funeral escutcheons bearing the arms of Her Majesty and the deceased prince on. separate shields. Both shields were surrounded by the Garter, and surmounted with their proper crowns ; —first, those of the Queen were on a ground of silver tissue, then those of the late prince on deep black; the contrast between these rich armorial bearings was as startling and marked as that between the white border of the pall and its gloomy centre. When all was arranged the Lord Chamberlain, accompanied by the Vice Chamberlain, Lord Castlerosse (only four months ago the genial host of his late royal highness at Killarney), proceeded up the choir to Wolsey's Chapel, Avhere the royal mourners had already as--semoled, and who at once slowly crossed the Chapel and took their stations in the south aisle at the head of the corpse. The Prince of Wales, as chief mourner, stood in the centre ; on his right was the little Prince Arthur; on his left, the deceased prince's elder brother, the Duke of Saxe Coburg and Gotha.

Some two or three minutes were consumed in marshalling the procession before it began to move forward, and during this time the chief mourners remained at the head of the coffin, motionless. The Prince of Wales bore up with great fortitude, and though he, like the others, at times gave way to irrepressible bursts of tears, he evidently tried to the utmost to restrain his feelings, though it could be seen sometimes from the working of his countenance that the effort was too violent for long endurance. The Duke of Saxe Coburg, who was devotedly attached to the deceased Prince, to whom he bore a strong resemblance, was deeply moved and wept incessantly throughout the ceremony. The Crown Prince of Prussia, too, was equally affected. Poor little Prince Arthur's grief was enough to move the sternest. He, of course, made no attempt to check or hide his feelings. His eyes were red and swollen, and the tears were running down his cheeks as he entered the chapel. As they stood at the head of their father's coffin, the Prince of Wales turned and spoke, apparently a few soothing words, for after this Prince Arthur, for a minute or so, seemed to bear up better. It was not until the procession began to move forward, and the long melancholy wail of the dirge went echoing through the building, that all the little fellow's fortitude gave way, and, hiding his face in his handkerchief, he sobbed as if hits very heart was breaking. The funeral procession began to move up the choir at 20 minutes .past twelve o'clock, and the corpse was placed in front of the communion table at 20 minutes before 1 o'clock. The Hon. and Ilev. Gerald Wellesley, Dean of Windsor, read the burial service. Mr. Tolley, one of the gentlemen of St. George's Chapel, sang Luther's hymn, at the conclusion of which the pall was removed from the coffin; the crown, and also the baton, sword, and hat of his late royal highness were placed upon it, and the body was lowered into the royal vault at 5 minutes before 1 o'clock.

The Dean of Windsor having concluded the burial service, Sir Charles Young, Garter King of Arms, proclaimed the style of his late royal highness, saying:—

Thus it hath pleased Almighty God to take out of this transitory life to His Divine mercy, the Moat Mighty, and Most Illustrious Prince, Albert, the XMnce Consort, Duke of Saxony, Prince of Saxe Coburg and Gotha, Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, and the most dear consort of Her Most Excellent Majesty Victoria, by the.grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Queen, Defender of the Faith, &c, whom God bless and preserve with long life, health, and honour. ; , , ■ . This formal proclamation has hitherto always concluded with the words, "Whom God bless and preserve with long life, health, and happiness." But

on this occasion, for the .first time during her Majesty's reign, the prayer for happiness was left out, and only that for "life and honour" offered. The change is mournfully significant, ■though the. words we have quoted were in fact hot spoken; for with the first mention of the Queen's name Sir Charles Young's voice faltered, and the concluding sentence of the mournful prayer, if uttered, was quite inaudible. Then Dr. Elvey, who presided at the organ, began the solemn strains of, the "Dead March" in Saul, as the mourners advanced to take a last look into the deep grave. The iMnoe of Wales advanced first, and stood for one brief moment, with hands clasped, looking down ; then all his fortitude seemed suddenly to desert him, and bursting into a flood of tears he hid his face, and, ushered by the Lord Chamberlain, slowly left the chapel. Of the two, Prince Arthur seemed the more composed at the end of the ceremony, as if his unrestrained grief had worn itself out. All the mourners and those invited to the ceremony advanced in turn to take a farewell glance at the coffin;'and-not one looked down into the deep black aperture unmoved—none quitted the chapel without traces of deep and heartfelt sorrow.

When all was over, and the last of the long train of mourners had departed, the attendants descended the entrance to the grave with lights, aud moved the coffin along the narrow passage which leads to the royal vault, at the gates of which they deposited it. There it remains, but it was riot left till some memorials of fond regret from-the bereaved Queen and children were deposited by kindred hands upon the coffin. That morning a Queeri's messenger had brought from Osborne to Windsor three little wreaths and a bouquet. The wreaths were simple chaplets of moss and violets, wreathed by the three elder princesses—'the bouquet of violets,, with a white camelia in the centre, by the widowed Queen. With this last act of grateful care the aperture to the royal vault was closed. .