DAY OF WEDDING

Taranaki Daily News, 30 November 1934, Page 5

DAY OF WEDDING

MILD MURKY WEATHER BREEZE DISPELS THE FOG MARINA’S PREPARATIONS PEEP AT SURGING CROWDS DUKE BREAKFASTS ALONE By Telegraph—Press Assn.—Copyright. Rec. 1 a.m. London, Nov. 29. A dampish, unseasonably mild, murky day greeted the flood of humanity sweeping through the streets of London from dawn. ■Trainload after trainload of wearyeyed travellers poured from the railway stations from the early hours. Indeed by 8 o’clock it seemed impossible that anybody but those who were privileged would get anywhere near the palace or the abbey, which had been 'points of attraction throughout the night. Fortunately there was sufficient breeze to dispel the fog. Great crowds in front of the palace over-ran the whole of the Victoria Manument, sat on the kerbstones “’and stood on the monument itself, watching the lights appearing one by one in the palace windows. Princess Marina ,rose shortly after 7 o’clock and breakfasted in her room. An hour later she peeped through the curtains’at the surging crowds outside the palace gates, stretching solidly down the Mall. Immediately after breakfast Monsieur Graude, Princess Marina’s hairdresser, who had come specially from Paris, attended her coiffure, which for the wedding was a modification of the now famous “Marina coiffure.” The Duke of Kent, who is 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. CHORUSES IN EARLY HOURS. The crowds kept themselves awake singing choruses in the tedious early hours. One party from Yorkshire lit an oil-stove, heated coffee and passed the cups among the crowd, who were entertained by watching the scarletcoated sentries marching up and down and listening to itinerant musicians playing wedding marches. There was a scattering of people in evening dress, looking incongruous in the morning light, who had come from their nocturnal festivities to watch the procession. The guests at the Abbey began to take their places at 8 o’clock. Nurses were busy selling programmes in the Westminster Hospital’s stand opposite the Abbey, while the guests included ten unemployed men’s wives from the depressed areas which the Duke of Kent visited.

Many guests arrived at the Abbey afoot, owing to the traffic dislocation, and had a difficult task in forcing their way through the crowd at the west door, which the police later cleared, allowing only guests to approach. Impassive sentries inarched up and down outside Buckingham Palace as though this were an ordinary day of the year. Inside the palace gates a 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 at some of the guests who arrived in evening dress. This was a striking departure from precedent which His Majesty sanctioned for those who did not possess court dress. It was represented to His Majesty that a number of visitors was unable to bear the burden of the heavy cost of court uniforms.

Mounted police assisted the whole of the City of London constabulary, who were themselves relieved by special police and had their hands full from the early hours keeping the crowds back. Piccadilly looked like a town under a siege. Barricades were everywhere, shopkeepers not taking chances of having their windows pushed in by the frenzied crowds. Most had the windows boarded up and the goods removed from the windows. “MARINA HATS” EVERYWHERE. While tremendous congestion was anticipated it was astonishing to find the rapidity with which the crowd swelled in every open space. “Marina hats” were everywhere. Maidens and matrons wore them at a saucy angle. A brisk trade was done in small periscopes and mirrors to reflect the scenes, which it was obvious a great percentage of the crowd would not be able to witness. The crowds outside the Abbey did not lack entertainment. Practically everyone arriving received a cheer. One of the guests, in a particularly striking uniform, drove himself in a small twoseater. Another cinematographed the spectators as his car passed by. As tire hour of the wedding approached detachments of Guards, headed by bands, enlivened the scene. Headed by the Lord Mayor in his robes, a cavalcade of city dignitaries arrived in coaches. Beefeaters from the Tower of London arrived at the Abbey in a motorcoach, to the crowd’s amusement. Four of Scotland Yard’s special branch of detectives made a formal search of the Abbey overnight with electric torches. When they left the great doors of the Abbey were locked and they were not opened until the guests arrived. Crowds of women and children wrapped in rugs, who had spent the night vigil in a drizzle and were spattered by mud from passing vehicles, broke and ran in the early morning when the street cleaners turned their hoses on the street. A few minutes later they returned to their now 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 a doorway. Theatre queue entertainers turned out in full force to keep the walking crowds amused and reaped a rich harvest before they were moved on by the police. Many people slept in their motor-cars in the Mall until the area was closed to vehicles in the early morning. Many excursionists slept in the cinemas, which were open all night. COMMONWEALTH’S GIFT CUPS IN AUSTRALIAN GOLD Rec. 11.20 p.m. Canberra, Nov. 29. The Governor-General, Sir Isaac Isaacs, on behalf of the Government and the Commonwealth, sent a message to the King and Queen of loyal and affectionate greetings on the occasion of the marriage of the Duke of Kent and Princess Marina, for whom best wishes, health and happiness were expressed. The King has suitably acknowledged the message. Australia’s wedding gift was announced by the Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. J. A. Lyons. It consists of two small gold cups made of Australian gold, which will be forwarded at the earliest date.