Page:The life and times of King Edward VII by Whates, Harry Richard 4.djvu/21

the life and times of
King Edward the Seventh

 

CHAPTER I.
FIRST ACTS OF EDWARD VII.

The First Privy Council—The King's Message—The Proclamation—Not "Albert" but "Edward VII."—Reasons for the Title—A Constitutional Sovereign–Parliament Assembles—The King's Letter to Lords and Commons—The Funeral of Queen Victoria—Pathetic Moments at Osborne—"A Soldier's Funeral"—The Crossing to Portsmouth—A Notable Spectacle in the Channel—From Victoria to Paddington—A Scene of Indescribable Solemnity—Arrival at Windsor—The Bluejackets Render Assistance—From Windsor to Frogmore—The King's Three Historic Letters to his People—An Empire, not a Kingdom.

NO grief in solitude is possible for one who succeeds to a Throne. The rights and .duties of Sovereignty are immediately assumed, and the formalities of accession have to be observed forthwith. Queen Victoria expired at Osborne House, Isle of Wight, at half-past six o'clock on the evening of the 22nd of January. On the following day the King was in London and was present at the Privy Council. The Lords of the Council had met at St. James's Palace overnight, had been sworn in, had heard "a most gracious Declaration" from His Majesty, and had given orders for the Proclamation of the new Sovereign. The King himself had, on the evening of his revered mother's death, framed an announcement which, before, the night was far advanced, 'was published in. the London Gazette. It expressed in a sentence the countless columns of mourning, and eulogy which came from the printing presses of, the Empire—of the world, indeed—before the break of day.

"This event," ran the one passage of comment in the official intimation, "has caused one universal feeling of regret and sorrow to Her late Majesty's faithful and attached subjects, to whom She was endeared by the deep interest in their welfare which She invariably manifested, as well as by the many signal virtues which marked and adorned Her character." Meanwhile, the dining-room of Osborne House was converted into a Chapelle ardente by the removal of the furniture and draping the walls with crimson cloth. There the body was taken and the coffin placed on a dais and covered with the Royal Standard and a pall of white satin and lace. On the coffin was placed the Crown and the crimson velvet and ermine robes of the late Sovereign. High silver candlesticks were set on each side of the. bier and the Indian and Scottish personal attendants of the deceased