Prince Henry of Prussia representing the German Navy, Prince Charles of Sweden, Prince Henry of Holland, the Duke of Saxe-Cobourg-Gotha, the Crown Prince of Montenegro and Crown Prince Alexander of Servia.
Prince Mohammed Ali, Said Pasha Zulfikar, Watsen Pasha of Egypt and the Sultan of Zanzibar. Then followed the Princely and Ducal representatives of a dozen German States, the members of the British Royal family, the Duc D'Alencon, and Prince Bovaradej of Siam.
The mounted group was followed by twelve State carriages. The first was occupied by the Queen-Mother, Alexandra, and her sister the Russian Dowager Empress Marie, the Princess Royal and the Princess Victoria; the second carriage contained Queen Mary of Great Britain, Queen Maud of Norway, the Duke of Cornwall, heir to the British Throne, and the Princess Mary; the next four carriages carried Royal ladies and ladies-in-waiting; the seventh carriage contained Prince Tsai-Tao of China and his suite; the eighth carriage was shared by Special American Ambassador Theodore Roosevelt, M. Pichon, French Foreign Minister, and the representative of Persia; the ninth carriage was occupied by Lord Strathcona, High Commissioner for Canada, Sir George Reid, High Commissioner for Australia and William Hall-Jones, High Commissioner for New Zealand.
The train to Windsor contained a funeral car upholstered in purple and white silk with a catafalque on which the casket was placed and around it were grouped the near members of the Royal Family and eight Sovereigns of Foreign States. From Windsor station to the Castle the procession formed in the previous order except that the Royal mourners walked while sailors drew the gun-carriage to the famous home of Britain's monarchs and to the entrance of the historic St. George's Chapel. Here, where King Edward was christened and married and shared in so many stately functions, the final religious ceremonies were performed by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York. While the coffin rested on a purple catafalque before the altar, which was almost buried in floral emblems, and minute guns boomed and bells tolled, the briefest service of the Church of England—at Queen Alexandra's request—was proceeded with and the body slowly, reverently, lowered into the vault. A prayer was then uttered for the new King and the Benediction pronounced by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
What can be said of the day elsewhere? A full record would fill many volumes. In Canada, in Australia, in South Africa, in New Zealand, in Newfoundland, in all British countries and territories, there was a great similarity of solemn and popular demonstration. Everywhere factories and financial institutions and commercial establishments closed their doors. Wherever that was impossible in Canadian factories work was stopped at a certain stage in the funeral ceremonies and every man stood in silence, with bared head for the time arranged; on all the great railways of Canada at the moment when the King's body was lowered into his grave, and for three minutes, everything stopped, every kind of work ceased, every one of at least 40,000 men stood in reverent silence. Military parades took place with muffled drums and passage through long lanes of silent people, in Montreal, Toronto, Hamilton, Chatham, London, St. Catharines, Kingston, Woodstock, Ottawa, St. Thomas, Winnipeg and Victoria, and other places. Memorial services were everywhere held; in Ottawa, Vice-Royalty and the Ministers took part in a great open-air ceremony in front of the Parliament Buildings, with troops and massed bands and superb drapings, to still further emphasize the solemnity of the occasion. Toronto had 100,000 people attend a similar service under the auspices of the Government in front of its Parliament Buildings and so with other centres. It may be added here that besides Lord Strathcona, Canada had as representatives at the funeral ceremonies Hon. A. B. Aylesworth, Minister of Justice; Sir Charles Fitzpatrick, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court; Hon. C. Marcil, Speaker of the House of Commons; Hon. S. A. Fisher, Minister of Agriculture; Sir D. M. McMillan, Lieut.-Governor of Manitoba; Mayors Geary of Toronto, Sanford Evans of Winnipeg, and Guerin of Montreal.
In other parts of the Empire similar scenes occurred. Throughout South Africa the most solemn memorial services were held and attended by vast congregations. There were scenes of heartfelt sorrow and hundreds of magnificent wreaths were deposited on the statue of the King at Cape Town. Funeral services were held throughout India, the Hindus joining in the services in a remarkable manner. All military trains were halted for fifteen minutes. In Australia the Governor-General and all the Ministers assembled on the great tier of steps at the Parliament Buildings, Melbourne, in the presence of perhaps the most solemn assembly ever gathered together in that country. For a long space there was a reverent silence and the crowd then sang the National Anthem. The day was observed as a day of mourning in Sydney, bells were tolled from noon to sunset, and salutes of sixty-eight minute guns fired in the afternoon. A hundred thousand persons attended the memorial service in Centennial Park at Wellington, New Zealand. Services were general throughout that Dominion while every outpost of the Empire flew the Union Jack at half-mast and paid a tribute to the dead Sovereign's memory.
Thus there passed away and was buried a great King, a man of whole-souled, genial and honourable type, a character rich in graces granted to few in this world, a ruler who combined intellect with heart and knowledge with discrimination, a Briton who could love and believe in the greatness of his own country and Empire without antagonizing the legitimate pride and aspirations of other nations, a diplomatist made by nature's own hand to soothe international acerbities and embody the ideal of peace in an age of preparation for war.
Photo by Paul Thompson, N. Y.
Funeral procession of King Edward VII from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall for the public lying-in-state. King George, Prince Edward and Prince Albert are seen following immediately behind the gun carriage.
