HER RECEPTION IN ENGLAND
When the Prince's yacht approached and he was seen to rush across the gangway, catch his bride in his arms and kiss her, the delight of the onlookers was unconstrained. As the Royal couple landed, girls strewed flowers under their feet. Then followed the glittering procession from Gravesend to London and thence to Windsor through long lines of decorated houses, garlanded and festooned roadways, flashing sabres and gorgeous uniformed soldiers. In London the streets were packed with people; triumphal arches, banners and devices were everywhere. In the poorer streets, in the homes of the artisan and the factory girl, there was the same effort to show pleasure in the happiness of the Princess and appreciation of her grace and beauty as there was in the great residential squares. At Eton there was a triumphal arch and a loyal gathering of enthusiastic boys; at Windsor the Queen received the Princess and conducted her to the suite of rooms which had been lately occupied by the Princess Alice. The first part, the popular reception, was over and it had proved how accurately the Poet Laureate had grasped the situation when he wrote of "the sea-king's daughter from over the sea" and gave that lordly command to the nation:
"Welcome her; thunders of fort and of fleet!
Welcome her; thundering cheer of the street!
Welcome her; all things youthful and sweet!
Scatter the blossoms under her feet."
QUEEN VICTORIA, 1901
The Honored Mother of Edward VII
H. R. H. ALBERT, PRINCE CONSORT, THE FATHER OF EDWARD VII
From a painting by F. Winterhalter
THE CROWN JEWELS OF ENGLAND
These Jewels of untold value are kept to a well protected case in the Tower of London. They include the ancient and modern Crowns