On September 11th His Majesty telegraphed to the American Ambassador at London: "I rejoice to hear the favourable accounts of the President's health. God grant that his life may be spared." After Mr. McKinley's death, three days later, the King immediately cabled the Ambassador: "Most truly do I sympathize with you and the whole American nation in the loss of your distinguished and ever-to-be-regretted President." In his reply Mr. Choate declared that "Your Majesty's constant solicitude and interest in these trying days have deeply touched the hearts of my countrymen." The King ordered a week's mourning at Court and soon afterwards received a message from Mr. Choate voicing Mrs. McKinley's personal gratitude for the sympathy expressed. In replying, the King declared that the Queen and himself "feel most deeply for her in the hour of her great affliction and pray that God may give her strength to bear her heavy cross." On September 27th the American Ambassador was granted a special audience by His Majesty in London and presented the formal thanks of Mrs. McKinley and of the people of the United States for "the constant sympathy which you have manifested through the darkest hours of their distress and bereavement."
During these months the King had not forgotten to show his continued appreciation of many of the interests to which, as Heir Apparent, he had given so much aid. At a General Council meeting of the Prince of Wales' Hospital Fund on May 11th, presided over by the Duke of Fife and attended by Lord Rothschild, Lord Farquhar, Lord Iveagh, Lord Reay, Mr. Sydney Buxton and others the chairman stated that it was held by His Majesty's wish in order to announce his resignation of the Presidency and consent to take the position of Patron. The King's place was to be taken by the Duke of Cornwall and York. Lord Rothschild spoke at some length upon the importance of the work initiated in this connection by the King and of the valuable aid which they had consequently been able to give the hospitals and suffering poor of London. On June 10th a letter was made public, written by Sir Dighton Probyn on behalf of the King, expressing to the Royal Agricultural Society of England his earnest hope that it would succeed in raising the £30,000 which was needed for building purposes, subscribing two hundred and fifty guineas toward this end, and expressing not only His Majesty's interest in its future welfare but his pleasure at having been associated with it during twenty two years of progress. On July 3rd the King and Queen Alexandra, accompanied by Princess Victoria and the Duchess of Argyll, received at Marlborough House some eight hundred nurses belonging to the Training Institute inaugurated by the late Queen. Badges were presented by Her Majesty to a couple of hundred and an address read and graciously answered. An incident typical of the King's courtesy and thoughtfulness was seen in his intimation to the Marquess of Dufferin, who, during the early part of the proceedings was standing bare-headed in the sun, to put on his hat—the King resuming his in order to create the opportunity.
His Majesty took great interest during the year in the proposed National Memorial to his Royal mother. He had early appointed a special Committee of representatives to deal with the preliminaries and, on March 6th, a Report was submitted by Lord Esher, as Hon. Secretary, recommending that a statue of Queen Victoria should be the central feature of such a Memorial, and the location be either the vicinity of Westminster Abbey or that of Buckingham Palace. Accompanied by Mr. Balfour, Mr. Akers-Douglas and Lord Esher, the King visited the suggested sites that afternoon and finally approved a general position near Westminster Abbey. Large amounts were subscribed toward the project during the succeeding months. An interesting incident occurred on July 28th when a small deputation of ladies, including the Countess of Aberdeen, Lady Taylor and others connected with the National Council of Women in Canada, were received at Marlborough House by Queen Alexandra and tendered an address signed by twenty-five thousand women of the Dominion expressive of their earnest loyalty to the King and affection for his Consort. In replying, Her Majesty referred with special pleasure to the tribute paid the late Queen and spoke of the beauty of the volumes in which the address was incorporated.
ROYAL CHARITIES AND VISITS
Toward the end of the year it was announced in the British Medical Journal that a gentleman who did not at present wish his name disclosed—afterwards understood to be Sir Ernest Cassel—had presented the King with a donation of £200,000 for some philanthropic purpose to be selected, and that His Majesty had decided to devote the money to the erection of a Sanatorium in England for Consumptive patients. On January 22nd, 1902, the first Anniversary of Queen Victoria's death, the Times paid the following well-deserved tribute to the new Sovereign: "During the year that has gone by he has sedulously and successfully set himself to fulfill all the duties of a constitutional Sovereign. He has spared no pains to make himself familiar with his people, to study their needs, to discover their wishes, to express their instincts and their ideals. He has been able, in many ways, to promote national objects to a greater extent than, perhaps, would have been possible even with Queen Victoria. It is no secret that he is in cordial sympathy with the feelings of the immense majority of his subjects on the supreme issues which now dominate international politics. He has a high and keen perception of the honour of the nation, so closely bound up with that of the Royal House and with his own."
The succeeding six months were very largely devoted to preparations for the Coronation, but the King, nevertheless, found time to do some travelling and visiting in the country and to carry out some very brilliant Court functions. As an illustration of the way in which he sought to do every possible honour to his Queen-Consort, there may be instanced a letter written, by command, in reply to an inquiry from the Lord Mayor of London as to whether in drinking the second of the loyal toasts at public gatherings the company should stand or not. Sir Dighton Probyn observed in his letter that the King had no doubt as to what was right, and that in his opinion the toast of "Her Majesty, Queen Alexandra, the Prince and Princess of Wales and the other members of the Royal family" should be received standing, with a few bars of the National Anthem and "God bless the Prince of Wales." On February 11th King Edward held the first Levée since his accession, and it was made the occasion for a revival of much old-time splendour. The Prince of Wales who had since his return home from the Colonies merged his title of Duke of Cornwall and York in the more historic and familiar designation, was present together with a great and representative gathering. Bishops in lawn sleeves and scarlet hoods attended by chaplains in long black gowns and white bands, great lawyers in wigs and flowing robes, foreign officers and diplomatists in gorgeous and varied uniforms, British generals and admirals, and the picturesque Windsor uniforms of the Privy Councillors, lent a brilliant appearance to a function at which most of the eminent men of the Kingdom were to be seen.
Ten days afterwards His Majesty visited Lord and Lady Burton at Rangemore, and while there inspected the famous Bass and Company brewery and started a special brew to be called "the King's Ale"—only to be used on special occasions. Early in the year it had been decided by the King to pay what might be termed a Coronation visit to Ireland, accompanied by his wife. Unfortunately, unpleasant conditions of local agitation developed, and then came the outburst of Nationalist sympathy for the Boers, in the House of Commons, when Lord Methuen's defeat was announced. The result was that his Ministers advised the King not to undertake the trip at the time proposed, and its postponement was announced on March 12th, greatly to the regret of many in Ireland and out of it. Commencing on March 7th the King and Queen Alexandra paid a brief visit to the West of England and were loyally welcomed at Dartmouth, Plymouth, Stonehouse and Davenport, where certain official functions were performed.
On March 14th, King Edward and Queen Alexandra held their first Court, and it was expected that the occasion would be the most stately and splendid in the modern social history of the nation. It fully equalled these anticipations, and the scene in the ball-room of Buckingham Palace eclipsed even the traditions of the French Imperial Court in the days of Napoleon III. It was well managed, it was attended by the greatest and best representatives of English public and social life, it was unusually brilliant in jewelry, in dresses and in uniforms, it was stately in its setting and more animated and brighter in character than any similar function of the late Sovereign's reign—since its early years at least. The same success attended succeeding and similar occasions, and it might be distinctly appropriate to quote here views expressed by the Daily News of February 15th, 1901, when it spoke of the new reign as opening with splendid promise for the highest interests of the country and with component elements in its Court for a period of extraordinary social brilliancy. "King Edward," observed this Radical organ, "is one of the most popular of Sovereigns, and his beautiful Queen sheds a lustre upon his Court for which it would be difficult to find a parallel. Amiable, tender-hearted, actively philanthropic, and possessing exquisite taste, the Queen Consort is eminently qualified to be the bright particular star in the shining galaxy of our Court. The Royal Princesses are most highly accomplished and amiable ladies, each one of whom has achieved for herself a high place in the affections of the nation."