“The Prince and Princess remained with Augusta and me. A. talked with all her usual animation. They were both extremely kind. The Princess looked inexpressibly sad. There was nothing much said of interest, chiefly talking of the voyage, etc. As I took him downstairs, he spoke of the dangers—but calmly and rationally, saying that, of course the precautions must be left to those about him. I said to him, ‘I gave you my parting benediction in the Abbey yesterday.’ ‘Yes,’ he replied, ‘I saw it. Thank you.’
“Later on in the evening Augusta wished me to telegraph our renewed thanks and renewed good wishes to the Castalia at Dover. I did so, and at 11 P.M. there came back a telegram from him: ‘Many thanks for your kind message. God bless both of you! Just off for Calais!’”
King Edward started from London on 11th October, immense popular interest being taken in the event. Huge crowds assembled long before the departure of the special train from Charing Cross, and the King and Queen Alexandra were wildly cheered. The Queen accompanied her husband as far as Calais, and then the King travelled across the Continent incognito, meeting his suite, who had started a few days previously, at Brindisi.
Embarkation on Board the “Serapis” at Brindisi
The eventful journey was made in the Serapis, one of the old large Indian troopships, and the voyage was very successful from every point of view. The Royal party spent a few days at Athens, where the King was entertained by his brother-in-law, the King of Greece, to whom he had brought a number of gifts from Sandringham, including an Alderney bull and cow, a ram and sheep, several British pigs, and a number of horses.
From the Piræus the Serapis proceeded to Egypt, and King Edward invested Prince Tewfik, the Khedive’s eldest son, with the Order of the Star of India.
As the Serapis steamed onwards the various programmes of the Royal progress through India were submitted to the King, and even the addresses which were to be presented to him were shown and his answers were carefully prepared; in fact, before he left Aden, His Majesty knew with what words the Corporation of Bombay, for instance, would receive him.
As may be easily imagined, all India was by now in a ferment of excitement, and the official world were very much concerned at the immense responsibility placed upon them by the mother-country. Four officers, of whom two had obtained the Victoria Cross, were carefully selected and commissioned to look after the comfort and the safety of the King and of his suite, Major Bradford (afterwards Sir E. R. C. Bradford, Chief Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police) being entrusted with the responsible task of attending to the safety of the Royal visitor’s own person.
The question as to how King Edward was to make his first appearance in Bombay was keenly discussed, and at one time it was thought that splendidly caparisoned elephants would form the most fitting mode of transport from the landing-stage to Government House, but finally the party went in carriages. Among the cargo of the Serapis were three valuable horses, specially chosen from the Marlborough House stables, which had been regularly taken to the Zoo, in order to be accustomed to the sight of the wild beasts and reptiles which they were likely to meet with in India.