| The Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Meiningen. | Prince Christian Victor of Sleswig-Holstein. | Prince Louis of Battenberg. |
| Prince Henry of Prussia. | Prince George of Wales. | The Hereditary Grand Duke of Hesse. |
| The Grand Duke Serge of Russia. | Prince Albert Victor of Wales. | Prince William of Prussia. |
| Prince Henry of Battenberg. | The Marquis of Lorne. | |
| Prince Christian of Sleswig-Holstein. | The German Crown Prince. | The Grand Duke of Hesse. |
| The Duke of Connaught. | The Prince of Wales. | The Duke of Edinburgh. |
The Queen, clad in black, but with a bonnet of white Spanish lace glittering with diamonds, and wearing the Orders of the Garter and Star of India, entered, escorted by the Lord Chamberlain, as the organ pealed forth the strains of the march from Handel’s “Occasional Oratorio.” The solemnity of the spectacle, and the reflection that the Queen-Empress is about to give thanks to God for the crowning triumph of her life, surrounded by the ashes of her predecessors, repress all manifestations of feeling. Reverently does her Majesty take her place on the Royal daïs, and, when the Princes and Princesses in her train arrange themselves, the picture is one of imposing magnificence. Surrounding this shining group of Princes a vast throng, representing the genius, the rank, the wealth, and the chivalry of Britain, filled every nook of the sacred fane in which the Queen celebrated her golden wedding with her people. Towering high above all his peers the Imperial form of the German Crown Prince, clad in the white uniform of the Cuirassiers, stood forth as the most majestic figure in that magnificent pageant.
THE CROWN PRINCE, AFTERWARDS THE EMPEROR FREDERICK III., OF GERMANY.
(From a Photograph by Reichard and Lindner, Berlin.)
The Thanksgiving Service was brief and simple. The Primate and the Dean of Westminster officiated, and the music was largely selected from the compositions of the Prince Consort. Prayers and responses invoking a blessing on the Queen were intoned. The Prince Consort’s Te Deum was given. Three special prayers were offered up by the Archbishop of Canterbury,
THE CROWN PRINCESS, AFTERWARDS THE EMPRESS VICTORIA, OF GERMANY.