Ten minutes after the last of the Colonial contingent had passed, the advance guard of the Royal Procession proper came into sight. |The Royal Procession.| The first man in that gorgeous company rode the giant Guardsman, Captain Oswald Ames, seeming not so very much taller than the splendid fellows who followed him, in spite of his six feet eight inches. Close following these came a Naval Gun Detachment who passed away through the avenues of enthusiastic civilians amidst a tumult of acclaim. Then, in quick succession, Life Guards, Dragoon Guards, Hussars, Lancers, and Batteries of the Royal Horse Artillery—the finest Artillery in the World. More quickly almost than these words are read the various component parts of the resplendent cavalcade came into view and vanished again. The populace waved its handkerchiefs and roared itself hoarse in a chorus of approval that was too whole-hearted to discriminate.
From a Photograph] [by F. Frith & Co., Reigate.
THE ROYAL PROCESSION: OFFICERS OF THE HEAD-QUARTERS STAFF LEAVING BUCKINGHAM PALACE.
On the balcony are the three children of the Duke of York; little Prince Edward in the centre. After the return of the Procession, when the people were allowed within the space outside the Palace railings, His Royal Highness frequently acknowledged their cheers by saluting in military style.
From a Photograph] [by Gregory & Co.
CAPTAIN AMES, 2nd LIFE GUARDS.
The tallest officer in the British army, who headed the Royal Procession.
As a grand ceremonial figure the Crown Prince, afterwards the Emperor Frederick of Germany, had attracted more personal notice in the procession of 1887 than was accorded to any visitor in that of 1897, but the personnel of the latter function was, in general, far more distinguished. As regards the procession of carriages, which followed immediately after the glittering deputation of officers of the Imperial Service Troops in India, those containing the Royal children—Her Majesty’s grandchildren and great-grandchildren—were most enthusiastically received by the crowd. The gravity with which the tiny Princes and Princesses acknowledged the greetings of the spectators occasioned great delight among the people, and the military salutes of the young Duke of Albany and Prince Arthur of Connaught, were the signals for fresh outbursts of applause. The Empress Frederick, the Duchesses of York, of Teck, of Connaught, and of Albany, the Princesses Louise and Henry of Battenberg, were each and all cheered and cheered again. The Princes and other illustrious persons representing the States of almost every Kingdom and Republic in the World, who rode in threes close before the Queen’s carriage, made up a group of almost unparalleled interest and importance. In recognition of his exalted rank as Commander-in-Chief of the Army, Lord Wolseley, in the uniform and carrying the bâton of a Field-Marshal, rode immediately in front of the Queen’s carriage.