Death and state funeral of Edward VII
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Participants | British royal family |
The funeral was the largest gathering of
Death
On 27 April 1910 the King returned to
On 6 May, Edward suffered several heart attacks, but refused to go to bed, saying, "No, I shall not give in; I shall go on; I shall work to the end."[2] Between moments of faintness, his son the Prince of Wales (shortly to be King George V) told him that his horse, Witch of the Air, had won at Kempton Park that afternoon. The King replied, "Yes, I have heard of it. I am very glad": his final words.[3] At 11:30 p.m. he lost consciousness for the last time and was put to bed. He died 15 minutes later.[2]
Alexandra refused to allow Edward's body to be moved for eight days afterwards, though she allowed small groups of visitors to enter his room.[4]
Lying-in-state
On 11 May, the King was dressed in his uniform and placed in a massive oak coffin, which was moved on 14 May to the throne room, where it was sealed and
On the first day, thousands of members of the public queued patiently in the rain to pay their respects; some 25,000 people were turned away when the gates were closed at 10 pm. On 19 May, Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany, wanted to have the hall closed while he laid a wreath; however, the police advised that there might be disorder if that happened, so the emperor was taken in through another entrance while the public continued to file past.[7] An estimated half a million people visited the hall during the three days that it was open.[8]
It was expected that theatres and the like would close, but King George issued a notice "to the effect that he wished things to go on as usual except on the actual day of the funeral, in view of the loss that would be inflicted on many persons ill able to bear it".[9]
State funeral
So gorgeous was the spectacle on the May morning of 1910 when nine kings rode in the funeral of Edward VII of the United Kingdom that the crowd, waiting in hushed and black-clad awe, could not keep back gasps of admiration. In scarlet and blue and green and purple, three by three the sovereigns rode through the
old worldwas setting in a dying blaze of splendor never to be seen again.
The funeral was held two weeks after the King's death on 20 May. Huge crowds, estimated at between three and five million, gathered to watch the procession, the route of which was lined by 35,000 soldiers.[11] It passed from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall, where a small ceremony was conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Randall Davidson, before a small group of official mourners – the late King's widow Queen Alexandra, his son King George V, his daughter Princess Victoria, his brother the Duke of Connaught, and his nephew the German Emperor. The remainder of the funeral party waited outside the Hall, consisting of thousands of people. Big Ben, the bell in the nearby clock tower, was rung 68 times, one for each year of Edward VII's life. This was the first time it was used in this way at a monarch's funeral.[12]
The whole procession then proceeded from Westminster Hall, via
The funeral service followed the format used for
The
Burial
Edward's body was temporarily interred in the Royal Vault at Windsor under the Albert Memorial Chapel.[16] On the instructions of Queen Alexandra in 1919, a monument in the South Aisle was designed and executed by Bertram Mackennal, featuring tomb effigies of the King and Queen in white marble mounted on a black and green marble sarcophagus, where both bodies were interred on 22 April 1927,[16] their caskets having been placed in front of the altar in the Albert Memorial Chapel after Alexandra's death in November 1925.[16] The monument includes a depiction of Edward's favourite dog, Caesar, lying at his feet.[17]
Guests
As per report in London Gazette.[18]
British royal family
- Queen Alexandra, the late King's widow
- The King and Queen, the late King's son and daughter-in-law
- The Duke of Cornwall, the late King's grandson
- The Prince Albert, the late King's grandson
- The Princess Mary, the late King's granddaughter
- The Prince Henry, the late King's grandson
- The Princess Royal and the Duke of Fife, the late King's daughter and son-in-law
- Princess Alexandra, the late King's granddaughter
- Princess Maud, the late King's granddaughter
- The Princess Victoria, the late King's daughter
- The Queen and King of Norway, the late King's daughter and son-in-law (also nephew)
- The King and Queen, the late King's son and daughter-in-law
- Princess and Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein, the late King's sister and brother-in-law
- Prince Albert of Schleswig-Holstein, the late King's nephew
- Princess Helena Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein, the late King's niece
- Princess Marie Louise of Schleswig-Holstein, the late King's niece
- The Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll and the Duke of Argyll, the late King's sister and brother-in-law
- The Duke and Duchess of Connaught and Strathearn, the late King's brother and sister-in-law
- Prince Arthur of Connaught, the late King's nephew
- Princess Patricia of Connaught, the late King's niece
- Princess Henry of Battenberg, the late King's sister
- Prince Alexander of Battenberg, the late King's nephew
- Prince Maurice of Battenberg, the late King's nephew
- The Duchess of Albany, the late King's sister-in-law
- The Duke and Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Duke and Duchess of Albany), the late King's nephew and niece-in-law (also half-first cousin twice removed)
- Princess and Prince Louis of Battenberg, the late King's niece and nephew-in-law
- Princess Louise of Battenberg, the late King's great-niece
- Prince George of Battenberg, the late King's great-nephew
- Princess Victor of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, widow of the late King's half-first cousin
- Countess Feodora Gleichen, the late King's half-first cousin once removed
- Count Edward Gleichen, the late King's half-first cousin once removed
- The Duke and Duchess of Teck, the late King's second cousin and his wife
- Prince Francis of Teck, the late King's second cousin
- Prince Alexander of Teck, the late King's second cousin (also nephew-in-law)
Foreign royalty
- The German Emperor, the late King's nephew
- Prince Henry of Prussia, the late King's nephew
- The Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine, the late King's nephew
- The King of Spain, the late King's nephew-in-law
- The Crown Prince of Romania, the late King's nephew-in-law (representing the King of the Romanians)
- The King of Denmark, the late King's brother-in-law
- The Duke of Västergötland, the late King's nephew-in-law (representing the King of Sweden)
- The King of the Hellenes, the late King's brother-in-law
- The Duke of Sparta, the late King's nephew
- Prince and Princess Andrew of Greece and Denmark, the late King's nephew and great-niece
- Prince Christopher of Greece and Denmark, the late King's nephew
- Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia, the late King's sister-in-law
- Russian Emperor)
- Prince George William of Hanover and Cumberland, the late King's nephew
- Prince Maximilian of Baden, the late King's nephew-in-law (representing the Grand Duke of Baden)
- The Tsar of the Bulgarians, the late King's second cousin
- The King of the Belgians, the late King's second cousin
- The Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the late King's second cousin
- The Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the late King's second cousin once removed
- The Crown Prince of Montenegro, husband of the late King's second cousin once removed (representing the Prince of Montenegro)
- Prince Philipp of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the late King's second cousin
- Prince Leopold Clement of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the late King's second cousin once removed
- The Count of Eu, the late King's second cousin
- The Prince Imperial of Brazil, the late King's second cousin once removed
- The
- The Duke of Alençon, the late King's second cousin
- The Duke of Vendôme, the late King's second cousin once removed
- Duke Albrecht of Württemberg, the late King's second cousin once removed (representing the King of Württemberg)[19]
- The King of Portugal, the late King's second cousin twice removed
- The Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont, brother of the late King's sister-in-law
- Prince Wolrad of Waldeck and Pyrmont, half-brother of the late King's sister-in-law
- Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria (representing the Emperor of Austria)
- The Crown Prince of the Ottoman Empire (representing the Ottoman Sultan)
- King of Italy)
- Prince Fushimi Sadanaru (representing the Emperor of Japan)
- Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria (representing the Prince Regent of Bavaria)
- The Crown Prince of Serbia (representing the King of Serbia)
- Prince Henry of the Netherlands (representing the Queen of the Netherlands)
- Prince Johann Georg of Saxony (representing the King of Saxony)
- Prince Mohammed Ali of Egypt (representing the Khedive of Egypt and Sudan)
- Prince Bovaradej of Siam (representing the King of Siam)
- Prince Zaitao of China (representing the Emperor of China)
- Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich of Russia
- The Duke of Penthièvre
- The Landgrave of Hesse
- The Prince Kinsky of Wchinitz and Tettau
Other dignitaries
- Former President Theodore Roosevelt, representing the United States
- French Republic
- Persia
- Sir George Reid, High Commissioner of Australia to the United Kingdom and former Prime Minister of Australia
- William Hall-Jones, High Commissioner of New Zealand to the United Kingdom and former Prime Minister of New Zealand
Nobility
- The Duke of Norfolk
- The Duke of Beaufort
- The Duke of Bedford
- The Duke of Montrose
- The Duke of Northumberland
- The Duke of Richmond and Gordon
- The Duchess of Buccleuch
- The Marquess of Cholmondeley
- The Marquess of Ripon
- The Marquess of Breadalbane
- The Marquess of Hertford
- The Marquess of Londonderry
- The Marquess of Salisbury
- The Earl of Granard
- The Earl Beauchamp
- The Earl of Dundonald
- The Earl Granville
- The Earl of Liverpool
- The Earl Howe
- The Earl of Gosford
- The Earl of Shaftesbury
- The Earl Roberts
- The Earl of Albemarle
- The Earl of Harrington
- The Earl of Stradbroke
- The Earl Fortescue
- The Earl of Scarbrough
- The Earl of Kilmorey
- The Earl Brownlow
- The Earl of Harewood
- The Earl of Clarendon
- The Earl of Haddington
- The Earl of Kintore
- The Earl of Leicester
- The Earl Cawdor
- The Earl of Rosebery
- The Earl of Denbigh
- The Viscount Althorp
- The Viscount Esher
- The Viscount Kitchener
- The Viscount Galway
- The Viscount Churchill
- The Lord Grenfell
- The Lord Acton
- The Lord Suffield
- The Lord Farquhar
- The Lord Colebrooke
- The Lord Herschell
- The Lord Allendale
- The Lord Denman
- The Lord Knollys
- The Lord Wenlock
- The Lord Lovat
- The Lord Harris
- The Lord Belper
- The Lord Fisher
- The Lord Strathcona and Mount Royal
- The Lord Hamilton of Dalzell
- The Lord Tweedmouth
- Lord Marcus Beresford
- Lord Charles Fitzmaurice
- Lord Walter Kerr
- Lord Algernon Percy
- The Hon. Seymour Fortescue
- The Hon. Henry Legge
- The Hon. Edmund Fremantle
- The Hon. Arthur Walsh
- The Hon. Sir Hedworth Lambton
- The Hon. Derek Keppel
- The Hon. Charles Wentworth-FitzWilliam
- The Hon. Sir Assheton Curzon-Howe
See also
- Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria
- Death and state funeral of George V
- Death and state funeral of George VI
- Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II
- State funerals in the United Kingdom
References
Notes
- ^ Tuchman 2014, p. 1.
- ^ a b Bentley-Cranch, p. 151
- doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/32975, retrieved 24 June 2009 (subscription or UK public library membershiprequired)
- ^ Ridley, p. 558
- ^ ISBN 978-1783270927.
- ^ "Plaque: Westminster Hall - Edward VII". www.londonremembers.com. London Remembers. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
- ISBN 978-1-4039-8377-0.
- ISBN 978-0786424498.
- ^ "Our London Letter, 16 May 1910". Musical Canada. 5 (1): 43. May 1910.
- ISBN 978-0-2419-6822-2.
- ISBN 978-1356057740.
- ^ Weinreb & Hibbert 1992, p. 66
- ISBN 978-1848683471.
- ^ Range 2016, p. 281
- ^ Todd Van Beck, "The Death and State Funeral of Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill", part II, in Canadian Funeral News (October 2012), Vol. 40 Issue 10, p. 10 (online Archived 2014-03-16 at the Wayback Machine)
- ^ a b c Rainbird, Stephen Geoffrey (October 2015). "Expatriatism: A New Platform for Shaping Australian Artistic Practice in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries – A Case Study of Six Artists Working in Paris and London" (PDF). University of Tasmania. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
- ISBN 978-0715633106.
- ^ "No. 28401". The London Gazette (Supplement). 26 July 1910.
- ^ Tuchman 2014, p. 6.
Sources
- Bentley-Cranch, Dana (1992). Edward VII: Image of an Era 1841–1910. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. ISBN 978-0-11-290508-0.
- ISBN 978-0-345-38623-6.
- Weinreb, Ben; Hibbert, Christopher (1992). The London Encyclopaedia (Reprint ed.). Macmillan.
- The Times, May 21, 1910[full citation needed]
External links
- Media related to Funeral of Edward VII of the United Kingdom at Wikimedia Commons