 Tomb of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra | |
| Date |
|
|---|---|
| Location |
|
| Participants | British royal family |
The funeral of Queen Alexandra (formerly Princess Alexandra of Denmark), widow to King Edward VII and mother to King George V, occurred on Friday, 27 November 1925 at Westminster Abbey, following her death on 20 November.
Alexandra appeared youthful even in her senior years, [1] but during the First World War her age caught up with her. [2] She made no more visits to foreign countries, and her health gradually deteriorated. In 1920, a blood vessel in her eye burst, leaving her with temporary partial blindness. [3] Towards the end of her life, her memory and speech became impaired. [4]
A day before her death, Alexandra reportedly suffered a seizure at 11:00 am. [5] By 1:00 pm on 20 November, members of her family – including her three daughters (the Queen of Norway, the Princess Royal, and Princess Victoria) and her grandson Prince Henry – had arrived, after which she became unconscious. [5] By 4:15 pm she was administered oxygen but continued to lose strength. [5] She died on 20 November 1925 at Sandringham House at 5:25 pm from a heart attack eleven days before her 81st birthday. Her son King George V, her daughter-in-law Queen Mary, and other members of the royal family were by her side. [6] Her two eldest grandsons, the Prince of Wales and the Duke of York, were on a train to Sandringham and arrived at 6:45 pm. [5] Flags flew at half-mast following the announcement of her death, except at Windsor Castle where the Union Jack flew high as it could only be lowered when a sovereign had died. [7] Shows involving music and dance were cancelled by the West End hotels in London and the BBC interrupted its regular programmes. [5] Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin brought forward a motion of condolence in the House of Commons, which was agreed to by the Leader of the Opposition Ramsay MacDonald. [5] The Grenadier Guards marched in the Horse Guards Parade with their colours draped. [7]
After her death, Alexandra's coffin lay in St Mary Magdalene Church, Sandringham, before being moved to the Chapel Royal in St James' Palace. [8] A simple service was also held at the church in Sandringham, attended by members of the royal family and the villagers. [7] Mourners also filed past the coffin. [9] Her coffin, draped in her personal banner of arms, [10] was taken in a procession in Sandringham to Wolferton railway station. [11] [9] The King and Queen, the Prince of Wales, the Duke of York, and other mourners, including Princess George of Greece and Denmark, followed the coffin, while estate employees and villagers also eventually joined in on the procession. [9] [11]
In London, the procession went from St James' Palace to Westminster Abbey and the whole route was lined with military personnel. [11] Areas the coffin passed by included The Mall, Horse Guards Parade, and Whitehall. [12] Detachments from different regiments took part in the procession as the gun carriage on which the coffin was placed made its way to abbey amid the sound of gun salutes. [11] [10] Walking behind the coffin were the King (in a Field Marshal's uniform), the King of the Belgians, the King of Denmark (Queen Alexandra's nephew), the King of Norway (Queen Alexandra's nephew and son-in-law), the Prince of Wales (in the uniform of a Colonel of the Welsh Guards), the Crown Prince of Norway (Queen Alexandra's grandson), the Crown Prince of Romania (Queen Alexandra's grandnephew), the Crown Prince of Sweden, the Duke of York, Prince Valdemar of Denmark (Queen Alexandra's brother), Prince Henry, Prince Arthur of Connaught (Queen Alexandra's nephew and grandson-in-law), and Lord Louis Mountbatten (Queen Alexandra's grandnephew). [9] [10] [13] [14] The Queen, the Queen of Norway, the Queen of Spain (Queen Alexandra's niece), and royal princesses travelled straight to the abbey. [10] Pallbearers were chosen from the King's Company of Grenadiers. [10] Her funeral was held at the abbey on 27 November 1925 at 11:30 am. [15] The funeral service was conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury. [10] Among the attendees were cabinet members, diplomats and high commissioners. [10] The order of service included Psalm 23, hymns such as "Now the Laborer's Task is O'er" and "On the Resurrection Morning", and the anthem "Give Rest, O Christ". [10]
After the funeral service, the coffin was watched by the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms and the Yeomen of the Guard, who had also stood vigil at St James' Palace. [10] Alexandra lay in state at the abbey, where members of the public were allowed to enter and file past on 27 November to pay their respects. [8] [10] Additional memorial services were held at churches across the country, while theatres and dance halls were closed. [10] In Australia, memorial services were also held at St David's Cathedral, Hobart, St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne, and St John's Cathedral, Brisbane. [12] On 28 November, her coffin was taken to Windsor for a private service in the evening, [8] where it was placed together with her late husband's coffin in front of the altar in the Albert Memorial Chapel. [16] [17] On 29 November, members of the public visited Windsor to view the floral tributes left out for Alexandra. [17]
After Alexandra's husband, Edward VII, had died, his body had been temporarily interred in the Royal Vault at Windsor under the Albert Memorial Chapel. [16] On the instructions of Alexandra in 1919, a monument in the South Aisle was designed and executed by Bertram Mackennal, featuring tomb effigies of Edward and Alexandra in white marble mounted on a black and green marble sarcophagus, where both bodies were interred two years after Alexandra's death on 22 April 1927. [16] The monument includes a depiction of Edward's favourite dog, Caesar, lying at his feet. [18]
Alexandra's great-granddaughter Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary of York (later Queen Elizabeth II), who was born five months after Alexandra's death, was named after her. [19]
Alexandra of Denmark was Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, from 22 January 1901 to 6 May 1910 as the wife of Edward VII.
Mary, Princess Royal was a member of the British royal family. She was the only daughter of King George V and Queen Mary, the sister of kings Edward VIII and George VI, and aunt of Elizabeth II. In the First World War, she performed charity work in support of servicemen and their families. She married Henry Lascelles, Viscount Lascelles, in 1922. Mary was given the title of Princess Royal in 1932. During the Second World War, she was Controller Commandant of the Auxiliary Territorial Service. The Princess Royal and the Earl of Harewood had two sons, George Lascelles, 7th Earl of Harewood, and Gerald David Lascelles.
Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent was a Greek and Danish princess by birth and a British princess by marriage. She was a daughter of Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark and Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia, and a granddaughter of King George I and Queen Olga of Greece. Princess Marina married Prince George, Duke of Kent, fourth son of King George V and Queen Mary, in 1934. They had three children: Prince Edward, Princess Alexandra, and Prince Michael.
Maud of Wales was Queen of Norway as the wife of King Haakon VII. The youngest daughter of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom, she was known as Princess Maud of Wales before her marriage, as her father was the Prince of Wales at the time.
Sandringham House is a country house in the parish of Sandringham, Norfolk, England. It is one of the royal residences of Charles III, whose grandfather, George VI, and great-grandfather, George V, both died there. The house stands in a 20,000-acre (8,100 ha) estate in the Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The house is listed as Grade II* and the landscaped gardens, park and woodlands are on the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.
Elizabeth Charlotte Knollys was an English courtier and member of the Knollys family. She was Lady of the Bedchamber, and the first woman private secretary, to Princess Alexandra of Denmark, later Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom, consort of Edward VII.
The Royal Burial Ground is a cemetery used by the British royal family. Consecrated on 23 October 1928 by the Bishop of Oxford, it is adjacent to the Royal Mausoleum, which was built in 1862 to house the tomb of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. The burial ground lies on the Frogmore estate within the Home Park at Windsor, in the English county of Berkshire.
The funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, started on Saturday 6 September 1997 at 9:08 am in London, when the tenor bell of Westminster Abbey started tolling to signal the departure of the cortège from Kensington Palace. The coffin was carried from the palace on a gun carriage by riders of the King's Troop and escorted by mounted police along Hyde Park to St James's Palace, where Diana's body had remained for five days before being taken to Kensington Palace. The Union Flag on top of the palace was lowered to half mast. The official ceremony was held at Westminster Abbey in London and finished at the resting place in Althorp.
Edward VII, King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, died on Friday 6 May 1910 at the age of 68. His state funeral occurred two weeks later, on 20 May 1910. He was succeeded by his only living son, George V.
St George's Chapel, formally titled The King's Free Chapel of the College of St George, Windsor Castle, at Windsor Castle in England is a castle chapel built in the late-medieval Perpendicular Gothic style. It is a Royal Peculiar, and the Chapel of the Order of the Garter. St George's Chapel was founded in the 14th century by King Edward III and extensively enlarged in the late 15th century. It is located in the Lower Ward of the castle.
In the United Kingdom, state funerals are usually reserved for monarchs. The most recent was the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II on 19 September 2022.
On 30 March 2002 at 15:15 GMT, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, widow to King George VI and mother to Queen Elizabeth II, died at the age of 101 at Royal Lodge, Windsor. The death of the Queen Mother set in motion Operation Tay Bridge, a plan detailing procedures including the dissemination of information, national mourning, and her funeral. Representatives of nations and groups around the world sent condolences to the Queen, the British people, and citizens of the Commonwealth. Flowers and messages of condolence were left by the public at royal residences, with members of the royal family publicly paying tribute to the Queen Mother in the days after her death. Her funeral, held on 9 April 2002 at Westminster Abbey in London, attracted 10 million viewers in the United Kingdom and cost £5.4 million.
The coronation of Edward VII and his wife, Alexandra, as king and queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions took place at Westminster Abbey, London, on 9 August 1902. Originally scheduled for 26 June of that year, the ceremony had been postponed at very short notice, because the King had been taken ill with an abdominal abscess that required immediate surgery. In contrast to the coronation of Queen Victoria, Edward's mother and predecessor, some 64 years earlier, Edward and Alexandra's coronation had been carefully planned as a spectacle reflecting the influence and culture of the British Empire, then at the height of its power, but also as a meaningful religious occasion.
Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Empress of India, died on 22 January 1901 at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, at the age of 81. At the time of her death, she was the longest-reigning monarch in British history. Her state funeral took place on 2 February 1901, being one of the largest gatherings of European royalty.
The wedding of Princess Mary, and Henry Lascelles, Viscount Lascelles took place on Tuesday, 28 February 1922, at Westminster Abbey. The bride was the only daughter of King George V, while the groom was a member of the Lascelles family.
On 6 February 1952, George VI, King of the United Kingdom, died at the age of 56, at Sandringham House, after a prolonged cancer. His state funeral took place on 15 February 1952. A period of national mourning commenced and his elder daughter and successor, Queen Elizabeth II, was proclaimed the new monarch by the Accession Council. George VI's coffin lay in St Mary Magdalene Church, Sandringham until 11 February when it was carried, in procession, to the nearby Wolferton railway station. The coffin was carried by train to London King's Cross railway station where another formal procession carried it to Westminster Hall where the king lay in state for three days. Some 304,000 people passed through Westminster Hall with queues up to 4 miles (6.4 km) forming.
Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms, died on 8 September 2022 at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, at the age of 96. Elizabeth's reign of 70 years and 214 days was the longest of any British monarch. She was immediately succeeded by her eldest son, Charles III.
George V, King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, died at Sandringham House in Norfolk on 20 January 1936, at the age of 70. He was succeeded by the eldest son, Edward VIII, who abdicated that year.
The funeral of Queen Mary, widow to King George V, took place on 31 March 1953 at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, following her death on 24 March and subsequent lying in state at Westminster Hall. Her death occurred two months short of her 86th birthday and ten weeks before the coronation of her granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II.
The ceremonial funeral of Admiral of the Fleet The 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma took place on Wednesday, 5 September 1979, at Westminster Abbey following his assassination by the Provisional Irish Republican Army on Monday, 27 August 1979, off the coast of the Mullaghmore Peninsula in County Sligo, Ireland.