The queen had requested that she not be embalmed, so a coffin had to be ordered quickly. Member. When Rennellwho was also writing a book on Victoria's final yearswas invited by the Reid family to research their archives, he came across the hidden instructions written just before the old Queen's death. Her death marked the end of an era where many of her subjects knew no other monarch. Queen Elizabeth's coffin was transported from Westminster Hall to Westminster Abbey today on top of the 123-year, 5600-pound Royal Navy State Funeral Gun Carriage . But there was more. When her husbandAlbert died unexpectedly at age 42, Victoria was devastated. Queen Victoria in her wedding dress and veil from 1840, painted in 1847 as an anniversary gift for her husband, Prince Albert. This uncanny practice supposedly went on for years. She saw 10 prime ministers; five Archbishops of Canterbury and six commanders-in-chief; 18 presidents of the United States; 11 Viceroys of Canada; 16 Viceroys of India and France successively ruled by one king; one emperor and seven presidents of a Republic. We spent the evening looking up what had been done when George IV and William IV had died.. Updated Sept. 19, 2022, 5:52 PM UTC. The same happens in Germany as in England: You are all alike!. Arriving at the mausoleum, the choir of St George's sang Yea, thou I walk from Sir Arthur Sullivan's oratorio, The Light of the World. The close relationship that developed between the Queen and her servant was not approved of. In a macabre, twisted mixture of death and youth culture, Queen Victoria's secret instructions demanded her entire funeralfrom horses, to mourning attire, to funeral crepebe arrayed in white. The solemn service, attended by the kings of the United Kingdom, Germany, Portugal, and Greece, and the future kings of Denmark and Sweden, went on with relatively few mishaps (other than some seating mistakes). Only one request by the Queen was not carried out that a life-size sculpture of her should be moved to the mausoleum at the Frogmore Estate, which housed a matching sculpture of Albert, as well as his remains. The queen had refused to be embalmed, so they scattered charcoal on the floor of the coffin to combat the smell and absorb the moisture. Victoria was the longest-ruling British monarch, reigning from 1837-1901. Some of the latter did not meet with her family's approval; indeed, her nine children were often in vehement opposition to some of the ways Victoria lived her life and resentful of those with whom she was closest. Find professional Queen Victoria Funeral videos and stock footage available for license in film, television, advertising and corporate uses. All of this could be seen and heard as the press rushed down to the harbour to break the news to the world. September 19, 2022 - 9:36PM. RM WH8NMH - Queen Victoria's Funeral Procession London on its way to Windsor 2 February 1901 behind the coffin rose the new King Edward VII and his nephew, the Kaiser RM 2AF0ERN - QUEEN VICTORIA (1819-1901) Her coffin leaving St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle on Saturday 2 February 1901 Be pleased with yourself had you lived in 19th century London and reached the advanced age of 45. A widow described the horrifying moment her husband's coffin was dropped and broke open during his funeral, leaving him on view to more than 400 people. The document resurfaced years later in Dr. Reids family archives. By entering your details, you are agreeing to our terms and conditions and privacy policy. She didn't want to be embalmed, and charcoal was spread across the bottom of the casket you know, for the stench. Dead bodies were cleaned and prepared for burial by family members, and the corpses were put in their parlors for viewing. It was Dr. Reid who carried out her final demands. God! The government ground to a halt as the queen was no longer able to carry out her constitutional duties. Queen Victoria's funeral procession passing through London, 1901. One wonders if she was preparing to cross the River Styx. Ad Choices. According to Victoria: The Queen by Julia Baird, Victoria, who loved romantic mementos and gothic mystery, had left instructions for her trusted servants that were for their eyes only. Humiliated by the horses breaking free from his mothers carriage, King Edward VII told Ponsonby that if there were a similar mishap during his mothers burial on February 4, he would never speak to him again. The state funeral of Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Empress of India, occurred on 2 February 1901, after her death on 22 January. It was originally given to Victoria in a posey by Albert's grandmother in 1845. London: The Queen's coffin will be taken to Westminster Abbey on the same gun carriage that was first used for Queen Victoria's funeral and also carried the bodies of her . At Waterloo station they handed over responsibility to the Queen's Royal Irish Hussars who placed the . . But there were some aspects of Victorias final departure that she kept hidden from her family. So, what exactly did the longest reigning monarch of Britain at the time want to conceal? Its understandable that Victoria later developed an attachment for that particular embroidered cloak. . Churchill's coffin was placed on board the Havengore at Tower Pier after the state funeral. Queen Victoria's funeral procession.British Pathe / YouTube, The funeral of Queen Victoria broke royal protocol in every way and changed the way we mourn monarchy forever. The Lord Chamberlain is very sorry, and is likely to decline to give assistance, one contemporary noted, per Richards. The procession from St George's Chapel was accompanied by massed military bands playing funeral marches, but in the final part of the journey, pipers played a lament, the Black Watch Dead March. Instead, she wanted a white funeral, with white ponies and a gun carriage. T. he Queen's coffin will be carried during Monday's funeral procession to Westminster Abbey on a 123-year-old gun carriage towed by 98 Royal Navy sailors in a tradition dating back to the . (You can see the moving images of this procession on British Paths newsreel). The burial of Queen Victoria took place on 2 February 1901, exactly 120 years ago. Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, Wyllie depicts a scene during the funeral of Queen Victoria. The Royal Horse Artillery were unable to re-harness the horses and disaster loomed. The sad event, which occurred on a cold December night in 1861 at Windsor Castle, would define the rest of Queen Victorias days as Britains reigning monarch. Queen Victoria, a name that echoed in nearly half of the world during the 19th Century, is not much of a thought today. After a short train ride to Windsor, the funeral party began the procession on horseback and foot to St. Georges Chapel for the queens state funeral. Queen Victoria was the second-longest reigning British monarch in history, ruling the United Kingdom from 1837 to 1901. They had little time to find out. Unwilling to let the uncouth assistant touch the hallowed queen, the kaiser and other courtiers took matters into their own hands. Servants brought hot water, his shaving brush and cup, and towels to his room every morning. Queen Victoria ruled Britain for 64 years, so her death on 22 January 1901, sent the country, royal family, and parliament into panic as they realised they had no protocols in place for the death of a reigning monarch. Two days after the funeral, on 4th February 1901, Queen Victoria was taken to Frogmore Mausoleum to rest beside her husband Prince Albert. Her Majesty's coffin was today lowered into the royal vault. Dr. Reid assured that the instructions were fully implemented, including the list of rather bizarre items that were supposed to go in the coffin along with the Queens body. The plant has been grown at Osborne, Queen Victoria's holiday home on the Isle of Wight fro about 170 years. She had also outlived all nine of her bridesmaids. Theatre performances were interrupted as audiences poured out into the streets. To revist this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. She would clothe herself in black up until the end of her own life some four decades later. With the eyes of the world on the Queen's funeral, one tiny detail on the late monarch's coffin caught the eye of some eagle-eyed viewers. The world said their final farewells to Queen Elizabeth II during a state funeral held in her honor Monday, Sept. 19. They cut off her hair, dressed her in a white silk dressing gown with garter ribbon and star and placed her wedding veil over her face. Across the nation, people gathered in small groups to sing God Save the Queen and by eight oclock, shop windows were dressed in black mourning; Whiteleys department store in London had queues ten deep as customers lined up to purchase their black mourning outfits. And so Reid, the queens private doctor, set to work with Victorias trusted servants to hide her treasures in her custom coffin. Though Victorias oldest son, now King Edward VII, tried to control the narrative by releasing news of his mothers death, a media frenzy quickly took hold. Was Victoria and Albert's union a happy one? She also ordered an image of herself so that she could be assured that the two would be united in burial. She slept nightly with theplaster cast of his hand. Even weirder is that she slept with it for years after his demise. In memory of her departed daughter Alice, Queen Victoria requested that she be buried with an elaborate cape the young Princess had made for Prince Albert. Full steam ahead is today's order just because it can be nothing else.. She wanted it done with respect but simply. Curiously, for a woman obsessed with death and mourningwho had worn black for decades in honor of her beloved husband Prince Alberts early deathVictoria requested a white funeral, with no public lying in state and no hearse to carry her coffin. While the Queen didnt ask for the shaving set to be placed in the coffin, she did ask for the princes dressing gown. He is a graduate in Literature. These were mostly items of sentimental value for the Queen. The official state funeral for the late Queen Elizabeth II will take place Monday, September 19 at Westminster Abbey and will be the first royal funeral held at the venue since that of King George II in 1760 (via Daily Mail). Queen Elizabeth's coffin is not massively different. Queen Victoria's relationship with John Brown. When an ordinary, humble person dies, everything is arranged quite easily and with reverence and care. British Heritage Travel is published by Irish Studio, Ireland's largest magazine publishing company. They summoned the royal dukes, the kaiser and the new king to lift her body into the coffin. The organisation of the service lay with the Dean of Windsor and the Lord Chamberlain, with the active participation of the Archbishops of Canterbury and York. Queen Elizabeths Funeral: Read All the Updates, Remembering the Life and Legacy of Queen Elizabeth II, Queen Elizabeths Incredible Pop-Culture Impact, Inside Queen Elizabeth IIs Lifetime of Diplomacy, Inside Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philips First Meeting, How Meghan and Harrys Royal Exit Affected the Queen and Crown, From the Archive: The Dynastic Struggle That Rocked Queen Elizabeths Marriage, Listen to DYNASTY, Your Guide to the Unimaginable Secrets and Unyielding Power of the Royal Family. The inclusion of so much music by foreign composers was unprecedented and was not repeated in later royal funerals where British music predominated. Currently, her coffin is lying in state in St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh, Scotland before it is to be flown to London and then driven to Buckingham Palace. 6. Prince Louis Battenberg (grandfather of Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh) rescued the day, suggesting: If it is impossible to mend the traces you can always get the naval guard of honour to drag the gun carriage. Accordingly, 138 bluejackets piled their arms [propped up their weapons], attached ropes to the carriage where the harnesses had been, and dragged the gun carriage to St Georges Chapel by hand, giving birth to a new royal tradition. Twenty-two days later, shortly after 6.30pm on Tuesday 22 January 1901, Superintendent Fraser ordered the household police to surround the queens Isle of Wight residence Osborne House. Queen Victoria ruled Britain for 64 years, so her death on 22 January 1901, sent the country, royal family, and parliament into panic as they realised they had no protocols in place for the death of a reigning monarch. The Prince of Wales was reluctant to cancel his weekend jaunts to the country; the Duke of Connaught [the seventh child of Victoria and Albert] was on his way to Berlin to celebrate 200 years of the Prussian monarchy; while other members of the royal family enjoyed a performance of Little Nell in Londons West End. First and foremost because the Queens own children would have quickly denounced what stood written in her instructions. She wanted some specific things in her coffin, many of which were from her beloved husband. Queen Victoria, her collie dog Noble, and the Munshi, Abdul Karim. For years after his death, she had Albert's former servants attend to his morning rituals. The next day Queen Victoria was laid to rest next to her beloved Albert at the Royal Mausoleum. The Great Tom bell of St Pauls tolled across the city of London. (Probably equally loathed was the Indian servant Abdul Karim, with whom Victoria became close after Browns death). Queen Elizabeth II's coffin has undertaken its procession to Westminster Abbey.. The coffin was guarded all night by trusty MarinesOutside the basin lay the Victoria and Albert, with the king and other royal mourners on boardbeyond them the long array of warships, forming a glittering lane, scintillating with myriads of lights, and extending, as far as the eye could reach, across the still, dark waters of the Solent. Her death marked the end of the Victorian era. Many elements of the funeral procession can be traced back to Queen Victoria's funeral, more than 120 years ago. This will take place until her funeral on Monday, September 19. The royal pet became the last living soul to hear the Queens breathing. Before that, different colors were worn by brides for wedding ceremonies. Debbie Swales, 52, says she has been . This was an ode to her beloved Scottish castle, Balmoral where she spent so much time. The coffin had to be transported from Osborne House to the port of Cowes, then across the Solent on the royal yacht Alberta. One of the first strange items on Victoria's list was that she wished to be buried with theplaster cast of Prince Albert's hand, which was made shortly after his death. Among her demands was a list of rather sentimental items Queen Victoria is buried with. The last friend the dying monarch demanded to see was her Pomeranian dog, Turi. The white coffin, with its gleaming crown and orbs, was lifted on to the bier above the throng standing around it. She was confined to a wheelchair, almost blind and had lapses of memory and moments of confusion. The Queen had been due to make her final journey uphill to Windsor Castle on that wintry day in February 1901 pulled by eight bay horses of the Royal Horse Artillery. The funeral wreath on the queen's coffin was anything but funereal - it was a massive assembling of color and symbolism topped with a note from Charles. Third, Victoria requested that there should be no public lying in state. It was 64 years since such a tragic event had taken place. The story behind Princess Margaret's wedding tiara. Its weird enough that the Queen actually kept a plaster hand of her dead spouse. Princess Alice was also the first of her children to pass away, aged only 35. The year 1900 had been Queen Victorias annus horribilis: a horrible year, nothing but sadness and horrors of one kind & another, she wrote. \u201cMost interesting part of the queen\u2019s funeral so far is watching a bishop drop a piece of paper onto the floor, directly in frame of the camera\u201d While previously all royal funerals had been quiet, private affairs held at night, Victoria had left very clear instructions about what she wanted for a funeral, and she wanted a full military and state funeral. The queen's terminal decline had been rapid and had taken the family by surprise. In a first, Path cameramen were on the scene, recording the parade of soldiers, royals, mourners, and government officials as they marched to the station with the queens funeral cortege. The film clearly demonstrates the influence of royalty (five reigning monarchs, as well as many other members of royal families, accompanied Edward VII in the procession), as well as the prestige of the empire, navy and army. Death and all that came with it hovered far more closely to the living than it does today. This was followed by the largest military procession since the Duke of Wellingtons funeral in 1852, through Hyde Park to Paddington. This meant that the only event in London on this occasion was a gun carriage procession from one railway station to another: Victoria having died at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, her body was conveyed by boat and train to Victoria Station, then by gun carriage to Paddington Station and then by train to Windsor for the funeral service itself. There was no one alive who could remember how to bury a monarch and this queen had asked for a full military state funeral. No embalming, no lying-in-state, no mourning black; she wanted a white funeral, purple and white, with white ponies and a gun carriage, and the first burial of a monarch outside the confines of Westminster Abbey and St Georges Chapel since George I. Her death on Jan. 22, 1901, at age 81 was mourned around the world and signaled an end to the Victorian Era . When it was asked whether breakfast was included, the answer was that everyone must bring his own morning meal. This is an unusual view of Queen Victoria's funeral cortge being taken from the north-east side of Park Street. Baird writes: Sheasked for the cast of Alberts hand, which she had always kept near her, to be put in her coffinShe wanted one of Alberts handkerchiefs and cloaks, a shawl made by Alice, anda pocket handkerchief of my faithful Brown, that friend who was more devoted to me than anyone, to be laid on me. The royal family, who would soon set about destroying all record of the broad-shouldered Scot, was shielded from this sight.