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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (June 22, 1902)
Coronation of Britain's Kings and Queens f Si iZf': ;.:(, I jt. i j V I ION. JOSEPH CHAMBERLAIN, COLONIAL SECRETARY. LOUD SALISBURY, PREMIER OF GREAT BRITAIN. u NQUKSTIONA -II L V the crowning event of tho season will be Investiture of Ed- VII with the in of kingship In Abbey on tho ward slqnla Westminster Thursday, June 26. Preparations for the coronation have been going on for nearly a year, and It Is pre sumed the various ac tors In the royal drama will perform their eov eral parts without a serlouB hitch. The taak la one of considerable magnitude. Sixty-four years have passed since a similar event occurred In England. consequently all who will participate In next Thursday's his toric ceremony are without practical ex perience and have acquired edge by frequent rehearsals. p J : f . . . . & '"'ill ii i i i HON. JOSEPH CIIOATE. AMERICAN AM HASSADCHt AT f'ul'KT OF ST. JAMES. their kn.iwl- The coronation has become nlim at en tirely a religious ceremony, and, as a con sequence the chief functionary In I he ser vice Is the head of the church, the Mi. si Hev. Frederick Temple, archbishop of Can terbury. In the course of the service he anoints and crowns the king and is the dr. -it to pay him homage. The high religious churactcr of the coronation rites la fur thermore shown by tin fact that the crowning and anointing of the sovereign are Immediately followed by the commu nion, tho absolution and the prayer of consecration. Closely associated with the archbishop of Canterbury In the services Is the Very Hev. (Jeorge Granville llradley, the dean of Westminster, Because of the dean's ad vanced age, for he is now SI years old, his duties may be performed by the Rev, Ilr. ltobinson Duckworth, the sub-dean and canon of Westminster. The queen's coronation Is performed by the archbishop of York. And at different times In the service certain bishops, whom precedent has particularly favored, assist by sup porting the king and queen. On the morning of the coronation the archbishops and bishops, Invested In the Insignia of their office, wait for the royal procession at the great western door tt the abbey. Here an annex has been erected, similar In style to the Jerusalem chambtr, with battlemcnted walls and windows. The plaster with which It Is covered has been artistically smeared with soot or some other similar material to bring It Into tone with the surrouudlng smoke begrimed houses. Within are retir ing and dressing rooms for the royal suite. bury begin as soon as I lie king and queen reach the theater, which Is the somewhat Inap propriate name applied to the raised platform before the alar, and between the transepts, where the coronation is performed. After the king and queen have taken seats before their respective throne on tho theater the arch bishop, accompanied by the lord chancellor, the lord great chamberlain, lord high constable and earl marshal, goes to the four sides of the 'heater and proclaims to the people the presence of the king. This is called the act of recog nition. The archbishop then performs a number of different offices, the most striking of which is the administration of the oith. by which the king swears to rule according to the statutes of Parliament; the anoint ing, when the king, divested of his crimson lobes by the lord great chamberlain, takes his seat In St. Edward's chair, and the archbishop anoints the head, the breast and hands of the king with the spoon into which oil has been poured from the ampulla; th investiture with tho ring, on the fourth finger if the right hand, and. lastly, the coronation, when the archbishop places the crown upon the king's head as he elts In St. Kdward's chair. ' v- a' A .AN I- . .',.'v;.';' ...... i . : . . . f. ! - " - : . Sf - , ,,. , , QUEEN ALEXANDRA IN HER CORONATION ROBE OP ERMINE. barons until they thus knelt before him and pledged their fealty. At the present time, however, It has lost Its original aig nitieanee and has become such a long.and laborious part of the ceremony that, at the request of the king, It has been largely abbreviated. Consequently, only the first peer of each order, with the exception of the royal family, perform the act of homage. Trior to this act the peers have been seated In the north transept, with the peeresses opposite In the southern tran sept, which is perhaps better known as the I'oets' Corner. L.ORD MAYOR D1MMESDALE. attach a ribbon to the coronet, so that the gilded headgear may be carried upside down un til the critical moment arrived. It Is a critical moment, too, for coro nets are difficult things to kep on. Harriet Murtineau, who was present at the corona tion of Queen Victoria, has recorded her ob servations on one peer ess, whose coiffure had been built without re gard to the bauble that was to rest upon it. As a result the crown kept tilting rakishly to one side and the other un til a sister peeress came to the rescue and pulled and poked in her neigh bor s hair until the HON. WHITELAW RE1D. SPECIAL. EN- Jeeled emblem of lank VOY FROM THE UNITED STATES TO toul(l be accommodated. THE CORONATION CEREMONY. King Edward is noted The large number of for his keen insight Into affairs, business personages who will like activity, and a desire to have have part In the cere- everything about him In systematic mony and in the pro- order. It he steers the ship of state ciesion back to the pal- with the same precision with which he ace will have a still managed his Norfolk estate it should longer siege of it, for 8ail smoothly. There is no vacil the homeward route lation about him. He knows exactly what has been made some- no wants, gives an order clearly, and ex what roundabout in or- Pects to eee it executed iustauter. At der to take in another Sandringham he rises early, breakfasts set of sightseers than alone, and is transacting business by y the comparatively few o'clock, often walking at a quick pace over thousands who will get tne grounds, accompanied by his faithful . a glimpse of the royal blind dog, "Peter," as he gives orders. ,", party on the short Nothing escapes his vigilaut eye, and there Journey down the Mall are no laggards in his employ. His gar to the abbey. dens, pheasantry and horse-breeding studs are kePt In a great state of perfection. That invaluable old Although very exact on matters of etiquet gossip. Pepys, gives a the king Is Jovial with his friend n,i definite notion of what likes to know clever and successful men a ccTonatlon will all 1 in the world of finance as well as in art like In an entertaining and letters. Many stories are told of his unassuming kindness. The queen is thoroughly artistic in her As soon as notice of the approach of the coronation coach is given, on its way fr. in Ducklngham palace, the clergy enters the abbey and takeB seats Immediately In front of the altar, and on either side of tin ancient St. Edward's chair, where for cen turies the monarchs of England have been anointed and crowned. Behind the altar is the beautiful reredos, or screen, which cuts oft the view of the multitude from Edward the Confessor's chapel. In the rear, where the king and queen will change their robes of state for royal robes of purple velvet after the ceremony. The duties of the archbishop of Canter- The coronation of the queen follows that of the king, and Is performed by the arch bishop of York. It l on similar lints, save that the queen is anointed and crowned in a chair placed Immediately before her throne, and not In St. Edward's chair. The queen is supported by the bishops of Ijjii 1I011 and Winchester. The act of homage which is perhaps the most imposing from th- spectacular point of view, Inasmuch as it permits the differ ent lords and ladies to display their cos tumes of ermine and velvet, used to be the feature of the ceremony, In which the sov ereign took by far the most vital interest. In the mediaeval days a king was not sure whether or not he had the support of his it took George III six hours to get crowned It has been officially announced that al though the services in the abbey will not begin until about 10:30 o'clock In the morning, nil spectators except the peers and a few others especially privileged, must be in their places In the abbey at 8:30 a. in. On the other hand, the king and queen, in their imperial robes of state, and the rest of the long and memorable proetssion down the abbey aisles will not siart back on th? way to Buckingham palace until after 1 o'clock at the earliest, and it will probably be half an hour later before most of the spectators get out of the abbey, each of them brtathing benedictions upon King Edward for his successful con flict with the clergy, who wanted to pre serve the ancient ritual In lt paragraph In his diary recording what he saw of the coronation of Charles II. "About 4." he says, "I tastes. She loves music, flnm.,. ,,,ar rose and got to the abbey, and with quaint ornaments, embroidery' and all much ado, by the favor of Mr. Cooper, things which appeal to a refined sense of did get up Into a great scaffold across the beauty. She is not at all bookish, and north end of the abbey, where, with a relies for information as to what is going great deal of patience, I sat from past A on largely upon conversation in the family until 11 before the king came in. The circle. The opera is her favorite amuse- king passed through all the ceremonies of ment. Her paatluiee consist of sketching, th? coronation, which, to my great grief, photography and piano-forte playing. Sho I and most of the abbey could not see." is extremely fond of country life, and when And Horace Walpole wrote of the corona- at Sandrlngham rides her new horse, "Vlo- tion of fieorge III: "The liveliest spec- let," drives her ponies, "Beau" and "Belle," tacle In the world, but for the king's sake or goes walking with her dogs. Her love and my own. I never wish to see another." of pet animals amounts to a passion, and There, are 700 peers and 400 of them her Japanese spaniel, "Billy," goes every- have wives living. It Is this select 400 where with her; while In her dressing-room upon whom the heaviest burden of unhap- are Blnging birds and a pet dove. She visit piness In the abbey will probably fall, for, the stables and kennels once a week, gen- althongh they will not have to get their erally on Sunday afternoon, accompanied places as early as the untitled spectators, by members of her family, and feeds and they will be bothered not only with their pets the horses and dogs, all of whom heavy robes, but with trains, varying In know her voice and foouteps. The queen length according to the wearer's relative has a wonderful power over animals. Golf rank a tremendously long one for the and croquet are among her majesty's re- Jueh-sses down to a comparatively short cent out-of-door games, but she has never one for baronesses. cared Ior tennis. And wcrst of all, they will have to The queen's interest in philanthropy is carry by hand the precious coronets, which well known, but few realize perhaps the they may not put on until the moment tha personal interest she will take in cases crown is placed on Queen Alexandra's which have aroused her sympathy. She is head. The prevailing fashion seems to be to (Continued on Eighth Page.) v. J
