Part 20 (1/2)
Grenfell, representing Gibraltar, Malta and Cyprus; Sir Joseph West Ridgeway, representing Fiji and various Eastern Colonies and Protectorates; Sir Walter J. Sendall, for the West Indies, Bermudas, British Honduras and the Falkland Islands; Sir William MacGregor, representing the West African Colonies and Protectorates; the Right Hon.
Sir Wilfrid Laurier, Prime Minister, representing the Dominion of Canada; the Right Hon. Edmund Barton, Prime Minister, representing the Commonwealth of Australia; the Right Hon. Richard J. Sedden, Prime Minister, representing New Zealand; the Right Hon. Sir J. Gordon Sprigg, Prime Minister, representing Cape Colony; Sir Albert H. Hime, Prime Minister, representing Natal; and Sir Robert Bond, Prime Minister, representing Newfoundland. Other British guests were His Highness the Sultan of Perak and Lewanika, Chief of the Barotzes, in Africa. There were many invitations accepted outside of the list of special names mentioned who were privileged as the King's guests and as such were to be put up in state at the Hotel Cecil and be provided with Royal carriages and servants and escorts. Governors of various minor Colonies and dependencies; Native Princes of India apart from the official representatives of its Cities and Provinces; Premiers of Australian States and Canadian Provinces; were all invited to be present and many of them came to grace the occasion. Amongst those from Canada who accepted the invitation and were in London, with the others already referred to, as the day for the ceremony approached, were the Hon. G. W.
Ross, Premier of Ontario, the Hon. H. T. Duffy, representing the Premier of Quebec, the Hon. R. P. Roblin, Premier of Manitoba, the Hon. James Dunsmuir Premier of British Columbia, the Hon. L. J. Tweedie, Premier of New Brunswick and the Hon. G. H. Murray, Premier of Nova Scotia.
Every foreign country or state of importance had its official representative appointed and they poured into London and were received with varying degrees of state and ceremony as the eventful day approached. Prominent amongst them were the Hon. Whitelaw Reid, special Amba.s.sador from the United States and, in an unofficial capacity, Senator Chauncey M. Depew. From Russia came the Grand Duke Michael, Heir Presumptive to the Throne; from Italy His Royal Highness the Duke d'Aosta; from Greece the Crown Prince and Heir to the Throne; from Bulgaria, the reigning Prince Ferdinand I.; from Belgium, Prince Albert of Flanders; from Germany, Prince Henry of Prussia; from Denmark the Crown Prince Frederick, Heir to the Throne; from Roumania the Crown Prince; from Austria the Arch-duke Francis Ferdinand, Heir Presumptive; from France, Admiral Gervais, special Amba.s.sador; from Rome, Mgr. Merry del Val; from Abyssinia, Ras Makonnen, the victorious general and special envoy of the Emperor Menelik; from Bavaria, Prince Leopold; from Sweden and Norway the Crown Prince; from Portugal, the Crown Prince.
Other foreign representatives were Duke Albert of Wurtemberg, Prince Waldemar of Denmark, General Dubois of France, Field Marshal Count Von Waldersee and Admiral Von Koeter of Germany, Prince George, Prince Nicholas and Prince Andrew of Greece, the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Prince Danilo of Montenegro, the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Princess Beatrice of Saxe-Coburg, Prince George of Saxony, the Prince of the Asturias from Spain, Prince Chen of China, Prince Mohamed Ali of Egypt, Prince Akihito Komatsu of j.a.pan, Prince Yo Chai-Kak of Korea, Baron de Stein of Liberia, the Prince of Monaco, the Crown Prince of Siam and special Ministers from Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Turkey, Honduras, Mexico, Morocco, Nicaragua, Persia, Servia and Uruguay.
Soldiers of the King from all parts of the Empire were present in England for the occasion. The Indian troops, quartered at Hampton Court, numbered nine hundred strong and represented every phase of the military and native life of Hindostan. Sikhs, Dogras, Jats, Pathans, Mohammedans from the Punjaub, the Deccan and Madras, Mahrattas, Rajpoots, Garwhal's, Gurkhas, Afridis, Tamils, Moplahs, Hazaras and Beloochis, were each represented in uniforms of their local regiments. Scarlet, yellow, blue, grey, green and red, were some of the colours to be seen. At the Alexandra Palace were soldiers from a great variety of countries. Canada sent six hundred and fifty-six men, representative of all its regiments, under command of Lieut.-Colonel H. M. Pellatt and Lieut.-Colonel R. E.
W. Turner V.C., D.S.O.; Australia sent one hundred and forty men under Colonel St. Clair Cameron C.B.; New Zealand seventy-nine men under Colonel Porter; Cape Colony one hundred and fifty under Major-General Sir Edward Y. Brabant; Natal, ninety-nine under Lieut.-Colonel E. M.
Greene; Rhodesia twenty-six, Ceylon fifty-four, Malta forty-six, and Cyprus fourteen men. Native contingents included variously coloured and clad soldiers from the Gold Coast of Africa, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Lagos, British Central Africa, British East Africa, Uganda, Somaliland, Straits Settlements, Bermuda, British Borneo, the West Indies, Fiji, Hong-Kong and Wei-hai-Wei. The Colonial troops, with their interesting war record, their varied and striking uniforms, their varieties of race and colour and country, their differences of physique and appearance, were not the least remarkable of the Empire contributions to a great function. The Duke of Connaught was in command of all the Forces for the occasion and with him were a.s.sociated Lord Roberts, Lord Wolseley, Sir Francis Grenfell, Sir William Butler, Major-General W. H. Mackinnon, Sir Edward Brabant and other officers connected with the late war. Colonel and Maharajah Sir Pertab Singh represented India on this Staff and Lieutenant-General Sir Archibald Hunter was in immediate command of the Colonial Contingents.
Various Foreign regiments were to be represented including the 1st Prussian Dragoons of Germany, the 12th Hussars of Austria, the Guard Hussars of Denmark and the forces of Russia and Portugal. All the great British regiments were to be included, either in the procession as cavalry, or along the route as infantry. Preparations for the great Naval Review were elaborate. The Channel, Home and Cruiser squadrons were to be in attendance with Admiral Sir Charles Hotham as Commander-in-Chief. Besides a number of Foreign wars.h.i.+ps, which were specially sent to partic.i.p.ate in the function, the British battle-s.h.i.+ps numbered twenty-one, the cruisers twenty-six, the torpedo gun-boats seventeen, the torpedo boat destroyers twenty-eight and the sea-going training vessels ten. Amongst the Foreign contributors to the Review were Germany, the United States, Russia, Sweden and Norway, Denmark, Greece, France, j.a.pan, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Portugal, Chili, Austro-Hungary and the Argentine.
All the complex arrangement of the details in connection with these and other elements of the Coronation festivities were in the hands of an Executive Committee appointed on June 28th, 1901, at a meeting of the King and his Privy Council and attended by most of the members of the Cabinet, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, the Dukes of Norfolk, Portland and Fife, the Earls of Rosebery, Selborne and Carrington, Earl Roberts, Earl Spencer, Lord Alverstone, Sir W. V. Harcourt, and Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman. Amongst the members of this Executive of fifteen were the Duke of Norfolk (chairman) Lord Esher, the Bishop of Winchester, Lord Farquhar, Mr. Schomberg K. McDonnell, Colonel Sir Edward Bradford, Sir Francis Knollys, Sir Edward W. Hamilton, Colonel Sir E. W. D. Ward, Major-General Sir Arthur Ellis and Rear-Admiral W. H.
Fawkes. Later on Sir Montagu Ommanney, Sir William Lee-Warner, Sir Kenelm Digby, Lieut.-General Kelly-Kenny, and others, were added. Their work was, of course, closely overlooked by the King who was in constant communication with the Duke of Norfolk and Sir Francis Knollys. The following programme of leading events was finally announced as approved by His Majesty:
June 23 State Dinner at Buckingham Palace.
June 24 The King and Queen to receive Foreign Envoys and Deputations. State Dinner at Buckingham Palace.
June 25 Royal Reception of Colonial Premiers. Dinner by Prince of Wales to Princes and Envoys at St. James's Palace.
June 26 The Coronation.
June 27 Procession through London, Luncheon at Buckingham Palace.
Dinner at Landsdowne House to King and Queen. Lady Lansdowne's Reception.
June 28 The Naval Review.
June 29 Amba.s.sadors and Ministers give Dinners to their respective Princes.
June 30 The King and Queen proceed from Portsmouth to London. Gala Opera.
July 1 Royal Garden Party at Windsor Castle.
July 2 Dinner at Londonderry House to the King and Queen.
July 3 The King and Queen to attend a Special Service at St. Paul's Cathedral and a Luncheon at the Guildhall given by Lord Mayor and Corporation.
July 4 Reception at the India Office in honour of the Indian Princes to be attended by the King and Queen.
July 5 The King's Coronation Dinner to the Poor.
Many other functions developed around these central ones until the weeks before and after the event were to be crowded with every sort of festivity and celebration--partly in honour of the occasion, partly as evidences of hospitality to Colonial, Indian and Foreign visitors. At Portsmouth arrangements were made for a banquet in the Drill-hall, on June 26th, to one thousand men from the Foreign war-s.h.i.+ps, with five hundred British seamen and marines as hosts. On the following day there were to be athletic sports for the sailors and a garden party by the Mayor and Mayoress for the officers of the fleets and distinguished visitors. Following the Review, on June 28th, arrangements were made for a garden party at Whale Island, for an Admiralty ball in the Town-Hall, for a luncheon to the officers, a Civic entertainment to the men and a ball given by the Mayor and Mayoress. In London a Coronation bazaar, in aid of the Sick Children's Hospital, was announced with various stalls in charge of Princess Henry of Pless, the d.u.c.h.ess of Westminster, Lady Tweedmouth, Mrs. Harmsworth, the Countess of Bective, Mrs. Choate, the d.u.c.h.ess of Somerset and Countess Carrington. The King's Dinner to the Poor of London was planned upon an enormous scale and His Majesty stated that he would spend 30,000 in thus entertaining half-a-million of his poorer subjects. Sir Thomas Lipton, who had been in charge of a smaller affair at the Diamond Jubilee, was given control of the details. Similar preparations, upon a minor scale of course, were going on all over the Empire and in New York a Coronation Ode was issued by Mr. Bliss Carman--a Canadian by birth--which did the subject n.o.ble justice and commenced with the following verse:
”There are joy-bells over England, there are flags in London town; There is bunting on the Channel where the fleets go up and down; There are bon-fires alight In the pageant of the night; There are bands that blare for splendour and guns that speak for might; For another King of England is coming to the Crown.”
Meanwhile, a Colonial Conference had also been arranged to take place during these weeks of celebration and the delegates were to be special Royal guests for the Coronation--Sir Francis W. Grenfell, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, Mr. Seddon, Mr. Barton, Sir W. J. Sendall, Sir William MacGregor, Sir Gordon Sprigg, Sir Albert Hime, Sir Robert Bond, and Sir West Ridgeway--together with Mr. Chamberlain and the Earl of Onslow, Under-Secretary of the Colonies. The official programme, published a few days before the date set for the Coronation, gave the details of the Royal procession on that and the following days. On June 26th, in pa.s.sing from Buckingham Abbey, there were to be eight carriages containing the Royal visitors and members of the Royal family, the Prince and Princess of Wales and then the state coach with the King and Queen--having the Duke of Connaught riding to its right and a considerable staff and brilliant escort of Life Guards behind.
The procession of the following day was to be essentially an Imperial pageant and was to pa.s.s over a popular city route. The Colonial portion came first on the programme, headed by Lieut.-General Sir A. Hunter, and with detachments of Canadian artillery and cavalry and Australian cavalry preceding a carriage containing Sir Wilfrid and Lady Laurier and Mr. and Mrs. Barton. Then followed carriages with Sir R. Bond and Mr.