Chapter 55: The Funeral Begins
On November 29, 1900, the long-awaited funeral of Queen Victoria finally began.
As a highly respected former British monarch, Queen Victoria had extremely detailed arrangements for her funeral, and Edward allowed all of them.
One of the more personal characteristics is that Queen Victoria specifically requested that all people attending the funeral have white elements, and even the horses at the funeral must be draped in white cloth.
This of course also includes the protagonist of this funeral, Queen Victoria. The queen wears a white wedding dress with a white veil over her head, symbolizing the queen's fidelity to love and marriage.
In order to comply with Queen Victoria's will, the Queen was carried into the coffin by William II, Edward, Arthur, Princess Beatrice and the Queen's henchman James Reid, along with three faithful servants, located on the Queen's head and sides of the body.
This is not an easy job, because it has been a month since Queen Victoria's death, even if the body is well protected, Arthur and the others must be extremely careful when carrying it, so as not to cause unnecessary damage to the queen's body.
The oversized sarcophagus belonging to Queen Victoria was covered with thick charcoal and then covered with Prince Albert's dressing gown.
Even though Prince Albert has been dead for more than 40 years, Queen Victoria still retains her husband's dressing gown, which is enough to see how deep the love between the Prince and the Queen is.
In the special place next to the funeral goods, Queen Victoria also has special instructions. Unlike other monarchs who liked to keep large amounts of jewelry and gold coins, Queen Victoria's funerary objects were just his favorite shawls, handkerchiefs, rings, books, and small things like photographs, jewelry boxes, and bracelets.
After enjoying most of her life of luxury, Queen Victoria wanted nothing after her death to be as luxurious as possible, but as warm and memorable as possible. Although the value of each funerary object may not be too high, it has a special meaning for Queen Victoria.
The loss of her father at an early age, the loss of her husband in middle age, the loss of her son in old age, and the tragic circumstances of her life were all encountered by Queen Victoria.
Combined with the hegemony of Victorian Britain, all kinds of deeds pushed the great queen to the point of legend.
At eight o'clock in the morning, Queen Victoria's funeral officially began in London.
Long before Queen Victoria's state funeral began, royal families and high-ranking officials from various European countries and countries around the world had also arrived at Westminster Abbey, which is also known as Westminster Abbey.
Before the funeral, Westminster Abbey rang the bell 81 times to commemorate Queen Victoria's legendary life at the age of 81.
Due to Queen Victoria's request for a militarized funeral, the Queen's coffin was carried to a gun carriage before the funeral began, and hundreds of Royal Navy soldiers pulled the gun carriage.
Originally, according to Queen Victoria's will, it was supposed to be carried by eight white military horses to carry the gun carriage.
But at Arthur's suggestion, hundreds of Royal Navy soldiers were used to pull the gun carriage instead.
The reason for the agreement between Edward VII and the British officials was that it would enhance the ceremonial sense of the whole funeral, at least more solemn and human than the carriage.
Pioneered by Queen Victoria, the coffin was placed on a gun carriage and pulled by soldiers for funeral purposes, and since then, it has become a high-profile royal tradition.
In the original history, another queen Elizabeth who reigned for a longer time also copied Queen Victoria's burial method.
As the gun carriage with the coffin was slowly escorted by the naval soldiers to Westminster Abbey, countless British people along the way sent their high respect and infinite blessings to the great queen.
Although the entire funeral route is only a few kilometers long, the artillery truck walked for more than two hours in order to allow Queen Victoria to be seen by more people.
A kind of high-ranking royal family, such as Edward VII and Arthur, walked behind Queen Victoria's coffin and paraded with gun carriages, also to see Queen Victoria off on her last journey.
At this time, both Edward VII and Arthur were dressed in military uniforms, and their bodies were covered with the medals and honors of their countries.
But Arthur's mood was very heavy at this time, after losing Queen Victoria, Arthur could really rely on himself.
Although Lord Louis and his two sisters also cared deeply about Arthur, they could only comfort Arthur's soul at best, but they could not actually help Arthur in the slightest.
At 11 o'clock in the afternoon, Queen Victoria's coffin officially arrived at Westminster Abbey, and the state funeral ceremony officially began.
Nearly 1,000 guests attended the ceremony, including high-level leaders and royals from various countries.
First, the Archbishop of Canterbury praised the Queen's merits, praising her for following the example of Christ and for her lifelong service to the country and its people.
Because Queen Victoria's achievements are indeed good, there are indeed many words of praise for Queen Victoria, including the rise of the British Empire to the strongest in the world, the spread of British territory around the world, the establishment of the Indian Empire and other honors.
British Prime Minister Robert also read a passage from the Gospel of John in the Bible at the funeral.
A three-minute silence was observed in memory of Queen Victoria, as well as throughout the British Empire.
The moment had already been set, and the moment of silence would take place in any colony and region at the same time, beginning at 11:55 p.m. on 29 November, until fifty-eight.
At the end of the ceremony, the British national anthem "God Save the Queen" sounded in the church, and the state funeral ceremony was announced.
Queen Victoria's coffin will then be moved to Wellington Arch in the southeast corner of London's Hyde Park, where it will be transferred to Windsor Castle for burial.
Queen Victoria's coffin was a large procession, with more than 2,000 soldiers and hundreds of civil society members.
Because Queen Victoria's prestige in Britain is indeed not low, there are soldiers and police on both sides of the line to maintain order.
Big Ben is called every other minute, and in a slow stream of bells, Queen Victoria's coffin is accompanied by a procession through the streets of the capital, past hordes of mourners, stretching for more than a mile towards Windsor Castle.
Once at Wellington Arch, Queen Victoria's coffin was transferred to the new National Hearse and headed straight to Windsor Castle.
At this time, the largest number of British people came to see them off. Because the coffin arrived at Windsor Castle, ordinary people were not eligible to enter.
Therefore, the distance between Wellington Arch and Windsor Castle is also the last moment for all British people to see Queen Victoria's remains.
As the hearse passed through the street, the frantic and mourning crowd threw flowers at the carriage and applauded.
People were reluctant to accept the queen, but they had to accept the queen's departure. Therefore, people can only frantically show their high respect to Queen Victoria, and the bouquets of flowers thrown into the hearse also represent Queen Victoria's status in the hearts of the British people.
You know, because Queen Victoria's funeral is coming to an end, the price of flowers has risen throughout London.
Under such circumstances, the public bought bouquets of flowers only to throw them at the procession when the Queen's coffin passed by, which was enough to show Queen Victoria's status and popularity in the United Kingdom.