Biography of Prince Albert Saxe Coburg Gotha 1819-1861

11th February 1840. Tuesday. Supplement to the London Gazette.

St James's Palace [Map]. February 10, 1840.

THIS day the Marriage of the [his wife] QUEEN'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY (age 20) with Field Marshal His ROYAL HIGHNESS FRANCIS ALBERT AUGUSTUS CHARLES EMANUEL, DUKE OF SAXE, PRINCE OF SAXE COBOURG AND GOTHA, Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter (age 20), was solemnized at the Chapel Royal, St James's Palace.

Field Marshal His Royal Highness the Prince Albert, attended by his Suite, proceeded from Buckingham-Palace [Map] this day, about half past eleven o'clock, to St. James's-Palace [Map], in the following order:

The first Carriage,.

Conveying General Sir George Anson, G.C.B. (age 43); George Edward Anson, Esq (age 27); and Francis Seymour, Esq (age 26); the Bridegroom's Gentlemen of Honour.

The second Carriage,.

Conveying the Lord Chamberlain of the Household, the Earl of Uxbridge (age 42) (who afterwards returned to Buckingham-Palace [Map], to attend in Her Majesty's Procession), and the Officers of the Suite of His Serene Highness the Reigning Duke of Saxe Cobourg and Gotha, and the Hereditary Prince of Saxe Cobourg and Gotha, viz. Count Kolowrath (age 62), Baron Alvensleben, and Baron De Lowenfels.

The third Carriage,.

Conveying His Royal Highness the Prince Albert, [his father] His Serene Highness the Reigning Duke of Saxe Colourg and Gotha (age 56) (father), and the [his brother] Hereditary Prince of Saxe Cobourg and Gotha (age 21) (elder brother).

Her Majesty, attended by Her Royal Household, accompanied by [his aunt] Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent (age 53), proceeded, at twelve o'clock, from Buckingham-Palace [Map] to St James's Palace [Map], in the following order:

The first Carriage,

Conveying two Gentlemen Ushers, Charles Heneage, Esq (age 33) and the Honourable Heneage Legge (age 51); Yeoman of the Yeomen of the Guard, Charles Hancock, Esq,; and the Groom of the Robes, Captain Francis Seymour (age 51).

The second Carriage,.

Conveying the Equerry in Waiting, Lord Alfred Paget (age 23); two Pages of Honour, Charles T. Wemyss, Esq and Henry William John Byng (age 8), Esq j and the Groom in Waiting, the Honourable George Keppel.

The third Carriage,.

Conveying the Clerk Marshal, Colonel the Honourable H. E. G. Cavendish (age 50); the Vice-Chamberlain, the Earl of Belfast, G. C. H. (age 43); and the Comptroller of the Household, the Right Honourable George Stevens Byng (age 33).

The fourth Carriage,.

Conveying the Woman of the Bedchamber in Waiting, Mrs. Brand (age 60); the Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard, the Earl of Ilchester (age 52); the Master of the Buck Hounds, Lord Kinaird; and the Treasurer of the Household, the Earl of Surrey (age 48).

The fifth Carriage,.

Conyeying the Maid of Honour in Waiting, the Honourable Caroline Cocks (age 45); the Duchess of Kent's Lady in Waiting, Lady K Howard; the Gold Stick, General Lord Hill, G. C.B., G. C. H.; and the Lord in Waiting, Viscount Torrington (age 27).

The sixth Carriage,.

Conveying the Lady of the Bedchamber in Waiting, the Countess of Sandwich (age 27); the Master of the Horse, the Earl of Albemarle, G. C.H. (age 67); the Lord Steward, the Earl of Erroll, K.T. G.C.H. (age 38); and the Lord Chamberlain, the Earl of Uxbridge.

The seventh Carriage,.

Conveying Her Most Excellent Majesty the QUEEN; Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent; and the Duchess of Sutherland, the Mistress of the Robes to Her Majesty (age 33).

The illustrious Personages, and others composing the Procession, then assembled in the Throneroom, and, having been called over by Garter Principal King of Arms, the Processions, moyed in the following order, to the Chapel Royal:

THE PROCESSION OF THE BRIDEGROOM.

Drums and Trumpets.

Serjeant Trumpeter.

Master of the Ceremonies, Sir Robert Chester, Knt.

Lancaster Herald, George Frederick Beltz, Esq K.H (age 65), York Herald, Charles George Young, Esq (age 44).

The Bridegroom's Gentlemen of Honour, viz. Francis Seymour, Esq Gen. Sir George Anson, G.C B. George Edward Anson, Esq.

Vice-Chamberlain of Her Majesty's Household, The Earl of Belfast, G.C.H., Lord Chamberlain of Her Majesty's Household, The Earl of Uxbridge.

Continues ...

THE QUEEN. Wearing the Collar of the Order of the Garter.

Her Majesty's Train borne by the following twelve unmarried Ladies, viz.

Lady Adelaide Paget (age 20), Lady Caroline Amelia Gordon-Lennox (age 20), Lady Sarah Frederica Caroline Villiers (age 18), Lady Elizabeth Anne Georgiana Dorothea Howard (age 23), Lady Frances Elizabeth Cowper (age 20), Lady Ida Harriet Augusta Hay (age 18), Lady Elizabeth West (age 21), Lady Catherine Lucy Wilhelmina Stanhope, Lady Mary Augusta Frederica Grimston (age 20), Lady Jane Harriet Bouverie (age 20), Lady Eleanora Caroline Paget (age 12), Lady Mary Charlotte Howard (age 18).

Assisted by the Groom of the Robes, Captain Francis Seymour.

Master of the Horse, The Earl of Albemarle, G.C.H., Mistress of the Robes, The Duchess of Sutherland.

Ladies of the Bedchamber, The Marchioness of Normanby (age 41), The Duchess of Bedford (age 56), The Countess of Burlington (age 28), The Countess of Sandwich, The Baroness Portman (age 30), The Dowager Lady Lyttleton (age 52), The Lady Barham (age 25).

Maids of Honour, The Hon. Amelia Murray, The Hon. Harriet Pitt, The Hon. Caroline Cocks, The Hon. Henrietta Anson, The Hon. Matilda Paget, The Hon. Harriet Lister, The Hon. Sarah Mary Cavendish.

The Times. 24th December 1861. Yesterday, with little of the pomp and pageantry of a State ceremonial, but with every outward mark of respect, and with all the solemnity which befitted his high station and his public virties, the mortal remains of the husband (deceased) of our [his former wife] Queen (age 42) were interred in the last resting-place of England's Sovereigns-the Chapel Royal of St. George's, Windsor [Map]. By the express desire of his Royal Highness the funeral was of the plainest and most private character; but in the Chapel, to do honour to his obsequies, were assembled all the chiefest men of the State, and throughout England, by every sign of sorrow and imourning, the nation manifested its sense of the loss wlhich it has sustaiined. Windsor itself wore an aspect of the most profound gloom. Every shop was closed and every blind drawn down. The streets were silent and almost deserted, and all wvho appeared abroad were dressed in the deepest mourning. The great bell of Windsor Castle [Map] clanged out: its doleful sound at intervals from an early hour, and minute bells were tolled also at St. John's Church. At the parish church of Cleover and at St. John's there were services in the morning and: aternoon, and the day was observed throughout the Royal borough in the strictest manner. The weather was in character with the occasion, a chill, damp air, with a dull leaden sky above, increased the gloom which hung over all. There were but few visitors in the town, for the procession did not pass beyond the immediate precincts of the Chapel and Castle, and none were admitted except those connected with the Castle andi their friends. At 11 o'clock a strong force of the A division took possession of the avenues leading to the Chapel Royal, and from that time only the guests specially invited and those who were to take part in the ceremonial were allowed to pass. Shortly afterwards a of honour of the Grenadier Guards, of which regiment his Royal Highness was Colonel, with the colonrs of the regiment shrouded in crape, marched in and took up its position before the principal entrance to the Chapel Royal. Another guard of honour from the same regiment was also on duty in the Quadrangle at the entrance to the State apartments. They were speedily followed by a squadron of the 2nd Life Guards dismounted, and by two companies of the Fusileer Guards, who were drawn uip in single file along each side of the road by which the procession was to pass, from the Norman gateway to the Chapel door. The officers wore the deepest military mourning-scarves, sword-knots, and rosettes of crape. In the Rome Park was stationed a troop of Horse Artillery, which commenced firing minute guns at the end of the Long Walk, advancing slowly until it reached the Castle gates just at the close of the ceremony. The Ministers, the officers of the Queen's Household, and other distinguished personages who had been honoured with an invitation to attend the ceremonial, reached Windsor a special train from Paddington. They were met by carriages provided for them at the station, and began to arrive at the Chapel Royal soon after 11 o'clock. The Earl of Derby (age 62), the Archbishop of Canterbury (age 81), Earl Russell (age 69), and the Duke of Buccleuch were among the first to make their appearance, and as they alighted at the door of the Chapel they were received by the proper officials and conducted to the seats appointed for them in the Choir. In the Great Quadrangle were drawn up the hearse and the mourning coaches, and, all the preparations having been completed within the Castle, the procession began to be formed shortly before 12 o'clock. It had been originally intended that it should leave the Castle by the St. George's gate, and, proceeding down Castle-hill, approach the Chapel through Henry VII.'s gateway, but at a late hour this arrangement was changed, and the shorter route by the Norman gatewvay was chosen.

The crowd which had gradually collected at the foot of Castle-hill, owing to this change, saw nothing of the procession but the empty carriages as they returned to the Castle after setting down at the Chapel. The few spectators who were fortunate enough to gain admission to the Lower Ward stood in a narrow fringe along the edge of the flags in front of the houses of the Poor Knights, and their presence was the only exception to the strict privacy of the ceremonial. The [his son] Prince of Wales (age 20) and the other Royal mourners assembled in the Oak Room, but did not form part of the procession. They were conveyed to the Chapel in private carriages before the coffin was placed in the hearse, passing through St. George's gatewayinto the Lower Ward. In the first carriage were the Prince of Wales, [his son] Prince Arthur (age 11), and the [his son] Duke of Saxe Coburg (age 8). The [his son-in-law] Crown Prince of Prussia (age 30), the Duke of Brabant (age 26), and the Count of Flanders (age 24) followed in the next; and in the others were the Duke de Nemours (age 47), [his future son-in-law] Prince Louis of Hesse (age 24), Prince Edward of Saxe-Weimar (age 38), and the Maharajah Dhuleep Singh, with the gentlemen of their respective suites. Scarcely had they alighted at the door of Wolsey's Chapel, from which they were conducted through the Chapter Room to the door of the Chapel Royal to be in readiness to meet the coffin, when the first minute gun fired in tlhe distance, and the rattle of the troops reversing arms announced that the procession had started, and exactly at 12 o'clock the first mourning coach moved from under the Norman gateway. First came nine mourning coaches, each drawn by four horses, conveying the Physicians, Equerries, and other members of the household of the late Prince. In the last were the Lord Steward (age 63) (Earl St. Germans), the Lord Chamberlain (age 56) (Viscount Sidney), and the Master of the Horse (age 57) (the Marquis of Ailesbury). The carriages and trappings were of the plainest description; the horses had black velvet housings and feathers, but on the carriages there, were no feathers or ornaments of any kind. The mourning coaches were followed by one of the Queen's carriages, drawn by six horses, and attended by servants in State liveries, in which was the Groom of the Stole (age 26), Earl Spencer, carrying the crown, and a Lord of the Bedchamber, Lord George Lennox, carrying the baton, sword, and hat of his late Royal Highness. Next escorted by a troop of the 2nd Life Guards, came the hearse, drawn by six black horses, which, like the carriages, was quite plain and unornamented. On the housings of the horses and on the sides of the hearse were emblazoned the scutcheons of Her Majesty and of the Prince, each surmounted by a, crown, the Prince's arms being in black and Her Majesty's in white. The procession was closed by four State carriages.