FUNERAL OF DUKE OF KENT

Dominion, Volume 35, Issue 285, 31 August 1942, Page 6

FUNERAL OF DUKE OF KENT

Impressive Last Rites SCENE IN ST. GEORGE’S

CHAPEL (British Official Wireless.)

(Received August 30, 7.5 p.m.) RUGBY, August 29. In the presence of the King and Queen, Queen Mary, the Duchess of Kent and other members of the Royal Family, the remains of the Duke of Kent were laid to rest in St. George’s Chapel, Windsor, this morning. The funeral was of a private character. The coffin was carried in procession oii the shoulders of eight R.A.F. sergeant pilots. At the funeral six air marshals acted as pallbearers, while the King, in air force uniform, walked immediately behind the coffin, with the Duke of Gloucester on his right and Sir Lionel Halsey, representing the Duke of Windsor, on his left.

Then came Klug Peter of Yugoslavia, King Haakon of Norway, and King George of the Hellenes, together with Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, and Crown Prince Olav of Norwav.. The ladies of the Royal lamlly occupied seats in the choir. Queen Mary, witli the Duchess of Kent, entered the choir just before the procession made its way into the chapel. Detachments of the Royal Navy> Roval Air Force, and Royal Vest Kent Regiment and Royal Fusiliers, of which regiments the Duke o£ Kent was colonel-in-chief, lined the west end of the chapel and the central nave. The choir, singing “Abide With Me, led the procession up the nave into the choir where the coffin was placed on a bier. The Duchess of Kent knelt in prayer as the eight R.A.F. sergeants placed the coffin on the bier. The service concluded with Sir Gerald Woolaston, Garter King-of-Anus, stepping in front of .the vault and proclaiming the styles and titles of the late Duke. Then the “Last Post” was sounded by trumpeters of the R.A.F., the coflin was wrapped in the Dukes personal standard with two wreaths resting on it and lowered into the vault, and t the music of Chopin’s “Funera March the Royal Family passed by the open vault. . , . . Duke’s Injuries.

The Duke of Kent received severe head injuries and a broken leg in the flying-boat crash. Death is believed to have been instantaneous. His body was thrown clear of the flames. Jr. Robert Kennedy, the first searcher to identify the Duke, said the machine was shattered into a thousand pieces. “I recognized the Duke and in addition saw his name on his identity disc, lie added. “He lay perfectly composed and death must have been instantaneous. The same applied to his companions. The Duchess of Kent drove from her Buckinghamshire home to yHmlsor yesterday morning, and went to the Memorial Chapel at Frogmore, where ■ the coffin containing the body of the Duke was lying, having been taken from Euston to the chapel by R.A.I. ambulance tender. The Dukes personal standard covered the coffin and there was a wreath from the Duchess and another from the King and Queen. The bodies of the Duke’s secretary, Lieutenant John Lowther, his equerry, Pilot Officer Michael Strutt, and his valet, Leading Aircraftman Hales, were also brought to London. •k warm tribute to the Duke was paid in the Guildhall yesterday by Mr. J Winant, the United States Ambassador. The Duke bad been the first to receive him when he landed on BntiSJ soil Mr. Winant said, and he had later met him in the course of his Ambassadorial duties. The Duke had known America well and had an affection for Mr Roosevelt, whose name had been given to his younger •son-a tribute that would always be remembered. His last journey was undertaken to.visit United States troops, as well as British, and they mojirned him with the Britis... THE KING’S THANKS His Excellency the Governor-General has received the following telegram from the King in .reply to the message sent to His Majesty:—I should be grateful if you would express to the Government and peoples of New Zealand my deep appreciation of their kind message of sympathy in 'the death of my brother, the

OTHER MESSAGES Ilis Excellency the Governor-General has received the following other mes- * — . From Mr. Raymond Cox, American Charge d’Affaires in New Zealand: Mav I express to your Excellency the deep sympathy of all American citizens at the present time in New Zealand upon the death of his Rojal Hi ? h ness the Duke of Kent while on active war service for the British Commonwealth of Nations. All officers of the United States Government stationed in New Zealand join me in sending condolences to the Royal Family , and to the British people on this tragic occa--81 From Dr. Walter Schmid, Consul for Switzerland in New Zealand: —- The sad news of the death of bis Royal Highness the Duke of Kent has been received by the Swiss people in New Zealand with great sorrow, and 1 should like to be the interpreter to your Excellency of their expression of deep sympathy in the grievous loss suffered by the family of his Royal Highness, Their Majesties, the Royal Inmily, and the British people all over the Empire. From Mr. John Totich, Royal Yugoslav Consul in New Zealand:— . d'he Yugoslav community here joins with me in sorrow over the sad news of the death of the Duke of Kent. Me offer to the Duchess, her children, and the Royal Family our sincere sympathy.