MARRIAGE OF THE PRINCESS ROYAL.

Lyttelton Times, Volume IX, Issue 577, 15 May 1858, Page 3

MARRIAGE OF THE PRINCESS ROYAL.

The marriage of the Princess Royal of England and Prince Frederick William of Prussia took place on the 25th of January, at the Chapel Koyal of St. James's Palace. The morning was raw and chilly. The trees and grass were covered with rime, and a thick white mist obscured the atmosphere. But long before noon tlie sun had cleared the air, dissolved the rime, aiid thawed the frosty ground. A little before 11 the great officers of state and others who Avere Jo take part:in the ceremonial began to arrive at Buckingham Palace, while the band of the Grenadier Guards played Mendelssohn's fainbus ■'" Wedding March " in ' the quadrangle. Soon afterwards, the principal actors began to quit the palace for St. James's. First, the Princess of Prussia, the Duke of-Saxe Coburg, the Princes Frederick Charley, Frederick Albert, and Adalbert of Prussia, the Prince of Hohenzollern-Sig-mariiigen,' the Duke of .Brabant,: and the Count of Flanders, drove off. The next to depart was •the bridegroom, with an escort of cavalry. Prince •Albert-of,Prussia,''Prince Arthur, and Prince Leopold,'the Princesses* Alice, Helena, Louisa,the"Kirig of the Belgians, the Prince Consort, the Prince of Wales and Prince Alfred, followed in rapid succession. Lastly appeared the Queen and her daughter !the'; bride; in a state carriage with cream-coloured horses. They alighted from the carriage under a covered way leading from the private .entrance of St. James's Palace through the: garden. This. covered way Was lined; with * scarlet and purple cloth;; the pillars supporting the roof were wreathed with holly, furze,- and laurustinusin flower; and the blended colours of i England and Prussia drooped over each column. . Passing along this way,.the Queen and the Princess arrived at the principal entrance, which, was. tastefully adorned with leaves and flowers native and exotic; and, walking up a staircase where .creeping plants and roses arid cartielias screened the bannisters, they entered the Toyal closet. Here the Queen went into the l'bbing-rbom, and the Princess into the retiring-room* These rooms; arid the throne-room, where her Majesty's procession was to be formed, had been, like all the rest of the apartments used on'this made gay with painting and gilding and a profusion of flowers.

During the progress of the royal party from one palace to the other, the privileged spectators ot the processions and the marriage ceremony had gradually reached their allotted places. The rooms through which the processions were to pass were bordered on one side by ranks of ladies in brilliant dresses befitting a weddingday, here and there relieved by officers in uniform. All around were flowers. The railings of the great staircase' leading to the colour court were gilded and twined with wreaths; on the landings were draped mirrors; at the stair-head, set in a frame; formed of the colours of England and Prussia supported by palm branches, were the initials of the Prince and Princess writ in white flowers on a green, ground. In the colonnade, wreaths of evergreens, united by wedding-favors and sustaining bouquets, stretched from column to column; and beneath each knot of white-satin stood a soldier in the brilliant uniform of the Life Guards.

The Chapel Royal is neither large nor hand-' some; but a profusion of crimson velvet and gold* of blue paint and gilding, and the addition t of a gallery on each side, made it a more fitting scene for a state marriage than it was when Queen Victoria appeared there as a bride 18 years ago.

The privileged guests had taken the places allotted to them.when a little before 12 o'clock, the Princess of Prussia entered, robed in white satin worked with silver; and the whole assembly rose as she passed on to her place. But before she entered, the' Princess Mary passed along the chapel; then the Duke and the Duchess of Cambridge; and after them the Duchess of Kent. Lord Palmerston came next, bearing the sword of state. Then, preceded by the Prince of Wales and Prince Alfred, the Queen entered, leading Prince Arthur and Prince Leopold, and followed by the Princesses Alice, Helena, and Louisa, hand-in-hand. Her Majesty wore a ,dress of lilac velvet, on her brow a castellated crown of pearls and diamonds, and: among her jewels sparkled the Koh-i-noor. She took her chair near the altar, the younger children—the princesses in white with corn-flowers and daisies, the princes in the Highland dress—sat beside her; and from the moment of her entry all in the presence remained standing. Lord Palmerston stood on the right'and the Duchess of Sutherland on the left of the Queen. The next person who arrived was the Prince bridegroom, wearing the rich uniform of a Prussian General. He walked slowly up the chapel, bowed with " profound revei'ence," first to the Queen, then to his mother; then knelt in front of the altar for a few moments; then rose and stood at the right of the altar waiting for his bride. Here a pause ensued. The whole assembly grew perfectly still with expectation; the movement of plumed and jewelled heads ceased, and all eyes were bent upon the entrance. The strains of the trumpets were once more heard; and sbon, her father the Prince Consort on one' side, her grand-uncle King Leopold on the other, entered the bride, followed by her youthful bridesmaids. When she reached the altar, she blushed1 deeply, and bowed to her mother and the Princess of Prussia. Then the bridegroom, advancing, knelt on one knee, and pressed her hand " with an expression of fervent" admiration that moved the august audience." AH the parties were now present around the altar. The bride Tand bridegroom took their places in the centre; on one side, but at a little distance, stood the Prince Consort and King1 Leopold, on the other the Prince of Prussia and his son Prince Albert of Prussia.

The ceremonial now began; The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of London, the Bishop of Oxford, the Dean of Windsor, arid Dr. Wesley, performed various parts of the service in turn, strictly following the rubric. The Prince Consort gave away-the bride. The responses of the bridegroom were loud, clear, arid earnest; but the Princess's replies were hardly heard, and she seemed overcome almost to fainting. The service concluded with the Hallelujah Chorus. When the procession left the Chapel Royal the bride arid bridegroom walked together. In the throne room all the parties were once more united; and here, on a table in front of the throne, lay the marriage register, which was attested in the legal form in the presence of the bishops, and witnessed by a great number of illustrious persons. This being completed, the Queen and the brilliant company returned to Buckingham Palace.

About half-past four o'clock the bride and bridegroom left Buckingham Palace for Windsor. They arrived at Windsor a little after, half-past six. Here the Eton boys made a great display. At their request the horses were taken from the royal carriage, and 100 excited boys, hauling before and pushing behind, landed it at the castle; the remainder of the boys forming a volunteer escort. The Princess personally thanked the leading boys, and sent champagne for all. The newly-married pair took up their residence in the Lancaster Tower of Windsor Castle.

At Buckingham Palace in the evening the Queen gave a state concert. London was brilliantly illuminated at night; and the event was celebrated by festivities throughout the country generally. The Queen went on the 27th of January to Windsor Castle. There she presided at the installation of her son-in-law as a Knight of the Garter. The Princess Frederick William of Prussia was present at the ceremony.

The whole of the royal "party then returned to Buckingham Palace. Here, on the 2nd of February, the Queen took leave of her daughter. The day was cold and the snow fell heavily. The prince and the princess were accompanied on their departure by the Prince Consort, the Prince of Wales, and Prince Alfred as far as Gravesend, where the royal pair embarked for Antwerp. From Antwerp* on the following day, they proceeded to Brussels. On the 4th of February they arrived at Cologne; and on the 6th at their future home at Potsdam, having halted at Magdeburg. Their whole progress from Buckingham Palace to Charlottenburg was an auspicious one. Wherever they halted, there were cheering crowds, triumphal arches, waving banners, evergreens and festoons of roses, or brilliant illuminations. But the grandest event was their public entry into the city of Berlin. This took place two days after their arrival at Potsdam. The procession which attended them

numbered, with the military, about 40,000 persons. The arrival of the English princess was welcomed by the people as a great national event; and the rejoicings on the occasion were marked by unbounded enthusiasm. The ' Times ' correspondent thus describes the appearance of the grand promenade " Unter den Linden:"— .

" There were separate decorations of this festal Mall at every point where a cross street intersected. Thus at the intersection of the Schadow-strasse, the abovementioned flagstaff's were not only decorated, as before, with garlands and banners, but in this case were converted into obelisks, on different stages of which the busts of the various members of the royal family were placed in due order and relation. At the intersection of the IViedrich-strasse, the erections took a still more monumental form, and allegorical statues of the size of life were mounted there in niches many feet from the ground, and, like the busts on the obelisks, were surrounded by evergreens, by emblazonries, flags, and various legends. At various other points were decorations less elaborate than these, while the accidental presence of certain barges in the canal, over which the Schloss-briicke leads, had given rise to as pretty a demonstration as any to be found throughout the whole festal line. The vessels were hauled up close to the bridge, and had not only flagged and sported .very appropriate banners in addition, but they had slung their tackle from mast to mast outside the bridge across the road, and on these lines had hung transparencies, that even by daylight were good-looking, and in the evening were highly effective. One of these bore as a legend " A hearty welcome to the newly-married couple;" the other, " All happiness and good wishes from-the Prussian Navigation." The whole distance, of the line of procession from the monument of Frederick the Great down to the Schloss was marked out with a double line of flagstaff's, decorated as before described, and along the sides of this portion were to be found at every available point stands erected with seats for spectators, containing from a few hundred to 2000 persons each, and ornamented with great-skill, taste, arid liberality 5 many of these erections were so tastefully designed, and so prettily fitted up'that it inspired regret to think their occupation would be sa ephemeral. Nor were there many houses in the whole length of the festal line that did not sport some species oi decoration, the very least of which consisted !of two or more flags waving from the roof or upper windows; in many cases-rich carpets were exhibited at the windows, in^the Italian style, and in rarer instances expensive and elaborate decorations of the entire facades had been got up."

The strewing of flowers. by young girls, the. procession of trades' companies, the displays'of -military and civic power, arid the thousarid-arid-oiie little ininutiEe of such an occasion, contributed to adorn with a flush arid superaburidanceiof life and gallantry the progress of tlie princess and her husband to the iSchloss, which they reached at a quarter-past two o'clock.