WONDROUS WHITE FUNERAL.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 2969, 1 December 1925, Page 3

WONDROUS WHITE FUNERAL.

QUEEN MOTHER’S FINAL PIL- ■ GRIMAGE. Queen Alexandra’s final pilgrimage is described as a wondrous white funeral. London was covered with a mantle of snow and the weather was bitterly cold. Memorial- services have been held wherever there is a British community, the whole world being surrounded by a girdle of grief. AFFECTING SCENES. VAST CONCOURSE OF WOMEN. London, November 27. Queen Alexandra’s final pilgrimage will live in history as a wondrous white funeral. Snow invested London in a beautiful pall, but happily ceased just at the time the procession set out, so that uniformed Royalties were enabled to walk behind the coffin. The interior of Westminster Abbey was in a wonderful contrast to the wintry conditions outside. Hundreds of distinguished mourners, including members of the Cabinet and ex-members, diplomats, and High Commissioners, in full levee dress, entered covered with snow. Notwithstanding the brilliant uniforms, black was the dominant tone, with the women in deepest mourning. The chief centre of colour was the coffin, which was a mass of gold and crimson. There was an affecting scene of weeping women when the service opened with the singing of the hymn, “On the Resurrection Morning." The King stood, a lone, grave figure, beside the coffin. A pathetic incident was the arrival of a number of blinded ex-soldiers from St. Dxmstan’s Hostel.

Special memorial services to Queen Alexandra were held in churches, schools, and hospitals throughout the Empire. Thousands in the Mother Country, unable to leave their homes, participated in the service broadcasted from Canterbury Cathedral. Business, the various Exchanges, and in the Law Courts were at a standstill during the Abbey ceremony. Many shops and business houses were closed. London theatres and dance halls were closed for the day. Farewell salutes were fired from the guns of the principal naval and military stations. A special memorial service was held at Sheerness, whose guns first saluted the Queen,on her arrival.

The Governor-General has received the following telegram from the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs in reply to the message sent by His Excellency on behalf of New Zealand in the death of Her Majesty Queen Alexandra: — “I have it in command from His Majesty the King to convey to Your Excellency, your Ministers and the people of New Zealand his grateful thanks for the expression of warm sympathy in his great sorrow and for the assurance Of loyalty and devotion.”