PREPARATIONS FOR THE MARRIAGE OF THE PRINCE OF WALES.

Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 50, 1 May 1863, Page 2

PREPARATIONS FOR THE MARRIAGE OF THE PRINCE OF WALES.

The English journals are fall of details of the great preparations which were making for the celebration of this interesting event. The reception to be given to the Prince's bride on her arrival prom ises to he one of the most spontaneous and magnificent popular welcomes ever given in England. Alsng the whole line to be traversed by the Princess, from Gravesend to Windsor, there was not a municipality or -corporation which had not its thoughts fixed on how best to welcome and do honor to the cavalcade whilst passing through its boundaries. The efforts made Dy the people of Gravesend to do honor to the departure of the Princess Koyal led to high expectations of what the Corporation would do on the arrival of another Royal bride. As on previous occasions, the portions of the town through wlneh the orocession would pass were to fee given over from roof to basement to a professional decorator. The Danish roan of war, Slesvig, with the Princess on board, and escorted by two Danish frigates and the English ships, was expected to arrive -off the pier a little before noon. The naval portion of the demonstration would be increased from the Nore by several gunboats manned by the officers and -men af the naval Teserve of the Port of London, who have petitioned the Admiralty to be allowed the honor of thus forming part of the river escort. The military commandant of the district would -furnish the guard pt honor on the pier from Chatham, and the West Kent Yeomanry, one of the finest bodies of cavalry in the kingdom, would form theescort, under the commend of Major the Karl of Darnley. The Prince of Wales, with the Danish Minister, and other distinguished person* ages, would, it was expected, go on board the Slesvig to welcome the Princess, and her landing was to take place, with all the royal ceremonies of salutes and manned yards, at one o'clock. On landing, Mrs Some, the wife of the Mayor of Gravesend, would present the Princess with a bouquet in & richly jewelled case, which' has bean purchased by general subscription by the ladies of Gravesend. As on the occasion of the Princess BoyaFs departure, sixty young ladies, dressed alike in red, and blue, and white— the color* of Eneaod And DeaawtWwoiild be gtotiwed •long we

Terffiwßari thirty on each side. Each ot these youn,7 laAies will be" provided with ample, though prektj baskets, filled with violets and roses,' to strew litmg the patb as .the Princess advanced. Viscount Sydney,* as Lord Lieutenant of Kent, „ would receive her 'Ifizbness a* tike upper ' i*d; , of tiw pier, tma present tbe Mayor aad other members of Ithe Corporation.

The Royal party and their frits would enter their Btato carriages, and! proceed in procession thtoagfc Gravesencl to the railway station, thewbote extent of tbe fine from pierto railway beingkept by the Kentish Volunteer Artillery,, end the ▼onot» Kentrab rifieeorpg. It .was in coßteroplap tion, at therepeated eonfeßneos between the lord Mayor and Cofonel M'Mtrr<!a, of tb« War office, to maae tbe whole of the City of London Kifle Brigadevfrbm 6DD to 800 in ntimlrcr r m front of the Mansfou-houye trod KoyaT Excbange. The CSty Artißery eomrairr woirtdf be phtaei, with their gam T ttromad King W3b*«n> r # «f,itoe at the north end of London Bridge, sad tbe rr sfc of tbe civic Tolimt^er* corps stationed at other salient pornta on the route of the roya^ pageant, "the whofe of tbo open space within tbe enclosure on tbe ca^t, south trad weat side of St. Paul's Cathedral, would be occupied 1 by scats, rising tier orer tier, and w'ltb canopies, for the accommodation of fsbont 10,C39 people. Temple Bar wes also to be. elaborately decoratcif, and on the evening of the nuptial day it and the Mansion Honre, and probably GfinTdhaM, would be illuminated. Along Pall-mall the windows aid balconies of the clubs would be draped, and this fine thoroughfare would on t in* osrasion preernt« really magnificent sppeap'Tice. Perhaps, howerer, thegraat centre of attraction would be in Hyde Park, where not only wifl there be an iramense'concoarse of spectators, bnt from 18/)00to 20,000 of the finest ©f our ntetropofitan volunteers be taasscd, so as to give the Princess a fair idea of the strength of that second tine of defence within wbieb fhe 5» in fjture to dwell. Tbe Princess Aicsandria wouW leave Copenhagen on the 28th February, attended oa her fonrney from CopeKha^en to England, by the British Minister at the Danish •court, Mr Agnstus Veget. On her way she would 'be escorted through the different count-ties by the representatives of Great Britain, from their respective capitals; The bridal gift of the King of Denmark to the Princess Alexandra was to con' sist of a copy, executed in gold and jewels, of the celebrated cross of Queen Dagmar, which forms one of the chief attrnctions of the Copenhagen Museum of avt. The cro3S, which, in tbe rcisn of Christian V. was recovered from the grave oV that ancient sovereign, is one of the earliest specimens of Scandinavian art, and in its curious conabination of enamel and filagree work has been long regarded as a Areasuiwi heir-loom in the family «f | the Danish kings. The trousseau of the Princess J was completed by the united labor of ISO sempstresses. The conduct of the work had been entrusted to Eferr Levysohn.alinendraper of Copenhagen. . With the exception of the lace and some brofderies, this portion of her BCishness's dowry is entirely due to Danish workmanship. The Royal marriage would be celebrated at Edinburgh by .» ! review of military and volunteers in tbe forencoa, in tlie Queen's Park, Holyrood; by a grand banquet in the Parliament Housft in the afternoon, under the Presidency of the Lord Provost ; j and by an illumination of the city and environs in the evening..

The Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian and the Archduchess Charlotte would leave Vienna on the 2nd of March for London, to be preseat at ike marriage.

The Court Circular says : — " The marriage of his Eoyal Highness the Prince of Wales with Princess Alexandra of Denmark will take place upon Tuesday, 10th March. By her Majesty's command the ceremony will be performed in St. George's Chanel, Windsor Castle, in whi«h chapel the Prince of Wales was christened, and -by which arrangement the Queen will be enabled to be present ia private, which could not under existing circumstances have been the case st the Chapel Royal in London. The Qusen has commanded that a Bray. ins-ream shall be held on Saturday, the 2Sth February, at St. James's Palaoe, by Tier Royal Hi <jhncsß -the Crown Princess of Prussia, Princess Royal of Great Britain Bnd Ireland, en behalf of her Majesty. All presentations will ba considered as being made t» her Maicsty. The usual regulations will be observed. We are authorised to state .that the Queen, bavin? grseiously taken into consideration the interests of trade, does not require any ladies *o appear in mottrning at the rirawing-room announced en thp 28th inst^ except tie ladies of fehecorps diplonaataqme, the ■wives of the Cabinet Minister*, and the ladie« of her Mejesty"« household. Two drawing roonw and two levees win "be bdld on the pnrt of the Querm, at St Jawes's Palace, after faster. Presentations will take place Knder the usual regulations of nil these -courts, i»nd will he considered -as having been made to her Majesty."

The TJeuec of Commons, on the 19th of February, 'having gone into committee on a message from the Queen in reference to the provision to be ma«le-bv3?rtrliarsent -for the -establishment of the Prince and Prfcneees of Wales, Lord Palmersfcon m<d he was at' re the proposal which he had to make would be with pleasure by the House, and would prov« satisfactory to the country. In ■estimating •what Bum it ■was desirable <fo afford to the Prince and Princess of Wales, it might be desirable to refer to what had been done under similar circumstances oa previons eccasioDß; In 1795 Mr Pitt proposed that the allowance to the Prince of Wales should be £l3B,ooo, and in the year 1715 Parliament had voted the Prince of Weles of that period £100,003, in addition to the revenues of the Duchy of CerawalL It was not, however, the desire ef the Queen, or of her Majesty's edviscrs, tbat >this precedent; should be followed. Th« present Prince of Wales was in the enjoy meat of the revenues of the Duchy of Cornwall, and it was greatly to the credit af the late illustrious prince, bis father, that the revenue derivable i'rom that source had been allowed to p-cumulate during the minority of his royal highness. These accumulations were very considerable. A portion of tfaemTiad been invested in the purchase of an estate in Norfolk, which, though costing £220,000, did not realise a net rental of more tUan £eGOO per annum. A further portion of the accumulations would be required to meet the expenses of his royal highness's outfit, and also towards building a suitable mansion upon the Norfolk property. After providing for these deductions, the actual ranome of the Duchy of Cornwall, ! together with tb« income derivable from the investments and accumulations, might be taken in | round numbers at £60,000 a year. The Government were of opinion that aa income of £103,000 a year would not be disproportionate to the expenses which would naturally fall on a person in the exalted position of the Prince of Wale 3. They therefore proposed that £40,000 a year should be granted to bis royal highness out of the consolidaI ted fund. It was also necessary that the Princess of Wales should have a separate and sufficient income, and the allowance provided by the mari riage treaty was £10,000 per annum. The resolutions frere agreed to item con.