It is said that the last
King made a gallant resistance, riding into battle at the head of his
troops, although he was blind--too blind, perhaps, to see his own
weakness. When his throne was taken out from under him, he still clung to
the royal title, but his son is known only as the Duke of Cumberland.
This Prince, like other small German Princes, made a great outcry against
the Kaiser's confiscations, but the inexorable old man still went on
piecing an imperial table-cover out of pocket-handkerchiefs.
The young Queen's new Household was considered a very magnificent and
unexceptionable one--principally for the rank and character and personal
attractions of the ladies in attendance, chief among whom, for beauty and
stateliness, was the famous Duchess of Sutherland--certainly one of the
most superb women in England, or anywhere else, even at an age when most
women are "falling off," and when she herself was a grandmother.
The funeral of King William took place at Windsor in due time, and with
all due pomp and ceremony. After lying in state in the splendid Waterloo
chamber, under a gorgeous purple pall, several crowns, and other royal
insignia, he was borne to St. George's Chapel, followed by Prelates,
Peers, and all the Ministers of State, and a solemn funeral service was
performed.
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