"The Lord Chancellor having formally announced that Parliament stood
prorogued until the 20th of August, Her Majesty rose as majestically as
could be expected from one more remarkable for rosy plumptitude than
regal altitude; Prince Albert took his place at her side; the crown and
sword bearers took theirs in front, the train-bearers theirs in the rear,
and the royal procession swept slowly forth, the brilliant house broke up
and followed, and so the splendid pageant passed away--faded like a piece
of fairy enchantment." That's the way they do it,--except that nowadays
the Queen does not read her own speech.
CHAPTER XXIII.
Death of the Duke of Wellington--Birth of the Duke of Albany--The Crimean
War--Slanders upon Prince Albert--The Prince of Wales takes a place for
the first time upon the Throne--Incidents of Domestic Life--Prince Albert
visits the Emperor of France--Incidents of the War.
At Balmoral the following autumn, the Queen heard of the death of her
most illustrious subject--the Duke of Wellington, and green are those
"Leaves" in the journal of her "life in the Highlands," devoted to his
memory. She wrote of him as a sovereign seldom writes of a subject,--
glowingly, gratefully, tenderly.
Pages:
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228