The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1868-12-19 00:00:00

THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE PRINCE
CONSORT'S DEATH.

Monday, the 14th, was the seventh anniversary of
the late Prince Consort, and at Windsor Castle the
melancholy occasion was observed by her Majesty the
Queen and the royal family with becoming solemnity.
Shortly before eleven o'clock her Majesty, and their '
Royal Highnesses the Crown Prince and Princess
of Prussia, Princes Arthur and Leopold, and Princess
Louise and Beatrice, &c., attended by the ladies
and gentlemen of the court, left Windsor Castle,
and proceeded through the private grounds of
the palace and the park to the l'rince's
Mausoleum, which is situated in the gardens at the
rear of Frogmore-house. Her Majesty and the royal
family having assembled within the mausoleum, a
special service for the occasion was commenced by the
Hon. and Very Rev. Gerald Wellesley, Dean of
Witublor, the choral parts, under the supervision of
Dr. Elvey, the organist of St. George's Chapel, being
sung by Messrs. Adams, Marriott, Mitchell, D.
Rarnby, Tolley, Dyson, Briggs, Hunt, Bridgewater,
Bransome, and the choristers of the cathedral.
The first anthem, a chorale, was Ai follows :
I shall not in the grave remain,
Since Thou death's bonds host severed :
But Hope with Thee to rise again,
From fear of death delivered.
I'll come to Thee where'er Thou art,
Live with Thee, from Thee ne'er part ;
Therefore to die is rapture.
And so to Jesus Christ I'll go,
My longing arms extending;
So fall asleep in slumber deep—
Slumber that knows no ending,
Till Jesus Christ, Gml's only Son,
Opens the gates of bliss—leads uu
To Heaven to life eternal.
After a prayer, the 23rd, 112th, and 146th Psalms
were read by the Dean of Windsor, the choir respond-
The second anthem after the Psalms was as fol-
lows

Ills body is buried in peace,
list his mune liveth evermore—Anion
The service was closed with an appropriate prayer.
Dean Stanley was present at the service.
The new tomb, in which the remains of the late
Prince have at last found a resting place, was hewn
from a solid block of dark grey ideotch granite. When
the sarcophagus was carved the hollow within was
made large enough to receive two coffins, In this the
Prince's corpse has just been deposited, the coffin
occupying just one half the hollow, the other being, it
is said, reserved for the sorrowing widow of the
Prince whose royal wish is to be beside her
late husband when called from this earth. Upon
the ponder, ins lid, which fits closely to the lower
part of ,the sarcophagus, and upon the half exactly
siver the coffin, lies the recumbent figure of the de-
ceased Prince wrapped in royal robes, and with his
head supported by a cushion, This fine work of art
was executed in white marble by Baron Marochetti.
Four large bronze angels with clasped hands and out-
stretched wings relieve the otherwise simple aspect of
the sarcophagus, and upon the side of the tomb,
nearest the Prince's coffin, in carved and giltletters, ha
this inscription :
Francis Albert Augustus Charles Emmanuel. Duke of
Saxony and Prince of Saxe Coburg and Gotha, Prince Con-
sort: Second son of Ernest 1., reigning Duke of Saxe Coburg
and Gotha. Dorn at Roaenau, near Coburg, Aug. 28. 15114.
Married Feb. 10, 1840. to Victoria, Queen of Great Britain
and Ireland. Died at Windsor, Dee. 14, 1931.
Her Majesty the Queen, and the Princes and
Princesses, before leaving the mauroleum, piously laid
wreaths of immortelles against the sarcophagus. The
mausoleum is now nearly complete, wish the exceptem
of some of the decorations. The walls and floors are
of coloured marbles, Egyptian, Sienna, arc. Pas
reliefa of scriptural tabjecui and a painting of the

"Resurrection " adorn the walls, and funeral urns the
Passage round the octagon, while for lighting purposes
gilt chandeliers depend from the roof.
After her Majesty and the various members of the
royal family had retired, by command of the Queen
the domestics of the royal h nesholl awl their families
and the Castle tradesmen were permitted to show
their respect to the memory of the Prince by visititig
the mausoleum, which remained open for that pur-
pose from twelve till three o'clock in the afternoon.
The general public were, however, excluded.