The Sun.
London, England, 1866-04-04 00:00:00

Funeral of Queen Marie Amelie of France.

Yesterday Marie Amelie, for seventeen years Queen of
the French, was laid side by side with the King, whose
throne and whose exile she shared, in the mortuary chapel
situate in the grounds of a houso of humble pretensions
belonging to Mr. J. M. Taylor, a London solicitor.
Early in the morning there was a Requiem mass in the
private chapel at Claremont, which was attended by the
family, Bishop Grant being assisted in the celebration by
his Vicar-General, Canon Danell, and a deputation of
clergy from the French chapel. The body of the ex-
Queen, which lay in a kind of state in the chapel, is en-
closed in four coffins, the outer one being of oak, covered
with velvet cloth, the nails and handles being silver. Th•
simple inscription is—

MARIE AMELIE,
Née Caserte (Deux Siciles)
le 26 Avril 1782 ;
Morte 4 Claremont (Comte de Surrey, Angleterre)
le 24 Mars 1866.

Esher was all alive long before ten o'clock as far as
regards carriages and pedestrians, for the shops and pri-
vate houses were altogether or partially closed. The bell
at the church tolled all the morning, and the sombre ap-
pearance of the place was strikingly different from the
scene of three years ago, when the whole village kept high
festival on the occasion of the marriage of the Duke de
Chartres.

The hearse was not an open one, with the coffin, &c.
exposed to view, as is customary in some foreign countries.
It was a plain hearse, of the English kind, drawn by
eight black horses, and the only external ornament
was the crown and royal arms of the deceased
with her initials, M. A., emblazoned. In the carriages fol-
lowing the hearse were the princes of the house of Orleans

—the Duke de Nemours (chief mourner), the Count de
Paris, the Duke de Penthievre, the Duke de Guise, his
Majesty the King of the Belgians, the Duke de Chartres,
the Count de Flandres, the Prince of Saxe-Coburg, the
Prince of Wurtemburg,:and the Prince de Joinville. These
princes alone wore mourning cloaks. Those who fol-
lowed the princes were the ambassadors of Austria and
Prussia, and the ministers of Belgium, Bavaria,
Italy, Portugal, Saxony, Spain, Brazil, and Mexico ;
there were also four officers who took it by turns to wait,
three months each in the year, on the Royal family at
Claremont--General Count de Montesquiou, General
Count Dumas, General Count do Houdetot, and
General Count de Chabannes ; Ministers of the ex-King
Louis Philippe, MM. Guizot, Thiel's, Counts R6musat,
Joubert, &c.; M. Eloin, Count de Jarnac, Lieutenant-
General Sir Edward Cust, Captain Morhain, General
Changarnier, Count de Gronsfeid, M. Fertunate, M.
Phrognon, Dr. do Mussy,' M. Octave Borel de Bretizel,
M. Busson, M. Asseline, M. Lange], Count de Pontois,
Baron de Bussiere, Marquis de Richijecourt, Marquis
Gouvion de St. Cyr, M. Paravey, Baron de l'Espee, M.
Dumont, M. Hebert, Duke Pasquier, Prince Albert de
Brogli, Duke do Casas, Count Paul de Segur, M. Casimir
Perier, M Vitet, Count d'Haussonville, General Louis do
Segur, Baron de Berthois, M. do Moerkerque, M. St. Marc-
Girardin, M. Antoine Passy, M. Lisboa, General Jullien,
Marquis d'Harcourt, MM. Regnier (pere et fils), M. Fleury,
M. Gauthier, M Mesnard, M. Faurel, &c.
Most of the ladies went to Weybridge Chapel by a
shorter route, through Oatlands Park. Among those
present at the ceremony may bo named the Countess de
Paris, the Duchess de Chartres, the Princess Marguerite,
the Princess de Joinville, the Ditchess d'Aumale, the
Duchess of Wurtemberg, the Princess Salerno, the Mar-
chioness de Lastigne, the Baroness Finguerlin, the Countess
de Chabannes, the Baroness de Beauvoir, Mdlle. Muser,
Mdlle. Boerio,Madame do Parquet,Mdlle.Bernard,Countess
Barnels, Baroness Wangonheim, Mdlle. St. Aubin, the
Marchioness d'Harcourt, the Duchess do Galliora, and
Madame de Lisboa.

Notices were issued by order of the Princes that their
Royal Highnesses would be happy to see at Claremont,
on Monday afternoon last all friends, of the house who
did them the honour of attending the funeral, and

this day at Claremont, at Orleans House, and at York
House, Twickenham, in the afternoon and evening.
The Princess expressed themselves as glad to notice
the honour paid to the ex-Queen by their friends,
but in compliance with her Majesty's expressed desire the
ceremony was to be conducted with the greatest simplicity
(la plus grande siniplicite'), and, except for the family, at-
tendants, and special friends, no carriages could be pro-
vided. No fewer than 85 carriages followed the funeral
procession, and it need hardly be said that there was not
room for half of their occupants in the grounds of the
mansion itself.

Their Royal Highnesses the Prince of Wales and the
Duke of Cambridge and his Serene Highness Prince Ed-
ward of Saxe Weimar arrived at Miss Taylor's residence
at a quarter to one, and were received by Miss Taylor and
Mr. and Mrs. James Molyneux Taylor. The chapel is
one of very small dimensions, with no pretensions to
beauty, external or internal ; it can scarcely accommo-

_ .
date 30 persons anyhow. It is a mortuary chapel, built by
the late Mr. James Taylor, who died in 1846, and who lies
in the vault on the right of the entrance, on the left being
the Duchess of Orleans and a Princess of Saxe-Coburg.
At the end of the vault is the resting place of King Louis
Philippe and Queen Marie Amelie ; the King's coffin, ex-
posed after nearly 16 years, appearing as fresh as when it
was first placed there.
The body was received just before two o'clock at the
gates of the mansion by the Right Rev. Bishop Grant, of
Southwark (who wore a white silk mitre and embroi-
dered cope), the Vicar-General, Canon Danell, the Rev.
Dr. M. P. Clifford (of Great Ormond-street), the Rev. J.
Ainsworth (of Kingston), the Abb6 Vasseur, the Rev.

Joseph Berchili, and the Rev. Mr. Toursel (from
the French Chapel, Portman-square), with the Domini-
can monk who has been preaching the Lenten course
in King-street. Headed by the cross-bearer, Mr.
Keily, they marched into the chapel at the head of the
procession, chanting the "De Profundis " and
" Miserere." In the chapel Bishop Grant gave
the absolution over the hody, and then went with his clergy
into the vault and blessed the piece of sepulchre. The Royal
Family, the illustrious visitors of our own Royal Family,
and the friends of the house of Orleans, passed slowly down
to the vault, and each was offerad by General Dumas (who
stood by the coffin) an aspergillum, or brush dipped in holy
water, to sprinkle the coffin with in passing. This last
tribute took a •ery long time. At the close General Count
Dumas superintended the closing of the vault in which
King Louis Philippe and his saintly Queen sleep sido by
side.