Evening star., 1901-11-18
CORONATIONS.
CrOwninE of King Edward VII to Be
Costly and Spectacular.


| From the London Daily Mail.
The jewelers., robe makers and court cos
| tumiers of London will reap an abundant
| harvest from the coronation Of Edward
VII. No event Of recent years has brought
| such an access of trade to fashionable
makers of habiliments as may be antici-
! pated from the crowning of the new king.
! The only occasion to which one can go for
any sort of parallel is the last jubilee.
| But in 1897 the people directly interested
| in that function-the invited guests" as
they may be called-were fewer in number
and lesser in degree than the great congre-
cation of other countries kings and our
own princes, dukes. earls, ministers of state
and clergy that will assemble within the
historic walls of Westminster to witness
the archbishop's crowning of King Edward
VII. And the cost will, in fact, be inf
nitely greater owing to the larger number
Of people who will have to attend and the
increased gorgeousfless Of the spectacle.
An authority consulted by a representa-
| tive of the Daily Mail estimated that the
tradesmen of the West End would benefit
to the tune of a million and a half if the
coronation is performed with the ponp and
circumstance befitting the occasion. Three
quarters of this would be spent by private
individuals, the rest by or on behalf Of the
crown.
The coronation Of George " cost the
country million of money-that Is, the
sum. But Edward VII. with his natural
dislike of all display and ostentation will
not, of course, indulge in the gorgeous eX-
travagance Of his predecessor.
That the coronation Of George w trans
cended almost any other ceremonial of the
kind that has taken place in this or any
other country appears to be beyond Goubt.
Its impressiveness may be measured from
the subJoined extract from private letter
written by a woman who was privileged
to be present and who was escorted by Sir
Walter Scott:
Here Is the longest sheet 1 can find" she
writes, 'and were 1t ten times longer and
had each Of my ten fingers the pen of a
Walter Scott busy at its point, tenth part
of all have seen this day. ten days would
hardly suffice to tell.
At o'clock on the morning of the corona
ton OF George ~ ten miles of carriages
were already vending their way toward
Westminster. In public and private ex-
penditure the ceremonial cost close upon
two and half millions.
James II did not aspire to such colossal
display. He was possessed with desire to
be economical and on that score aban-
doned the coronation procession. Neverthe-
less he unselfishly allowed more than f1O0-
600 to be spent in adorning the queen for
that grand occasion. In comparison, very
modest indeed was the cost entailed at the
coronation of William and Mary How
ever. f3.703 15s. cd. had to be spent in
jewels for the regalia, as the master Of the
Jewel house naively reported that though
AS hao Tic AC6dlid LII Ills possession II had
been dismantled of the Jewels
Genuinely economical was William ".
He actually suggested to Earl Grey. the
prime minister of that time, that the coro-
nation should be dispensed with altogether.
As 1t was, no procession took place and
the banquet was for the first time omitted.
When Edward VII is crowned all the
mobiles In the country will be present at
Westminster, wearing their coronets and
full robes. with their resplendentIy be-
Jeweied orders. In many cases coronets
would have to be purchased. for several
comparatively newly made earis have not
yet gone to the expense Of purchasing these
symbols of their high estate. An earfs
coronet costs from f30O to f45O.
To a greater extent new robes would be
required, ranging in price from EGO to $500.
The royal robe Of crimson velvet furred
with ermine and bor5ered with gold, VIII
cost close upon f1,0O0 That of George "
reached Just double that sum- The late
queens crown was specially made, the pre-
cious stones being taken from the Old
crown, which did not fit her The same
plan will be adopted If the rim of the
present crown be considered too small for
the king. The cost of a new chown bpt
with the old stones. would be about f6oO