The Colorado statesman., 1910-05-21

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same year Queen Victorla's mother.
the duchess of Kent. was buried In an
elaborate tomb in the grounds near by.
In 1901 Queen Victoria herself was
buried in the mausoleum beside her
husband.
The structure is probably one of the
most elaborate of the kind in exist
ence. 1t was planned in minute detail
by Queen Victoria as a memorial TO
the prince consort. The general pub
lie is not admitted to the chamber
where lie the royal bodies in two Inn
mense sarcophagi. but the spot Is
great magnet for tourists. dozens OF
whom inspect the marble mausoleum
daily.
Queen Mothers Grief Deep.
The successive delays In the remov-
al OF King Edwards body from the
bedroom where he died to the throne
room at Buckingham palace were due
To Queen Alexandra's reluctance to al
low the body to be removed from the
proximity of her own apartments.
All arrangements had been made
for the reception of the body in the
throne room and notices were Issued
to members of the household that
they would be permitted to view the
body lying in state there, but day by
day the removal was postponed and
the invitations deferred.
The queens private apartments
communicate directly with those OF
the late king. and It is not known how
often she visited the room in which
her dead husband lay or the duration
of the vigils she made there, but 1t
is said her sister, the dowager en-
press of Russia. feared her grief
might prove too great strain.
During the later years Of the kings
life he and the queen. were on the
most excellent terms of friendship
and good feeling. Indeed, 1t is no ex-
aggeration to say they were deeply at
tached to one another. The king was
most kind and considerate In his at
titude toward his consort. who valued
highly the attentions he always
showed her.
Only those intimately acquainted
with both the written and unwritten
political history of the last nine
years knew how great figure was
Edward in controlling great issues In
times of international crises OF the
first magnitude. His influence was
the more conspicuous, perhaps, be-
cause British public life today con-
tains no statesmen in either party of
more than mediocre ability. This
makes Englands sense of loss the
keener.
kino's Consideration for Consort.
For years they had been. to quote
an informant of credit. "the best OF
pals" and while the inclusion In the
list published in the papers of house
party at Sandringham Of a certain
womans name caused some astonish-
ment in general society. there was
considerable the more astonishment
among those in the inner circles OF
court life at the efforts made by
foreign Ambassador to suppress any
mention VI the woman's name In the
list of guests who were invited to
meet the king at his country house.
Queen Alexandra herself. by letter
which the London Times described as
artless. has shown how deeply she Is
affected by the death of her consort.
Authoritative details of what passed
on the day of Queen Alexandra's re-
turn to England show in what regard
King Edward held his queen.
On that Thursday before his death
Edward was continually speaking of
her majesty to his encourage. In the
morning he announced his intention
to go to the station to meet her on
her arrival, and when he was forced
to bow to the advice of his physicians
in this matter he said he would at
least meet her at the head of the
stairs In Buckingham palace.
From the day she landed In Eng
land as Princess Alexandra, he said.
he had never failed to meet her when
she came from abroad. He followed
all stages of her journey, and as the
day wore on and his condition became
worse he gave instructions that she
was to be guarded against the shock
of seeing suddenly how changed by i'll
ness he was. There are two doors
to the room in which his majesty died
-one facing the invalid chair in
which he was reclining, the other at
the side. He directed that the queen
be brought in at the side door, so she
should see him in the most favorable
aspect.
When the queen arrived King Ed
ward. by an effort which taxed his
powers to the utmost, stood up to re-
ceive her. AS she clasped him In her
arms he fell back into the chair in a
state of collapse For time 1t was
feared the end was at hand.