The early years of His Royal Highness the prince consort / compiled under the direction of Her Majesty the Queen, by Lieut.-General the Hon. C. Grey.

  • Grey, Charles, 1804-1870.
Date:
1867
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The early years of His Royal Highness the prince consort / compiled under the direction of Her Majesty the Queen, by Lieut.-General the Hon. C. Grey. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

    509/518 (page 467)
    Royal couple as they passed through the gates of the Castle, returned again to London, resolved to finish the amusement of the day by a sight of the splendid illuminations in town. About half-past two o’clock considerable excitement was occasioned among the various groups of persons waiting to see the Royal pass through High Street by the appear- ance of the Royal Standard, which at that hour was raised at the Round Tower. Various were the conjectures as to the particular circumstance which the hoisting of this proud and noble banner might be intended to indicate; but having tired themselves with explanatory suggestions, the crowd came to the conclusion that it must be the signal of Her Majesty’s departure from St. James’s Palace after the con- clusion of the nuptial ceremony. At four o’clock a troop of Life Guards left Windsor for the purpose of meeting the Royal cortcge on the road and escorting it to the Castle. At this hour a dense concourse of persons had collected about the gates of the Castle, which appeared to be the ^oint of greatest attraction, and an unbroken line of spectators extended from this spot to the extremity of Eton near to London. As always happens in cases like the present, the anxiously-expected arrival was announced about one hundred and fifty times before it actually ha])pened, and as each successive rumour turned out to be false it would not be ea.sy to depict the momentary disappointment manifested by the impatient assemblage. The evening had closed in before the arrival of the Royal party. The whole town was therefore illuminated before they entered it, and the effect produced by the glitter of the lights on the congregated multitude was exceedingly splendid. Every house in Windsor was illu- minated ; many of them were handsomely decorated with flags, laureis, mottoes, and artificial bouquets. Ingenious devices and transparent repre.sentations of the Queen and Prince Albert were not few nor far between. The Town-