 George V lying in state, draped with the Royal Standard | |
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George V,King of the United Kingdom and theBritish Dominions, andEmperor of India, died atSandringham House inNorfolk on 20 January 1936, at the age of 70. He was succeeded by the eldest son,Edward VIII, whoabdicated that year. On 23 January, the King's coffin was brought by train toWestminster where itlay in state for four days, during which more than 800,000 members of the public attended. On 28 January, the coffin was carried in procession toPaddington Station and then on toWindsor Castle where a relatively simplefuneral service was held, broadcast live on radio.
King George had suffered several bouts of serious illness since theFirst World War; he suffered fromchronic bronchitis exacerbated by heavysmoking.[1] By 1935 he required the occasional use of oxygen tanks kept at his bedside.[2] By the end of that year, his personal physician,Lord Dawson of Penn, told the prime minister,Stanley Baldwin, that the king was "packing up his luggage and getting ready to depart".[3]
In the new year of 1936, King George took to his bed atSandringham House inNorfolk; family members were summoned on 16 and 17 January by an anxiousQueen Mary.[4] At 9:25 pm on Tuesday 20 January, Lord Dawson wrote a press bulletin on the back of a menu card; "the King’s life is moving peacefully to its close". King George died at 11:55 pm with the queen and his children at his bedside and theArchbishop of Canterbury,Cosmo Lang, reciting prayers. It was revealed decades later from Dawson's account in his personal diary, that he had hastened the process by injecting an overdose ofmorphine andcocaine into the king'sjugular vein, with the intention of having the announcement in the morningbroadsheet newspapers, rather than "the less appropriate evening journals".[5]
On the afternoon of 22 January (the day of the 35th anniversary of the death ofQueen Victoria), the king's coffin was taken from Sandringham House to theparish church ofSt Mary Magdalene, where it lay in state overnight with an honour guard of estate workers. On the following morning, 23 January, the coffin was taken in a 2½ mile (4 kilometre) procession from the church toWolferton railway station, with KingEdward VIII and his brothers walking behind and the rest of the royal family in carriages. Also accompanying was the late king's grey pony Jock, led by a groom, and his parrot Charlotte, whose cage was carried by a servant.[6]
Thefuneral train, hauled byClass B17 locomotive No. 2847Helmingham Hall,[7] arrived in London atKing's Cross railway station and then the coffin was carried on agun carriage escorted byGrenadier Guards through crowded but silent streets with King Edward and his brothers walking behind, arriving atWestminster Hall at four o'clock.[8] As the coffin was carried into the hall by guardsmen, theMaltese cross which surmounted theImperial State Crown, fell off and landed in the street; Edward was heard to exclaim "Christ! What's going to happen next?"[9]
Upon entering the hall, the choirs ofWestminster Abbey and theChapel Royal sangPsalm 103; "Praise the Lord, O my soul".[10] A short service was conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, which included the hymn,Praise, my soul, the King of heaven, at the suggestion of Queen Mary.[11]
Following the departure of the royal family,Members of Parliament, led by theLord Chancellor and theSpeaker of the House of Commons, were the first to file past thecatafalque to pay their respects. They were followed by ordinary members of the public, who formed a queue fifteen deep through the streets of Westminster; during the four days of the lying in state, 809,182 people were recorded to have passed through the hall. Also visiting were royalty and dignitaries from overseas who had arrived in London for the funeral.[10] The doors of the hall were finally closed at 04:00 on Tuesday, 28 January.[12]
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During the lying in state, the catafalque was guarded at all times by twelve men; fourYeomen of the Guard, fourGentlemen-at-Arms, and four officers of theHousehold Division, either theFoot Guards or theHousehold Cavalry. The guard was changed every twenty minutes, except for the Yeomen who were relieved every hour.
At midnight, after attending a state dinner atBuckingham Palace for the visiting dignitaries including five kings,[10] the late king's four surviving sons, King Edward VIII, theDuke of York, theDuke of Gloucester, and theDuke of Kent, stood vigil replacing the four guards officers. This event became known as theVigil of the Princes.[13] They were dressed respectively in the full dress uniforms of theWelsh Guards, theScots Guards, the10th Royal Hussars and theRoyal Navy. It was reported that many of the passing mourners failed to recognise the King and the princes.[10]
The funeral procession began at 9:45 am on Tuesday, 28 January, with the tolling ofBig Ben. The coffin was placed on theRoyal Navy State Funeral Gun Carriage, drawn by a team of 142naval ratings. Following the gun carriage on foot were the king and the Royal Dukes, after which came the kings of Denmark, Norway, Romania, Bulgaria and Belgium, along with the President of France and other dignitaries. The queen, thePrincess Royal and the Royal Duchesses travelled in horse-drawn state coaches. The procession was watched by huge crowds along the route, often twelve deep, many of whom had braved overnight rain. Some 150 members of the public had to be taken to hospital and it was reported that first aiders had treated 10,000 cases of fainting. In some places, the crowd had burst through the police cordon, delaying the proceedings by 22 minutes.[12] The route from Westminster Hall passed downWhitehall toTrafalgar Square, underAdmiralty Arch intoThe Mall, turning intoSt James's Street and then alongPiccadilly toHyde Park Corner. EnteringHyde Park, the procession passed along the East Carriage Road toMarble Arch and from there toPaddington Station viaEdgware Road.[14]
On arrival at Paddington Station, the coffin was loaded onto the funeral train, hauled by4073 Class locomotive No. 4082Windsor Castle, which left at around midday. A further six special trains carrying dignitaries had preceded it, leaving at 10-minute intervals.[7] AtWindsor & Eton railway station, the coffin was transferred to the state gun carriage again and drawn through the streets of the town towardsWindsor Castle, escorted by theColdstream Guards.[12] The procession moved along the road (today the B3022) fromthe station past thecastle andSt John the Baptist Church before turning into Park Street at the Soldier's Statue and eventually moving up theLong Walk towards thecastle. At St George's Chapel, sailors usedboatswain's calls to signal "Admiral on board" and "Admiral over the side", followed by Highlandpipers playing thelament,Flowers of the Forest.[15] The king and his brothers saluted as the coffin was carried up the chapel steps.[12]
The service itself was a fairly simple affair following the text of theBook of Common Prayer and lacking any additionalanthems, which had been a feature of other royal funerals. Instead, a congregational hymn,Abide with me, was included. The last funeral sentence,I heard a Voice from Heaven, was sung to a setting by SirJohn Goss, rather than the traditional music byWilliam Croft. After theGarter Principal King of Arms had pronounced thestyle of the late king,God be in my Head by Sir HenryWalford Davies was sung.[15]
Initially interred in the Royal Vault beneath theQuire at St George's Chapel, King George's body was transferred to a monumental sarcophagus in the NorthNaveAisle on 27 February 1939.[16] It is surmounted bytomb effigies of George and Mary, sculpted by SirWilliam Reid Dick (1878–1961).[17] Queen Mary was laid to rest next to her husband following her funeral at St George's on 31 March 1953.[18]
The service was broadcast live onBBC Radio and relayed across theempire; alsonewsreel films of the funeral processions were later shown in cinemas.Ecumenical memorial services were held in churches and chapels throughout the country, for which a special "form of service" had been printed, to be used "either on the Day of the Funeral or on the Most Convenient Day within theOctave, by His Majesty's Special Command".[19]
As per report in London Gazette.[20]
TheQueen andKing of Norway,the late King's sister and brother-in-law (also first cousin) TheCrown Prince of Norway,the late King's nephew
TheKing of Denmark and Iceland,the late King's first cousin TheCrown Princess of Denmark,the late King's first cousin once removedPrince Axel of Denmark,the late King's first cousin
Prince George of Greece and Denmark,the late King's first cousinPrince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark,the late King's first cousin (also father of the late King's daughter-in-law)
ThePrince Regent of Yugoslavia,husband of the late King'sfirst cousin once removed TheCrown Prince of Greece,the late King's double first cousin once removed (representing theKing of the Hellenes)
TheKing of the Romanians,the late King's first cousin once removed
TheCrown Princess andCrown Prince of Sweden,the late King's first cousin once removed and her husband (also widower of the late King'sfirst cousin) (representing theKing of Sweden)
Prince Félix of Luxembourg,husband of the late King's second cousin once removed (representing theGrand Duchess of Luxembourg)
TheKing of the Belgians,the late King's third cousin (also widower of the late King'sfirst cousin once removed) TheCount of Flanders,the late King's third cousin
TheTsar of the Bulgarians,the late King's third cousin
ThePrince of Piedmont,husband of the late King'sthird cousin (representing theKing of Italy)
ThePrince of the Sa'id (representing theKing of Egypt)
Prince Zeid bin Hussein (representing theKing of Iraq)
Prince Chula Chakrabongse (representing theKing of Siam)
Prince Salih Doshishti (representing theKing of the Albanians)
ThePrime Minister
ThePrime Minister of Canada
ThePresident of France ThePrime Minister of Belgium
Norman Davis, former United States Under Secretary of State