Read "His most Gracious Majesty King Edward VII" by Marie Belloc Lowndes online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
Considerable preparations were made early in 1888 for the Silver Wedding of King Edward and Queen Alexandra, but it was well known that the Royal family were expecting daily to hear of the death of the old German Emperor, William I., which actually occurred just before the Silver Wedding Day, and everything in the way of public rejoicing was countermanded. Still, the 10th of March was not allowed to pass entirely unobserved. The whole of the Royal family then in England, preceded by Queen Victoria, called at Marlborough House to offer their congratulations in person, and for that one day the Court mourning was abandoned. The King and Queen Alexandra with their family lunched at Buckingham Palace with Queen Victoria, while in the evening the Sovereign attended a family dinner-party at Marlborough House, this being the first time she had ever been to dinner with her son and daughter-in-law in London. Queen Victoria, after leaving Marlborough House, drove through some of the principal West End streets in order to see the illuminations. Her Majesty also gave a State ball at Buckingham Palace in honour of the event, and the King and Queen of Denmark gave a grand ball at the Amalienborg Palace at Copenhagen.
Archbishop Magee (then Bishop of Peterborough) writes in a letter to his intimate friend and biographer, Canon MacDonnell, the following amusing account of his share in the rejoicings: --