14 DECEMBER 1844, Page 2

Zbt Court.

Timer ALBERT'S Brother has been admitted to the Most Noble Order of the Garter. The Queen held an investiture of the Order on Thurs-

day, and a full Chapter assembled at Windsor Castle. Her Majesty and

Prince Albert entered the Garter-room at half-past two o'clock, both ahited in the costume of the Order, and the Queen wearing the Garter as an armlet. The Knights Companions were called over by Garter

3King at Arms in the Waterloo Gallery, and were conducted into the

presence of the Sovereign : the Knights present were Prince Albert, she Duke of Cambridge, the Duke of Rutland, the Duke of Wellington, presence of the Sovereign : the Knights present were Prince Albert, she Duke of Cambridge, the Duke of Rutland, the Duke of Wellington, She Marquis of Anglesea, the Marquis of Exeter, the Duke of Richmond, the Duke of Bucclench, the Duke of Buckingham, the Duke of Beau- fort, the Duke of Cleveland, and the Marquis of Salisbury. The

Dutchess of Saxe Coburg and Gotha and the Duke Ernest of Wurtem-

berg witnessed the ceremony ; • Sir Robert Peel and the Earl of Aber- deen were also present ; with a numerous suite of attendants. The

Chancellor of the Order (the Bishop of Oxford) read a new statute de- creeing that his Royal Highness Ernest the Second, reigning Duke of Saxe Coburg and Gotha be declared a Knight of the Order, any statute notwithstanding. The Duke was introduced by Prince Albert and the Duke 'of Cambridge, the senior Knights present, preceded by Garter and Black Rod ; was invested with the insignia by the Queen, Prince Albert and the Duke of Cambridge assisting ; and

received the accolade from the hands of the Sovereign. The Duke of Saxe Coburg and Gotha then took his seat in a chair of state at the right hand of the Queen. The Chancellor signified the Queen's plea- sure that four vacant Stalls in the Royal Chapel of St. George -be filled vp. None but Knights can be elected ; and therefore Thomas Philip ler] De Grey, James Marquis of Abercorn, and Edward Earl Powis, re introduced and knighted by the Queen ; after which, those three Jlemen and Charles Chetwynd Earl of Talbot were successively in- troduced and admitted to the Order, with ceremonies similar to those jest described.

After the investiture, the :Queen gave audience to the Marquis of Donegal ; who delivered to her Majesty the insignia of the Order of St. Patrick worn by his father the late Marquis.

Soon after the ceremonies, the Knights all left the Castle, except those resident there.

b The Queen held a Privy Council yesterday ; at which Prince Albert and several of the Ministers were present. Lord Wharncliffe, however,

eras away, and Sir James Graham officiated for the Lord President. A report was made on the petition from the States of Guernsey, praying the Queen's confirmation of a project of reform in the constitution of the States.

Earlier in the day, the Queen and Prince Albert with their guests rode out to Frogmore ; where the gentlemen of the party skated. Sir Robert Peel arrived as a visiter on 'Wednesday. The party at the Castle repaired to Claremont on Monday, and re- mained till Tuesday ; Prince Albert specially returning on Tuesday, to be present at the funeral of the Princess Sophia Matilda.

The funeral of the Princess Sophia Matilda was conducted with royal state, though not on a great scale ; Earl Delawarr, Lord Cham- berlain of the Queen's Household, superintending the ceremony. The Jody lay in state on Monday, at the Princess's residence, the Ranger's 'souse on Blackheath : the dining-room was used for the occasion, and was hung with black. Lady Alicia Gordon, Lady in Waiting to the Princess, supported by her Royal Highness's two Bedchamber Women, sat at the head of the coffin as chief mourner ; the Pages of her Royal Highness stood at the foot of the coffin. From twelve till four o'clock -neat numbers of the public passed through the room to see the body. The funeral procession left Blackheath on Tuesday. It consisted of hearse ; the private carriage of the Princess, containing her coronet Li Sir Archibald Murray; four mourning-coaches, conveying officers the Princess's household and of the Lord Chamberlain's department ; id the carriage of the Dutchess of Gloucester. To the bounds of the irish it was preceded by some of the parish-officers; and it was corted by a party of Life Guards. It proceeded, by way of Cam- 'rwell, Kennington, and Vauxhall Bridge, to the Paddington ter- inus of the Great Western Railway ; where it arrived about five dock. Great numbers of persons had assembled along the line to ew the show ; and " the most becoming solemnity of manner was erywbere apparent." The whole cortege was despatched by a special in to Slough ; where it arrived at twenty minutes before seven ; and at half-past seven it resumed the road to Windsor. It 'now preceded by footmen of the Queen and Princess, bearing aux ; and the line was lengthened by the addition of fresh car- -those of the Queen, the Queen Dowager, the Duke of Cam- Athe Dutchess of Gloucester, the Princess Sophia, and the Dutchess of Kent. It reached St. Georgets Chapel, at the Castle, by twenty minutes, past eight o'clock ; and a procession on foot entered the Chapel with the body : in the precession were the pages and medical attendants, Garter principal King at Arms, bearing his mace, the Lord and Groom in Waiting on the Queen, the ',Lord and Groom in Waiting on Prince Albert, the Clergy of Windsor Castle, the Lord Chamberlain, and the Princess's executors, namely, the Honourable H. Legge, Mr. George Bankes, M.P., Lady Alicia Gordon, and Miss Cotes. The pall was borne by four ladies, and the chief mourner was the Countess of Gainsborough. Prince Albert also wit- nessed the ceremony : he sat in his stall as a Knight of the Garter, wearing the uniform of a Field-Marshal, with a mourning scarf. Finally, at half past nine o'clock, the body was deposited in a vault near the Sovereign's stall.