One hundred years ago
SINCE the Royal wedding is only solemnised to-day, it is impossible for us to do more than chronicle the prepa- rations. The ceremony takes place in the chapel of Buckingham Palace, an old conservatory converted by the Prince Consort to its present uses, Which is capable of containing some two hundred people. As the decoration is said to be exceedingly gaudy, and as a sort of clerestory of the hideous old- fashioned purple glass with which peo- ple used to decorate greenhouses re- mains as a memento of George IV's conservatory, the dresses of the bride and her maids, which are, of course, magnificent, will have a very ugly back- ground. There will, however, be im- mense masses of flowers, and these may redress the balance of beauty, sadly depressed by the 'dozen pillars, fluted and painted chocolate-brown, with gilt Corinthian capitals, and gilt wreaths encircling the columns half-way up,' Which the newspapers have of late been very busy in describing. People are, of course, always greatly interested in a wedding, but, in addition, there is every sign that the marriage of the Princess Louise of Wales is very popular. The nation is a proud one, and likes to see so public a disclaimer of the customs that on the Continent have created a Royal caste, the blood of which is supposed to suffer profanation by any external inter- mixture. The instincts and traditions of the English race are thoroughly set against all such theories.
The Spectator, 27 July 1889
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