All seemed fair in the Jubilee year
itself, and the Queen was appearing more in public than had been her
wont--laying the foundations of the Imperial Institute; unveiling in
Windsor Park a statue of the Prince Consort, Jubilee gift of the
women of England; taking part in a magnificent naval review at
Spithead. But a shadow was already visible to some; and early in 1888
sinister rumours were afloat as to the health of the Crown Prince of
Germany, consort of the Queen's eldest daughter. Too soon those
rumours proved true. Even when the prince rode in the splendid
Jubilee procession, a commanding figure in his dazzling white
uniform, the cruel malady had fastened on him that was to slay him in
less than a year, proving fatal three months after the death of his
aged father had called him to fill the imperial throne. The nation
followed the course of this tragedy with a feverish interest never
before excited by the lot of any foreign potentate, and deeply
sympathised with, the distress of the Queen and of the bereaved
empress.
[Illustration: Duke of Clarence. _From a Photograph by Lafayette,
Dublin_.
Pages:
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196