Le Nord : revue internationale des Pays de Nord - 01.06.1938, Page 398

388
LE NORD
The mariners carry the coffin to
the waiting carriage, where ten for-
mer A. D. C.’s to his Majesty form
the Guard of honour. The coffin is
still wrapped in the Royal banner
and carrying the wreath placed
there by the King. The band intones
the funeral march by Chopin and
the procession starts, first the Royal
Guard, then after the bier the King
and Crown-prince, followed at a
distance by the bishop of Oslo; the
Crown-princess with her daughters,
her mother and the ladies of the
Royal house-hold following in cars;
then the gentlemen of the Court and
the King’s staff, the commanding
officer of the King’s staff, the com-
manding officer of the “Royal
Oak”, then the presidents of the
Storting, the members of cabinet
and so on. Troops line the way;
tens of thousands of men and wo-
men have met to show their com-
passion. In the storm and the rain
the procession slowly comes to the
grounds of the old castle where
other tenthousands are waiting.
When the bier has reached the
bridge leading to the upper bastions
of the old castle the procession
halts; the King and the Crown-
prince turn to meet the oceans of
faces, bishop Berggrav mounts a
pulpit raised on the bridge and ad-
dresses the audience, praying for the
King and the Royal Family, voic-
ing the deep compassion of the
whole nation and reading the be-
nediction. The procession moves
on, up the winding road to the
castle. Hundreds of boy-scouts are
parading. The coffin is lifted by
the former A. D. C.’s of the King,
carried into the old Royal Chapel,
beautifully decorated with flowers,
and placed on a catafalque. The
organist plays the funeral march of
Chopin. When the last chords are
dying away the Royal Family sa-
lute the bier — and leave. In the
following days innumerable un-
named friends of the Queen have
passed through the little chapel of
Akershus to bid her a last fare-well.
There has been some discussions
in Norway as to the last resting-
place of the Queen. As mentioned
in the article by dr. Koht (see p.
259) it is 575 years since a queen
has been buried in Norway.
Some of the old kings with their
families have been buried at Trond-
heim, in or near the great Cathe-
dral; some have been buried in Ber-
gen and some in Oslo.
The King has decided that the
official funeral service will be held
in Var Frelsers Kirke (The Church
of our Saviour) in Oslo and that the
future mortuary chapel of the
Royal Family will be at Akershus
where the beautiful old crypt will
be extended and a new tower built
over the gate constructed under
King Haakon V about 1300.
C. /. Hambro.