Funeral of Queen Victoria (1901)
The crowds stand silent as the nation says goodbye to Queen Victoria in February 1901.
These two scenes from a longer film of the funeral procession - mostly lost - capture Household Cavalry, military bands, Coldstream guards, representatives of military high command and foreign dignitaries. Closed carriages carry members of the royal family. The first shots are filmed near Hyde Park at the Apsley House corner; the cobbled street seen later is probably Windsor High Street.
Queen Victoria's Funeral was covered by all the major filmmaking companies operating in 1901 - the Lumière Brothers, Pathé, Warwick Trading Co., Gibbons Bio-Tableaux, Paul 's Theatrograph, Hepworth, Biograph and Harrison. Few examples have survived. These two short scenes are all that we have of over 900ft shot by Mitchell and Kenyon, who had secured permission to film the event from two positions: Apsley House corner and at turn of the road in Windsor where the procession turned up to enter St George's Chapel. The missing shots apparently included a famous moment where the bluejackets took up the gun carriage bearing the Queen's coffin. The horses that had pulled it had to be uncoupled because they had been left standing in the cold too long.
Tags
Pomp and Circumstance
Parades, processions and royal visits were a great draw for early filmmakers - not only did they guarantee spectacle but their fixed place in the calendar allowed for planning ahead. Even minor royals commanded endless fascination, while the Queen herself was the greatest celebrity of all.
Even fleeting images of Victoria were hot property and her Diamond Jubilee in 1897 was the grandest event of the era, attracting the biggest assembly of the global film industry to date. Footage from the day played across the Empire and well beyond.
44 videos in this collection
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Funeral of Queen Victoria (1901)
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Royal Proclamation of Death of Queen Victoria, Blackburn (1901)
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The Queen at Sheffield
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Queen Victoria's Jubilee
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Jubilee Procession
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Procession of Troops
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Procession of Troops
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Funeral of Queen Victoria: Funeral Procession at Cowes
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Funeral of Queen Victoria: Procession Starting from Victoria Station
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Funeral of Queen Victoria: The Marble Arch
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Funeral of Queen Victoria: The Procession passing into Windsor Park
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Funeral of Queen Victoria Soldiers Manoeuvre in Square
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Proclamation of King Edward VII, Market Place, Accrington (1901)
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Royal Yacht Victoria and Albert and Liner Ophir
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Afternoon Tea in the Garden of Clarence House
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H.M. The Queen at Garden Party, Buckingham Palace, June 1897
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Queen Victoria's Funeral: Ships Fire a Salute in the Solent
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Scenes at Balmoral
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The Late Queen's Visit to Dublin: Royal Procession Entering the City Gates
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Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee Paul (St Paul's: North 2)
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Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee Paul (St Paul's: South 1)
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Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee Paul (St Paul's: South 4)
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Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee Paul (York Road 5)
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Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee Paul (St Paul's: North 1)
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Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee - Prestwich Footage
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Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee unidentified Lumiere film (3)
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Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee Paul (St Paul's: South 3)
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Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee Paul (York Road 3)
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Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee Paul (York Road 1)
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Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee Unidentified (2)
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Queen Victoria's Funeral - Prestwich
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Their Majesties Entering and Leaving the Victoria Tower Entrance of the Houses of Parliament
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Through Three Reigns
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Trooping the Colour
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Diamond Jubilee Procession Taken from Apsley House
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Funeral Cortege Arriving at Trinity Pier
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Gladstone's Funeral - Entering Westminster Abbey
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Lord Roberts' Arrival in London
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Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee Paul (York Road 4)
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Coronation Procession at St. Boswells
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The Coronation of Their Majesties King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra
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King Edward, Prince of Wales, and Members of the Royal Household Passing Between the Royal Yacht and the S.S. "Ophir"
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