The funeral of Queen Victoria saw the heads of Europe’s royal families converge on London, with virtually every royal family having a direct familial link to the late Queen with many of her daughters marrying into the royal families of the continent. Germany’s Kaiser was the grandson of the Queen and so he had an important place in the ceremony. The funeral procession was a popular subject for photographers and stereoscope manufacturers and today we are looking at a stereoscope card showing the Kaiser as part of that funeral:

Here we see the procession:

The Kaiser can be seen just behind the British Royal family, with other European monarchs:

The Royal party are flanked by British troops with arms reversed:

A total of 30,000 troops packed into London for the ceremony, lining both the route of the cortege and escorting the funeral party.

Just before 11am, the royal train pulled in and a bearer party of 12 sergeants from the Guards and the Household Cavalry stepped forward to shoulder the heavy oak coffin and lay it on the gun carriage. A shaft of sunlight burst through the grey skies and, for a brief moment, flashed on the brass work on the casket before it was covered by a white satin pall. The postilions in their scarlet vests urged the eight cream-coloured horses forward and the gun-carriage swung out of the station and into the streets of London.

Behind came the new King Edward VII — his time come at last after nearly 60 years as heir to his mother’s throne — mounted on a bay charger. He rode, said one observer, ‘with a kingly dignity. Pale as he was, and worn, with the marks of much recent suffering and anxiety on his face, he looked like the ruler of a mighty empire, the heir of a long line of monarchs’.

Beside him was the German Kaiser, the late Queen’s grandson, on a white horse, and then the King of Portugal and the King of Greece. A glittering cavalry of 40 princes and dukes followed as, with rifles and swords reversed, the great ceremonial army began its slow march through the misty morning.

Seeing was believing. All along the route, the sight of the coffin provoked a great sigh from the crowd, which sounded, wrote one reporter, like ‘a strange deep whisper, which those who heard it will never forget. “The Queen! The Queen!”