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Friday, 5 November, 2004, 16:28 GMT

Final Royal farewell to princess

Funeral procession Members of the Royal Family have gathered to pay their final respects to the Queen's aunt Princess Alice, who died aged 102 last week.

A private funeral ceremony, attended by the Queen, was held at Windsor Castle's St George's Chapel on Friday.

Princess Alice will be buried alongside her husband and son at Frogmore in Windsor's Home Park.

A memorial service for the princess - the longest-living royal in history - will be held at a later date.

Prayers and blessings were said during the funeral, conducted by the Dean of Windsor, David Conner.

The Queen, dressed in black, was joined by the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales and the Princess Royal, as well as Princess Alice's son and daughter-in-law, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester.

Queen's wreath

Her grandchildren, the Earl of Ulster, Lady Rose Windsor and Lady Davina Lewis also attended, along with the Duke of York, the Earl and Countess of Wessex, Prince and Princess Michael of Kent and Princess Alexandra.

The Princess's coffin was draped in a royal standard and decorated with a floral display of cream roses and ivy, laid by her immediate family.

She had been brought from Kensington Palace, where she died in her sleep last Friday.


Before the service the coffin was taken in by a bearing party from the King's Own Scottish Borderers, of which the Princess was Colonel in Chief.

The Dean of Windsor gave thanks to God for the Princess's characteristics and qualities.

He paid tribute to her "capacity to override suffering", her "sense of fun and her love of people, particularly the young".

Hymns The Lord's My Shepherd, Love Divine and O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go, were sung.

The National Anthem was played at the end of the service and buglers sounded the Last Post and Reveille.

A wreath from the Queen of roses, freesias and thistles - acknowledging the Princess's Scottish ancestry - bore a hand-written message saying: "In loving memory - Lilibet and Philip."

Family tragedy

The Prince of Wales addressed his floral tribute to "dearest Aunt Alice", adding "with fondest and affectionate memories, Charles, William and Harry".

Another display was made up of white lilies, pink roses and wheatears from the gardens at Barnwell - the Princess's Elizabethan manor in Oundle, Northants, where she spent much of her life before moving to Kensington Palace.

Princess Alice was born on Christmas Day in 1901 and became the oldest ever member of the Royal Family when she reached the age of 101 years and 238 days in 2003.

Her eldest son, Prince William, a pilot, died in a crash at an air show in 1972.

Two years later her husband, Prince Henry of Gloucester, died after suffering a series of strokes. The pair had been involved in a car crash in 1965 after attending the funeral of Sir Winston Churchill.

Princess Alice, the third daughter of the Duke of Buccleuch, had a passion for travel and spent time in Kenya, India, Afghanistan and Australia.

She saw at first hand the abdication crisis sparked by Edward VIII's affair with Mrs Simpson in 1936, and was said to be instrumental in supporting the monarchy during World War II.




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Related to this story:
In pictures: Royal funeral (05 Nov 04  |  )
Obituary: Princess Alice (30 Oct 04  |  UK )
Princess Alice dies aged 102 (30 Oct 04  |  UK )
Princess Alice: Your tributes (01 Nov 04  |  Have Your Say )
In Pictures: Princess Alice (30 Oct 04  |  )

RELATED INTERNET LINKS:
British Monarchy website
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