en sent for Lord Albemarle, it is said, and after reminding him that
according to law and precedent she must be proclaimed the next morning
from a certain window of St. James Palace, asked him to provide a
fitting conveyance and escort for her. Then, bowing graciously to right
and left, including all the Princes, Archbishops and Cabinet Ministers
present, in her gracious salutation, she left the room alone, as she had
entered it.

What sort of a night's rest the young Queen had that night can well be
imagined. Surely her maiden dreams must have been disturbed by many
thoughts which forced her to put aside those personal fancies which
yesterday she had been justified in harbouring!

The next day she went in state to St. James Palace, escorted by a number
of great lords and ladies, and a squadron of the Life Guards and
"Blues," and was formally proclaimed Queen of Great Britain from the
window of the Presence Chamber. She wore a black silk dress and a little
black chip bonnet, and we are told that as she stood there in her simple
costume, with her smooth brown hair as plain as her dress, the tears
ran down her cheeks when she was proclaimed to the people as their
sovereign. Then when the band played the National Anthem in her honour,
she bowed and smiled at the swaying mass of people below looking with
eager interest and affection at their "Little Queen," then retired until
noon, when she held a meeting of her chief counsellors, at which she
presided with as much grace and ease as if she had been doing that sort
of thing all her life, to the intense surprise and admiration of the
great men who composed it. At one o'clock, the Council being over, she
went back to Kensington and remained there quietly until after the
funeral of the late King; and Council and populace were loud in their
praise of this young girl, who, having been brought up in the utmost
seclusion, yet now came out into the lime-light of public attention, and
behaved with the dignity and discretion of an aged monarch.

King William having been properly and pompously buried, the young Queen
took up her new position as ruler of the realm, and her royal household
was a very exceptional and magnificent one, because of the rank and
character of those "ladies in waiting" as they were called, who composed
it.

The young Queen and her household remained at Kensington until
midsummer, when they moved to Buckingham Palace, and soon after this
Victoria was obliged