Word: astride
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Dates: during 1930-1939
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King George, unable to celebrate or permit celebration of his third son's engagement, ordered the Court into a fortnight's mourning. Flustered Court officials sought to exculpate themselves by saying that, although Queen Astrid's death came off the news ticker at 11:58 a. m., they did not consider it as yet official when the Court Circular announcing Gloucester's engagement was read off the British radio at dinner time and released for next morning's papers. They did not doubt that the Queen of the Belgians had been killed. It was merely...
...Gloucester was obliged to mourn last week, he prepared to withdraw to the bachelor seclusion of his regiment at Catterick Camp. It was he who in 1926 represented King George at the marriage of Belgian Crown Prince Leopold and the beautiful young Swedish Princess who last week died Queen Astrid...
...days it had been raining in Switzerland. Leopold of Belgium and Queen Astrid, vacationing in the Villa Haslihorn near Lucerne, sent their three small children back to Brussels. But next morning the sun came out hot and strong, with the promise of a fine day for a mountain climb, a sport of which Leopold was just as fond as his father. Hobnail boots, ropes and alpenstocks were piled into the back of the royal Packard touring car beside the chauffeur. In front Leopold took the wheel while Astrid sat beside him, holding a road map. They started down the lakeside...
Before noon all Europe knew of the tragedy. In Brussels Premier Paul van Zeeland held an emergency meeting of the Belgian Cabinet, boarded a plane for Lucerne to take back the body. When the news was broken to Princess Ingeborg of Sweden, mother of Queen Astrid, she prepared to fly to Brussels. Overcome by grief, she was forced to cancel the flight, went on by train. In London the death of Astrid coincided with the announcement of the engagement of the Duke of Gloucester, caused King George to order the British Court into a fortnight's mourning...
...freight yards at Lucerne two special cars were hastily prepared, one for the body of Astrid, the other for Leopold alone. Dressed in a plain black suit, his jaw taped, his arm in a white sling, the King entered the car early in the evening, waited in the yards until the St. Gothard Express chuffed in from Milan. All through the night, as the train streaked across Europe, the King sat in his car with only his Premier and his secretary for company. Early next morning a squadron of cavalry led the body of Queen Astrid back through the streets...