3-021-150 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Funeral of the late King of the Belgians: the burial service in the Chapel at Laeken - from a sketch by our special artist, 1865. 'A temporary church had been erected at Laeken, for, as that to which the Royal burial-place is attached is a Catholic one, it was impossible to read the conclusion of the Protestant burial service within its walls. It has already been remarked that the late Queen was buried here; and, in order that the King might sleep at her side without being brought within Catholic consecrated ground, an opening had been made in the church wall, through which the coffin was to be deposited in its last resting-place, without either passing through the church, or making it necessary for the mourning party to do so. The Archbishop of Malines heard of this, and, after conferring with his brethren, promptly communicated to the Court that all facilities would be given, and that the hole in the wall was not necessary. It was, however, thought wiser to carry out the original scheme, and the body of the King was let down into the grave from the Protestant side of the little cemetery, after the portion of the service left unsaid in the palace had been impressively read by the Rev. Mr. Vent'. From "Illustrated London News", 1865.