3-021-436 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The body of the late King of the Belgians taken into Brussels by torchlight, 1865. 'On Tuesday night, the 12th December, the remains of the late King were removed from Laeken to the palace at Brussels, a distance of about three miles. The funeral cortege, looked on as a pageant, was of the simplest character - but the darkness of the hour, the solemnity of the occasion, and the people who had collected in thousands along the line of route gave the procession a certain degree of grandeur and Impressiveness...the funeral car, drawn by eight horses caparisoned in the richest and deepest black, and each led by a groom, also in mourning, and carrying a flambeau. Behind the hearse came the carriages of the functionaries of the Court, the whole being closed by the remainder of the Guides and Grenadier regiments. Throughout the whole line of way the roads and streets were dense with people, the windows and balconies were draped with mourning, and a black flag floated from almost every house. Cannon were fired every other minute in the park during the journey. The cortege arrived at the Royal palace at half-past ten.' From "Illustrated London News", 1865.