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Royal visit by Princess Beatrice
315 A photograph showing Princess Beatrice at Aberdeen Music Hall to open a bazaar in aid of the Sick Children's Hospital.
The bazaar took place in the Music Hall on Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th October 1898. Princess Beatrice, then known as Princess Henry of Battenberg, opened the bazaar the day before on Friday 28th October.
The opening ceremony was covered in the Aberdeen Journal of 29th October 1898, page 5. The article states that Beatrice arrived by train at the Joint Station before travelling to the Music Hall from Guild Street by the horse drawn carriage that we can see here.
The route travelled and much of the surrounding area were specially decorated for the occasion. The various businesses and buildings along the route decorated their own premises and many of these decorations are described in the newspaper report.
The city gardeners Peter Harper of Duthie Park and Robert Walker of Victoria Park were tasked with creating floral displays. Harper decorated the interior of the Joint Station and the Music Hall, while Walker decorated the route between the two.
The special royal train arrived at the joint station a couple of minutes before its scheduled time of 12:15pm. Beatrice was greeted at the station by a large civic and military reception and crowds of onlookers.
The newspaper report indicates that travelling in the horse drawn carriage with Beatrice was Miss Minnie Cochrane and Lord William Cecil, both were royal courtiers. The man sat in the carriage is therefore most likely the latter.
Following the opening ceremony, Beatrice was entertained at a luncheon at the Palace Hotel by the directors of the Royal Aberdeen Hospital for Sick Children.
Beatrice and her party returned to Balmoral on a train leaving the station at 2:45pm.
The newspaper also tells us that Messrs. Walker & Company, cinematographers, Bridge Street, filmed the procession as it passed along the railway bridge on Guild Street. Assistant photographers with still cameras captured the rest of proceedings. This photograph was likely taken by one of these assistants.
A sign for Walker & Company can be seen hanging above the Music Hall entrance. This dates the image as belonging to this later royal visit by Princess Beatrice. She previously visited the city on 27th September 1883 to open an earlier bazaar for the Children's Hospital and to open the newly created Duthie Park |