On May 6, 1910, Great Britain grieved. After a short nine-year reign, King Edward VII of Great Britain had passed away.
The eldest son of Queen Victoria had suffered from failing health for a number of years, partially due to his smoking (of course, that wasn't known at the time). In February 1909, he had suffered a momentary loss of consciousness and in March 1910 had collapsed. He'd suffered from bronchitis for years before this point and still had it in April 1910.
On the day of his death, he'd suffered numerous heart attacks. However, as King of Great Britain, he'd decided not to take to his bed and continued as many duties as he could. It wasn't until he collapsed later in the day that he was taken to his bed. His last words were to his son, George, Prince of Wales, who had told him about his horse winning at Kempton Park that day. The last words were:
"Yes, I have heard of it. I am very glad."
King Edward VII died 15 minutes after being taken to his bed. His wife, Alexandra of Denmark, initially refused to allow his body to be moved. A small number of visitors were welcome, but it took eight days to finally lay him in state in the throne room--that took place on May 14, after being moved into a coffin on May 11.
Four-hundred-thousand people would walk past his coffin after his funeral on May 20. It took two days for the procession of people to come to an end.
He was praised as a monarch, with many saying that he had a natural ability. Part of that may have been due to being the longest-serving Prince of Wales and heir to the throne, until being surpassed by Prince Charles a few years ago. However, he did receive some criticism over the years for his self-indulgence; again, possibly a side-effect of being an heir to the throne for so long.
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