WesWorld

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For almost a week the situation in Nordmark has been particularly tense.
Worry has gripped the citizens of the nation, as no explanation was given
by any authorities, while signs grew each day that crisis was imminent.
Yesterday evening, in the harbour of Stockholm, it came to pass that we 
should learn what had happened.  

Rumours had started spreading across most of the city already at 5 in the
afternoon.  By fortuitous luck, I happened to be near the harbour, and had
also been given some good advise by a naval officer, and so I made my way
to Skeppsbron below the Royal Palace to await events.  As the afternoon and
evening progressed, larger and larger crowds gathered on the docks at
Skeppsholmen, Kastellholmen, Skansen, and other places surrounding Saltsjön.
At this point, it was unnervingly silent in the harbour - the traffic of
vessels normally present even at this time being all but gone.  At some time
after 8, a commotion started spreading among the crowd, as ships' smoke
could be seen to approach.  It was yet, however, to take almost an hour
until the ships arrived in the harbour.  Meanwhile, a procession proceeding
from the Royal Palace caused silence to spread amongst the crowds.  Marked
only by the solemn and slow beat of the boots, the Corps of Drabant Yeomen
of the Guard slowly proceeded from the Royal Palace to Slottskajen,
attended by the Corps' drummers and fifers.

First among the ships to round Beckholmen was the admiralty yacht [i]Corona
Borealis[/i].  Following in its keel-line was the battleship Manligheten,
leading the Royal Yacht [i]Desidéria[/i].  And what a solemn sight the Royal
Yacht was - smoke protuding from its three funnels not only from their ends,
but also from holes riddling all three.  Also other parts of this proud
ships showed sign of abuse, glasses in the saloons being broken, lanyards
of the masts being torn in two, and one mast missing the top.  The ship was
also characterised by a pronounced list, and the bow being rather heavy in
the water.  Most telling, however, was the Royal Standard and the National
Flag flying halfmast, accompanied by long black pennants.  

Slowly, painfully slowly, the ship proceeded solemnly down Strömmen between
Skeppsholmen and Gamla Stan, before coming to a rest before Helgeandsholmen
and the Parliament.  At this time, the procession from the Royal Palace was
also fully arrived, and lined up at Slottskajen.  They needed not wait long
- within soon, the Royal Barge [i]Vasaorden[/i] set out from the Palace Dock,
and was rowed over the the Royal Yacht.  Arriving at the landing platform of
the Royal Yacht, the Royal Barge was then the scene of a heart-rending scene,
as two coffins, draped in the Royal Standard, were transferred to the barge.

It is difficult to take note of the measurement of time in such moments as
this one, and I have no recollection of the time which moved by - the
striking elements were the slow procession with the Drabant Yeomen following
the bier, which was emplaced upon a gunmounting, pulled by naval ratings.
Slowly this procession made its way to the Royal Palace, the drums slow roll
underlining the sobriety of the dirges displayed by the fifes, all throughout
being metred out in precise beat by the boots of the Drabant Yeomen of the
Guard.  And so it came to pass that the bier arrived before the gates of the
Royal Palace, where waited H.E. the Lord Stallare, Baron Nansen of Greenland,
in his most formal regalia.  Standing before the coffins, he then spoke:

      "Thus it hath pleased Almighty God to take out of this
      transitory life unto His Divine Mercy the late Most High,
      Most Mighty and Most Excellent Prince Gustavus the Fifth
      by Grace of God of the Swedes, the Goths, the Vends, the
      Norwegians, and the Finns, and of his other peoples and
      territories King, High Lord of the Northern Mark, and
      Defender of the Faith, and the late Most High, Most Mighty 
      and Most Excellent Princess Victoria, Queen Consort, High 
      Lady of the Northern Mark.

      The King is dead.  Long live the King."

Then the gathered crowd sang the Royal Hymn, and the coffins were carried
into the Royal Chapel of the Royal Palace, where they will remain on lit
de parade until the day of burial.