Overall: 32cm (12.5in) x 37cm (14.5in)
Printed paper notice. Inscribed with a black border, ‘Queen Victoria’s Funeral. Saturday, February 2nd, 1901. / This Establishment / Will Be / Closed.’ / ‘Loder, Printer].
The announcement of Queen Victoria’s death on 22 January 1901 on the Isle of Wight was posted on the Osborne House bulletin board shortly after 6.30pm. The news was rapidly spread to her 400 million subjects around the globe. Within the hour The London Evening News had a black-bordered special edition out on the streets. The ‘Great Tom’ bell of St Paul’s tolled across the city of London, while panic broke out in the royal household as they realised that all precedents were 64 years out of date, and nobody knew what to do. Across the nation, people gathered in small groups to sing ‘God Save the Queen’ and by eight o’clock, shop windows throughout the land were dressed in black mourning. At Whiteleys department store in Bayswater queues ten deep developed as customers lined up to purchase black mourning outfits.