Kate Read Free Page A

Queen Victoria had died 11 days earlier. Prince William’s great-great-great-grandfather Edward VII rode behind his mother’s coffin as the cortège snaked its way through the streets of London. Its final destination was St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle. After a state funeral attended by the great and good of the Commonwealth, Victoria’s body lay in state for two days before being laid to rest beside that of Prince Albert in the Royal Mausoleum at Frogmore House.
    Queen Victoria’s death heralded a new age. Eighteen months later, Edward VII and Alexandra were crowned king and queen by the Archbishop of Canterbury at Westminster Abbey – a little later than expected, as the 59-year-old monarch was diagnosed with appendicitis shortly before the date originally set for the coronation. The King donated osborne House, where his mother had died, to the state and lived at Sandringham House in Norfolk, as he had done before his accession. His son George – Prince William’s great-great-grandfather – and his wife Mary, who by then had four children, including the future Edward VIII and George VI, lived in york Cottage on the estate.
    John Harrison would have read about the coronation in the newspaper or heard the news at the local pub. But he would have given little thought to the lives of the royal family and could never have guessed that his great-great-granddaughter would one day be so close to the country’s rulers. He had more pressing matters on his mind, such as raising enough money to make ends meet. John was not long married to Jane, and the couple lived in a cramped cottage in Chapel Street, Hetton Downs, with their three-year-old daughter Jane and baby son Ernest. Jane’s sister Sarah Hill lived with the family and helped out with the daily chores, but it was still a tough existence and the couple hoped that their children would be able to make a more comfortable future for themselves.
    They had a second son, John, in 1902, but it was their fourth child – Kate’s great-grandfather – who was to make his mark. Born on 23 June 1904, he was named Thomas after Jane and Sarah’s father, who was a carpenter and joiner. A devoted grandfather, he spent many hours with the young boy and when his grandson was barely out of short trousers, he began to teach him the rudimentary skills of his profession.
    Thomas was just five years old when King Edward VII collapsed, suffering from bronchitis, while on holiday in Biarritz. A heavy smoker – he is reputed to have smoked 20 cigarettes and 12 cigars a day – he then suffered several heart attacks following his return to Britain. He died on 6 May 1910, his wife Alexandra and mistress Alice Keppel at his bedside. He had just been told by his son George, Prince of Wales, that his horse Witch of the Air had won that afternoon at Kempton Park. ‘I’m very glad,’ the King replied. They were his final words. George V and Queen Mary were crowned at Westminster Abbey on 22 June 1911. Afterwards, the King and Queen travelled to India, visiting their subjects. During the trip, the King indulged his hobby of hunting, shooting 21 tigers.
    Three years later, on 28 June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the throne of Austria–Hungary, was assassinated by a Bosnian Serb named Gavrilo Princip. The event sparked the beginning of the Great War. Life would never be the same again. Thomas Harrison was too young to fight in the First World War, but it had a major impact on his formative years, as Hetton-le-Hole, which had a population of 13,673 at the turn of the century, became a shadow of its former self. Hundreds of miners from the area volunteered for the Northumberland Fusiliers and the Durham Light Infantry, while the women and children had to adapt to life without them.
    At first, Thomas’s father John, who had just celebrated his fortieth birthday when war broke out, remained at home, looking after his young family – he now had another two children, Wilfred,