Durban puts on the Ritz for a 4-hour ride in the rain

The old picture this week takes in a ceremonial arch, constructed in West street, today Dr Pixley ka Seme, for a procession in 1901 to honour a visit by the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York – the future King George V and Queen Mary - to the city. On the right you can see the original City Hall which is today the Post office building.

The picture comes from the collection of the Talana Museum in Dundee.

In 1901, the Duke and Duchess embarked on the longest official tour ever undertaken by the British Royal family. They left England on March 16 on a tour lasting nearly eight months. The couple took in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and South Africa, with brief calls at Gibraltar, Malta, Aden, Ceylon, Singapore and Mauritius. They travelled almost 80 000 km, much of it aboard HMS Ophir.

The Royal party arrived in what was then Natal on August 13, 1901, for a brief visit lasting only 53 hours. The couple would spend two nights in Pietermaritzburg, while the Duke’s request for a visit to Ladysmith, famous for the siege in the early parts of the Boer War which was still raging, was cancelled at the last moment.

Crews in Durban and Pietermaritzburg worked for weeks to erect the ceremonial arches and attach decorations to buildings and along streets. Government House in Pietermaritzburg had extensive alterations undertaken for the nights that the Duke and Duchess would spend there.

It rained the whole four hours the Duke and Duchess spent in Durban, but this did not deter 50 000 people from lining the streets. The main ceremony, lasting 15 minutes, took place at Stanley Park, where a royal pavilion had been built, containing two models of the coronation chair and seating for 2 000 prominent and distinguished business people of the city.

After an address by the mayor, the Duke thanked the people of Natal for their loyalty and patriotism and expressed his sympathy for those who mourned the loss of their loved ones.

After lunch in the Royal Hotel, the women of Durban presented the Duchess with a table gong made of polished Natal redwood with ivory tusks supporting three pom pom shells, engraved Talani, Ladysmith and Harts Hill.

They then drove through the arch and along densely packed streets to the railway station for the trip to Pietermaritzburg. The fireworks display in Durban that night was watched by 20 000 people.

The next day in Pietermaritzburg, the Duke opened the newly completed City Hall with a gold key (which he was given as a souvenir). After lunch he presented 8 Victoria Crosses and a substantial number of DSOs to imperial and colonial troops at a function in the municipal park attended by over 10 000 people. The final event was a Zulu war dance by 200-300 men in full ceremonial dress.

The next morning on their return to Durban, they inspected a hospital train which had arrived that morning from Pretoria, carrying wounded troops.

From Durban they set sail for Simon’s Town, before catching the train to Cape Town.

After South Africa, the couple sailed to Canada, arriving back in England in November.

The modern picture of Dr Pixley kaSeme street, shot by Leon Lestrade last week, shows a very different high-rise Durban