The King sent the following telegram of condolence last night to Mr. A. W. Lawrence on the death of his brother, “Lawrence of Arabia”:—

The King has heard with sincere regret of the death of your brother, and deeply sympathises with you and your family in this sad loss. Your brother’s name will live in history, and the King gratefully recognises his distinguished services to his country and feels that it is tragic that the end should have come in this manner to a life still so full of promise. In Bagdad, where many of Lawrence’s Arab comrades-in-arms are now holding important positions in the Administration, the news of his death was received as that of a great loss to the Arab cause. King Ghazi has telegraphed to the Iraqi Legation in London instructing the Chargé d’Affaires to convey to the Foreign Office and to the family his regret at the death of Lawrence. The Iraqi Foreign Minister, Nouri Pasha Said, sent through the Iraqi Legation in London a message which read: “I am profoundly distressed to learn of your brother’s death. Arabs will never forget his zeal and brilliant work in the cause of freedom. Please accept sincere sympathy.”

Church that holds only 170

The body of Lawrence (or T. E. Shaw, the name he adopted in recent years) will be taken in a plain coffin wrapped in a Union Jack from the little mortuary chapel to-day for burial in the village cemetery of Moreton. There will be no flowers on the coffin and no inscription. No guard of honour will line the route and the mourners, whatever their rank, will wear plain clothes.

The funeral service in the little church will be simple and brief. It will begin with the 121st Psalm, a lesson will be read by Canon Kinloch, the hymn “Jesu, Lover of my Soul” will be sung, and the service will conclude with the Nunc Dimittis.

A reporter was informed at the canon’s residence yesterday that the church was being fitted out to hold 170 people – its utmost capacity. One hundred people are expected to come down by train from London. Tickets are being issued to these. When they and other intimate friends have been admitted it is unlikely that there will be any room for the general public.

Mr. A. W. Lawrence, in an interview yesterday, made a special appeal to friends who saw service with his brother in Arabia to attend the funeral. “Messages which I have received,” he said, “indicate that some of them do not know they are invited to the funeral.”

Lawrence’s mother robbed by bandits

Mrs. Lawrence, the mother of Lawrence, who is on her way home from China with his brother, Dr. M. R Lawrence, a missionary, was robbed of her money and jewels when the river boat on which she was travelling from the interior to Chungking was attacked by armed bandits. She is now at Ichang, 965 miles from the mouth of the Yangtse river.