2-913-923 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The King of Denmark dining on board the "Cygnus", 1854. Opening of the British-built Royal Danish Railway by Frederick VII, King of Denmark. Present at the opening were Samuel Morton Peto, a partner of the firm of Peto, Brassey, and Betts, and engineer George Parker Bidder, on the North of Europe Steam Navigation Company's vessel Cygnus, '...Capt. Raymond, R.N....His Majesty - a fine-looking man, of imposing mien and soldierly bearing...proceeded to partake of the hospitality of his railway hosts...The whole company, English and Danish, numbered thirty-six individuals, which was all the saloon of the Cygnus would accommodate...[A toast was proposed to] '...the Health of the King, by Mr. Peto...thanking his Majesty for naming the Railway after himself, and supporting it by his Royal favour from the moment the project was first submitted to him...'. From "Illustrated London News", 1854.