2-982-282 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Her Majesty en route for Cherbourg, 1858. Queen Victoria travels '...to visit the Emperor and Empress of the French at Cherbourg, attended by a convoy befitting the head of a great maritime nation...The Pera, with some hundreds of the members of the House of Commons on board, got under way soon after daybreak on Wednesday morning at Southampton, and proceeded direct to Cherbourg...The escort squadron...consisted of the Royal Albert; the Renown; the Euryalus; the Diadem; the Curaçoa; [and] the Racoon...At nine minutes past twelve the Victoria and Albert started for Cherbourg, the wind being moderate, blowing west-south-west, and the ship steaming against tide. The Royal yacht passed on with great velocity, the Admiralty flag floating from her foremast, the Royal standard from her mainmast, and the Union Jack from her mizen-mast and stern. The Trinity yacht, having on board the Masters of the Trinity House, was about 200 yards in her wake. At seven o'clock her Majesty the Queen, having had a very fine passage across the Channel, arrived at Cherbourg with her escort, and was saluted by the French fleet'. From "Illustrated London News", 1858.