3-021-736 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Visit of the Prince and Princess of Wales to Ireland: the Royal Procession passing College-Green, Dublin, 1868. 'The carriage of the Prince and Princess of Wales was escorted by a troop of the 10th (Prince of Wales's Own) Hussars...The streets were filled with enthusiastic crowds, who cheered wildly as the procession passed by...Every available inch of space was taken up by a spectator. Some urchins climbed on the pedestal of King William's statue; others, more adventurous, clung to projections around the Bank and College...people pushed and struggled for the chance of seeing. There can hardly have been fewer than a hundred thousand spectators, but, although on the outskirts of the crowd there was considerable confusion, the passage for the Royal equipages was kept without much difficulty by a small body of police. The statue of William III. stood out over the surging masses. [There was a] waving of white handkerchiefs...[and an] uncovering of the heads of the vast assemblage...Not only was the multitude enthusiastic, but it was respectful. No obstruction was caused by the popular curiosity. With the exception of the small escort of cavalry which preceded and closed the procession, there was no military guard'. From "Illustrated London News", 1868.