3-085-958 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Queen's Journey to Cimiez: picket-boats guarding the Royal Yacht in Portsmouth Harbour at night, 1898. Queen Victoria on holiday in the South of France. 'Accompanied by Princess Christian, Princess Henry of Battenberg, and the young Princes of Battenberg, the Queen proceeded from Windsor for Portsmouth Dockyard, to spend the first night on board the royal yacht Victoria and Albert, which was safely moored for the night, and was surrounded by seven or eight picket-boats, which went circling round and round in the darkness to prevent anyone from approaching. The sea was smooth till the next morning, when the yacht set sail in rather windy weather for Cherbourg, in charge of Rear-Admiral Pullerton.' From "Illustrated London News", 1898