royal yacht alberta

Category : HMY Alberta (ship, 1863)

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Royal Yacht 'Alberta' Approaching a Man of War, Solent

Arthur Wellington Fowles (1815–1883)

Isle of wight council heritage service.

Photo credit: Isle of Wight Council Heritage Service

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The Guildhall, High Street, Isle of Wight PO30 1TY England

Artist or maker, arthur wellington fowles.

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Queen Victorias Funeral, Coffin on board The Royal Yacht Alberta

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• Royal Yachts of the United Kingdom
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HMY Alberta

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HMY Alberta was a Royal Yacht of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom . She was built by Pembroke Dock and launched in 1863.

Built as a tender to the larger royal yacht HMY Victoria and Albert II , Alberta made a number of voyages carrying Queen Victoria and other members of her royal family. She was particularly used after the acquisition of Osborne House on the Isle of Wight as a summer home, and Alberta was often employed making voyages across the Solent. On one occasion, while carrying the Queen, Alberta ran down and sank a schooner, causing a number of fatalities. Alberta was used to take the Queen to engagements along the south coast of England, and in 1896 she brought the body of Prince Henry of Battenberg to the Isle of Wight for burial.

Alberta ' s most prominent role was in the funeral of Queen Victoria. The Queen died on the Isle of Wight after a short illness in January 1901. The Alberta carried numerous members of her family across to be present at her death bed, and it was decided that Alberta should carry the Queen's body back to the mainland. The coffin was placed aboard the yacht on 1 February 1901, and Alberta led a procession across the Solent into Gosport, receiving the salutes of the warships anchored along the voyage. After spending the night on the Alberta , the coffin was removed the next day, and taken to London for the funeral service. Alberta continued in service after this, and was eventually sold for breaking up in 1913.

• 1 Construction
• 3 The death of Queen Victoria
• 4 Later service
• 6 References
• 7 External links

Construction [ ]

Alberta was launched from Pembroke Dock on 3 October 1863 as a replacement for HMY Fairy , the tender to HMY Victoria and Albert II . [1] [2] She was a 370 ton wooden paddle steamer, 160 ft (49 m) long and with a beam of 23 ft (7.0 m), and a draught of 8 ft (2.4 m). [2]

Service [ ]

Queen Victoria made a voyage in Alberta in August 1865, accompanied by her children, Princess Louise , Princess Helena and Princess Beatrice , and their attendants, Earl Granville , General Charles Grey , the Duchess of Roxburghe and Lady Churchill . The party embarked at Woolwich and sailed down the Thames, joining Victoria and Albert . The Queen was said to have preferred making the passage down the river in the lighter vessel. [2] The two ships then proceeded in company to Antwerp. [2] Alberta was also used for the journeys between the Queen's residence at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, and the UK mainland. While returning from Osborne with the Queen and several of the royals aboard in August 1875, the Alberta collided with the schooner Mistletoe . [3] The captain of the Alberta altered course to pass behind of the schooner, when the Mistletoe suddenly tacked, and was run down. The survivors were pulled aboard the Alberta , Queen Victoria taking a special interest in comforting them. The master of the Mistletoe and two passengers died in the accident, and the jury in the coroner's inquest was unable to return a verdict. [3]

William Umpleby Kirk photographed the Alberta entering Cowes Harbour at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). It was one of the first British photographs of a vessel in motion and earned him a Royal Warrant . [4] [5] [6] [7] Alberta was in use again in December 1882, carrying the Queen to Stokes Bay near Gosport to visit wounded personnel from the Anglo-Egyptian War being treated at Haslar Hospital . [8] In 1896 Alberta carried the body of Prince Henry of Battenberg , who had died in West Africa of malaria during the Ashanti War , to Cowes. [8]

The death of Queen Victoria [ ]

On 18 December 1900 Alberta carried the Queen to the Isle of Wight for the last time. [9] Aged 81, and in failing health, the Queen spent Christmas at Osborne, and her condition rapidly declined. Close members of her family were summoned, and on 19 January 1901 Alberta carried Prince Edward and Princess Louisa across the Solent to be at her bedside. [10] Over the next few days Alberta conveyed numerous royals and their attendants across to the Isle of Wight, including the Prince of Wales and the Queen's grandson Kaiser Wilhelm II, on the morning of 21 January. [11] Queen Victoria died in the evening of 22 January. After her body had been prepared, Admiral Sir John Fullerton and the officers of ce Alberta came ashore to pay their respects with the rest of the royal staff and servants. [12]

'HMY Alberta Entering Portsmouth Harbour with the Body of Queen Victoria, 1 February 1901', by William Lionel Wyllie

On 24 January Alberta carried the new King Edward VII back to Osborne after his journey to London for his proclamation as king. The Royal Standard , which had been lowered to half-mast following the Queen's death, was raised again, and the king took the salutes fired by the warships anchored in the Solent as he passed. [13] Arrangements were made for the funeral procession and service, and it was decided that Alberta would carry the Queen's body from Cowes to Gosport, passing through a line of warships. [14] [15] On the afternoon of 1 February the Queen's body was brought from Osborne to Cowes, and taken on board the Alberta moored alongside Trinity Pier. Her coffin was placed on a crimson platform on the sterndeck, covered by an awning, with an officer at attention, and the Royal Standard at half-mast. The rest of the royals, including the King, boarded the larger Victoria and Albert . [16]

Alberta then sailed out of Cowes, escorted by a flotilla of eight destroyers, and leading the other royal yachts, the Victoria and Albert , HMY Osborne and the German yacht Hohenzollern . As they passed by the anchored warships, their crews fired salutes, bands played funeral marches, the officers saluted and the marine guards presented arms. [17] One of the spectators, Randall Davidson , the Bishop of Winchester, remarked

the calm sea, the slow motion of the vessels, which seemed to glide without visible propelling power, the little 'Alberta' going first through the broad avenue of towering battle-ships booming out their salutes, the enormous mass of perfectly silent black-clothed crowds covering Southsea Common and the beach. I do not envy the man who could pass through such a scene dry-eyed. [17]

It took an hour for the Alberta to cross the Solent, arriving to large silent crowds of dignitaries and spectators in the late afternoon. A battery of guns from the local garrison announced the arrival, and a marine band struck up aboard HMS  Victory as the Alberta tied up at the Clarence Yard. She spent the night here, with the Queen's coffin aboard under a continuous guard of honour. [18]

The following morning the captains of the warships which had saluted the Queen's body as the Alberta passed by, came aboard the yacht to pay their respects. The royals attended a brief service around the coffin, read by Rev. Cosmo Lang , and then ten petty officers carried the coffin ashore and placed it aboard the funeral train that was to take it to London. [19]

Later service [ ]

Alberta remained in service following Queen Victoria's death, being present at King Edward VII's coronation review on 16 August 1902, with the royal yachts HMY Victoria and Albert and HMY Osborne . [20] With the introduction of newer ships, Alberta was retired from service, and was broken up in 1913. [2]

• ↑ 1.0 1.1 Colledge and Warlow. Ships of the Royal Navy . p. 9.  
• ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Madge. Royal Yachts of the World . p. 59.  
• ↑ 3.0 3.1 Madge. Royal Yachts of the World . p. 72.  
• ↑ "Cowes Yacht Photographers" . http://cowesyachtphotos.com/html/w_u_kirk.html . Retrieved 16 April 2012 .  
• ↑ "Friends of Northwood Cemetery" . http://www.friendsofnorthwoodcemetery.org.uk/FoNC/history/wukirk.htm . Retrieved 15 April 2012 .  
• ↑ "All At Sea" . http://issuu.com/all-at-sea/docs/aas1103_e-version/search?q=kirk . Retrieved 16 April 2012 .  
• ↑ "The Daily Sail" . http://www.thedailysail.com/inshore/11/58037/0/60th-anniversary-round-the-island-photo-exhibition . Retrieved 17 April 2012 .  
• ↑ 8.0 8.1 Madge. Royal Yachts of the World . p. 74.  
• ↑ Rennell. Last Days of Glory . p. 52.  
• ↑ Rennell. Last Days of Glory . p. 89.  
• ↑ Rennell. Last Days of Glory . p. 117.  
• ↑ Rennell. Last Days of Glory . p. 171.  
• ↑ Rennell. Last Days of Glory . p. 183.  
• ↑ Rennell. Last Days of Glory . p. 201.  
• ↑ Madge. Royal Yachts of the World . p. 91.  
• ↑ Rennell. Last Days of Glory . p. 241.  
• ↑ 17.0 17.1 Rennell. Last Days of Glory . p. 242.  
• ↑ Rennell. Last Days of Glory . p. 244.  
• ↑ Rennell. Last Days of Glory . pp. 253–4.  
• ↑ Madge. Royal Yachts of the World . p. 96.  

References [ ]

• Colledge, J. J. ; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN  978-1-86176-281-8 . OCLC  67375475 .  
• Madge, Tim (1997). Royal Yachts of the World . Thomas Reed Publications. ISBN  0-901281-74-3 .  
• Rennell, Tony (2001). Last Days of Glory: The Death of Queen Victoria . London: Penguin Books. ISBN  9-780140-291186 .  

External links [ ]

• National Maritime Museum

[ Victorian Web Home —> Technology —> Ships, Boats, and Naval Architecture —> Next ]

The New Royal Yacht “Alberta” conveying the Queen down the river to the Nore . Illustrated London News . 57 (19 August 1865): 1. [Click on image to enlarge it.]

Formatting and text by George P. Landow . You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the Internet Archive and the University of Toronto and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.

Kennedy, John. The History of Steam Navigation . London: Charles Birchall, 1903. Internet Archive version of a copy in the University of Toronto Library. Web. 16 January 2013.

Last modified 13 August 2020

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Queen Victoria’s Funeral Was Almost a Majestic Mess

By Hadley Hall Meares

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Years before Queen Elizabeth II passed away at her beloved Balmoral on September 8, 2022, the state plans for her death, dubbed Operation London Bridge , were already concrete. This foresight, so typical of the queen’s pragmatic, no-nonsense personality, was a far cry from the confusion that greeted the death of England’s last great queen.

In January 1901, 81-year-old Queen Victoria lay dying at Osborne House, on the Isle of Wight. According to Stewart Richards ’s fascinating Curtain Down at Her Majesty’s , as the queen lay peacefully while surrounded by family, in another room courtiers were frantically attempting to figure out what came next.

“As the last death of a sovereign had occurred in 1837, no one seemed to know what the procedure was,” wrote Sir Frederick Ponsonby, the queen’s harried equerry in ordinary and assistant private secretary. “We spent the evening looking up what had been done when George IV and William IV had died.”

With no photos for reference, and few people alive who remembered the last sovereign’s death, royal servants were at a loss. “The ignorance of historical precedent in men whose business it is to know is wonderful,” Reginald Brett, Viscount Esher wrote cheekily .

They had little time to find out. At 6:30 p.m. on January 22, Queen Victoria died while being held by her grandson Kaiser Wilhelm II. Though Victoria’s oldest son, now King Edward VII, tried to control the narrative by releasing news of his mother’s death, a media frenzy quickly took hold. “I was told the scene on the hill down to Cowes [on the Isle of Wight] was disgraceful,” Ponsonby wrote, per Richards. “Reporters in carriages and on bicycles were seen racing for the post office in East Cowes, and men were shouting as they ran, ‘The queen is dead.’”

From the start, things seemed to go wrong. The queen had requested that she not be embalmed, so a coffin had to be ordered quickly. However, when the undertaker’s assistant arrived, it was discovered that he had not brought the expected coffin, as he claimed he needed to take the deceased queen’s measurements.

The pugnacious Kaiser Wilhelm, already despised by most of his British relatives for his unpleasant personality, was disgusted. “It is always like this,” he raged, per Richards. “When an ordinary, humble person dies, everything is arranged quite easily and with reverence and care. When a ‘personage’ dies, you fellows all lose your heads and make stupid mistakes which you ought to be ashamed of. The same happens in Germany as in England: You are all alike!”

Unwilling to let the uncouth assistant touch the hallowed queen, the kaiser and other courtiers took matters into their own hands.

“If the occasion had been a less grave and solemn one, there would have been much that was humorous in the emperor’s harangue to the rather dull undertaker’s assistant,” Randall Davidson, Bishop of Winchester recalled . “The emperor frightened the poor fellow into helpless obedience. The man was simply terrified. He was so unsuitable a person, as it appeared to me, that we declined to leave him (as he wished) in the room to take the necessary measurements, and as a matter of fact the measurements were taken by the emperor, [Sir James] Reid, and myself, under the direction of the man, who stood by and told us exactly what he wanted. It was altogether a curious scene.”

A fight also broke out between Henry Fitzalan-Howard, 15th Duke of Norfolk and Edward Hyde Villiers, Lord Chamberlain—over who had the royal right to arrange the funeral. The Duke of Norfolk, also the earl marshal, prevailed (the present earl marshal, Edward Fitzalan-Howard, 18th Duke of Norfolk, is currently arranging the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II), causing bad blood between the two camps. “The Lord Chamberlain is very sorry, and is likely to decline to give assistance,” one contemporary noted, per Richards. “Indeed, it will be lucky if these two ceremonial dignitaries don’t come to loggerheads.”

The Duke of Norfolk luckily had some guidance. Three years before her death, Queen Victoria had written that she wanted a state funeral with military honors—the same template royal funerals follow to this day. She wanted it done “with respect— but simply.” Curiously, for a woman obsessed with death and mourning—who had worn black for decades in honor of her beloved husband Prince Albert’s early death—Victoria requested a white funeral, with no public lying in state and no hearse to carry her coffin.

By Eve Batey

By Jack McCordick

However, although the queen requested that her coffin be draped in white, she expected all of England to go into deep mourning. While this meant simple black clothes for working-class and middle-class Britons, what was expected of the royal family was unknown.

“There was great consternation and bewilderment in the Lord Chamberlain’s office, as well as in the royal family, as to what was the correct mourning for the sovereign,” the queen’s granddaughter Princess Marie Louise of Schleswig-Holstein recalled . “It was 64 years since such a tragic event had taken place. No one knew what should be worn; old prints and pictures of long ago were studied to see how to bring up to date and modernize the cumbersome trappings of mourning.”

But there were some aspects of Victoria’s final departure that she kept hidden from her family. According to Victoria: The Queen by Julia Baird, Victoria, who loved romantic mementos and gothic mystery, had left instructions for her trusted servants that were for their eyes only. It was an insanely long list of items she wanted buried with her, including rings and myriad photos of family members and her controversial low-born servant, John Brown. Baird writes:

She…asked for the cast of Albert’s hand, which she had always kept near her, to be put in her coffin…She wanted one of Albert’s handkerchiefs and cloaks, a shawl made by Alice, and…a pocket handkerchief of “my faithful Brown, that friend who was more devoted to me than anyone, to be laid on me.” The royal family, who would soon set about destroying all record of the broad-shouldered Scot, was shielded from this sight. Dr. Reid was instructed to wrap her hand in gauze after placing Brown’s hair in it, then flowers were discreetly arranged over the gauze.

And so Reid, the queen’s private doctor, set to work with Victoria’s trusted servants to hide her treasures in her custom coffin. “I had a talk with Mrs. Tuck, who, the night before, had read me the queen’s instructions about what the queen had ordered her to put in the coffin, some of which none of the family were to see, and as she could not carry out Her Majesty’s wishes without my help, she asked me to cooperate,” he wrote . Some of the most sensitive items were hidden under a cushion in the coffin, making them invisible to her family’s prying eyes.

Meanwhile, Ponsonby, who seems to have actually carried the main load of planning the events, had rushed into London, where he found “absolute chaos.” There was infighting over which regiments and households had control over which aspects of the state funeral, and as the city buzzed with mourners, plans were made with breakneck speed.

However, on the Isle of Wight, all was peaceful, the sun unusually cheerful and bright. On February 1, the queen’s body, accompanied by the royal family, was transported to the royal yacht Alberta, with crowds gathering to pay their respects. The small yacht was escorted by 40 British warships as their guns were fired in her honor and Chopin’s funeral march was played on every ship. One newspaper reported :

Hardly less solemn and striking than yesterday’s great historic naval pageant was the night vigil on board the funeral barge, where the late queen may almost be said to have lain in state upon the bosom of the waters over which till a few hours ago she held such regal sway. The coffin was guarded all night by trusty Marines…Outside the basin lay the Victoria and Albert, with the king and other royal mourners on board…beyond them the long array of warships, forming a glittering lane, scintillating with myriads of lights, and extending, as far as the eye could reach, across the still, dark waters of the Solent.

In London, the city prepared for the procession of the queen’s tiny yet wide coffin, draped in white satin atop a military gun carriage pulled by white horses. According to Richards, in the London neighborhood of Piccadilly, spectators paid top dollar to get a glimpse of the royal procession as it traveled the three miles from Victoria station to the train station of the Great Western in Paddington, which would take the queen to Windsor.

“All the seats of a balcony fronting the first-floor windows were let at 25 guineas,” Richards writes. “Only one place, in the far corner of the balcony, was unengaged, and that could be had for 15 guineas. When it was asked whether breakfast was included, the answer was that everyone must bring his own morning meal. It was mentioned also that £500 had been paid for front rooms in a neighboring hotel.”

On February 2, despite the pouring rain, all of London seemed to turn out, with author Henry James noting the “incredibly and immeasurably vast” sea of mourners. In a first, Pathé cameramen were on the scene , recording the parade of soldiers, royals, mourners, and government officials as they marched to the station with the queen’s funeral cortege. Although 33,000 soldiers were in the city, more than 1,000 spectators were injured in the rush to see this most solemn of parades.

After a short train ride to Windsor, the funeral party began the procession on horseback and foot to St. George’s Chapel for the queen’s state funeral. But a calamity occurred when the freezing horses pulling the gun carriage carrying the queen’s coffin broke free, sprinting off and leaving the gun carriage and the queen in the dust. “I had contemplated all sorts of things going wrong,” the exhausted Ponsonby wrote, “but such a mishap had never occurred to me.”

According to British Heritage Travel , none other than Prince Louis of Battenberg (the grandfather of Prince Philip) saved the day when he had the ingenious idea of having 138 naval guards drag the carriage to the chapel with ropes (now a royal tradition). According to Victoria’s granddaughter Princess Alice, members of the Royal Artillery, in charge of the offending horses, "were furious…humiliated beyond words."

This mishap apparently slowed the procession to the chapel, and those waiting for the funeral to begin at St. George’s Chapel were restless. “You could hear a band in the distance, but nothing was happening,” one guest recalled, per Richards. “Then Queen Alexandra came tearing out, looking this way and that way, before Clarendon persuaded her to go back into the chapel.”

Finally the funeral party arrived. The solemn service, attended by the kings of the United Kingdom, Germany, Portugal, and Greece, and the future kings of Denmark and Sweden, went on with relatively few mishaps (other than some seating mistakes). The Duke of Argyll recalled:

Glorious music, beloved by the queen, rose from organ and choristers. The white coffin, with its gleaming crown and orbs, was lifted on to the bier above the throng standing around it. The words of hope and peace and faith of the burial service were said; the herald proclaimed the departure of one mighty sovereign and the accession of King Edward VII, and then gradually the mourners left, and the banners in gorgeous array above the dark carved pinnacles of the chancel walls drooped alone over the guardsmen, who, in their bearskins and with arms reversed, remained to watch over the dead.

But Ponsonby’s torture was not yet over. Humiliated by the horses breaking free from his mother’s carriage, King Edward VII told Ponsonby that if there were a similar mishap during his mother’s burial on February 4, he would never speak to him again. According to Richards, to forestall another embarrassment, a rehearsal was held at 11 p.m. the night before the burial, with horses and soldiers practicing by bearing a weighted stunt coffin to the queen’s final resting place at the Royal Mausoleum, Frogmore in Windsor.

The next day Queen Victoria was laid to rest next to her beloved Albert at the Royal Mausoleum. Shockingly, a mentally ill soldier who had sneaked onto the grounds somehow made his way into the service and had to be escorted away by Ponsonby. However, the scene turned poignant after the simple service was over. “As her family closed the doors to the marbled grave, the sleet falling outside turned to snow, which brought stillness, silence, and the white funeral Victoria had always dreamed of,” Baird writes. “Her coffin was draped with white, the horses drawing her coffin were white, and the marble of her grave was white.”

One hopes Sir Frederick Ponsonby got a good night’s sleep.

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HMY Alberta Entering Portsmouth Harbour with the Body of Queen Victoria, 1 February 1901

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Victorian Calendar

Wednesday, august 3, 2011, august 18, 1875 --- the wreck of the mistletoe.

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Royal Yacht HMS Alberta

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Royal Yacht HMS Alberta 

The Royal Yacht HMS Alberta happens to occupy a special place in UK’s maritime history. The legendary HMS was a royal paddle yacht, launched at Pembroke, Wales in 1863. The yacht was an impressive paddler and garnered attention for its ease of manoeuvrability. It was especially built for short voyages of Queen Victoria. The HMS Alberta weighed nearly 370 tonnes. The ship impressed with its power – a brutal 1200 horsepower mated to a 13 knot speed. The length, beam, and draught of the ship were 160ft, 22ft, and 8ft respectively – dimensions which underline the fact that the HMS Alberta was a game-changer during its era.

On 22nd January 1901 when Queen Alexandrina Victoria died, this royal ship was used to carry her body from the Isle of Wight to Portsmouth, Hampshire for her last rites. The late Queen had gone to the Isle during the Christmas season after the death of her husband. Eventually, the royal yacht was dismantled in 1912 at Portsmouth. Today, the historic ship is a subject of interesting maritime history, held sacred by nautical experts. It happens to engage a lot of attention among ship model collectors and historians. The heritage ship also makes its presence felt at the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich, London.

Details of the model ship:

• · Hand painted hull with a customized option of antique wax hull
• · The option of rolled down sails is available
• · Personalized nameplate option available for this model if you don’t prefer a standard nameplate
• · Light coloured deck
• · Names can also be added on the ship model
• · This model ship is a delightful way to show off a growing collection of interesting, heritage ships. The Royal Yacht HMS Alberta has a tale to tell – a definite conversation-starter
• · The expertise of our nautical experts is visible in the quality of craftsmanship. Aura of the original HMS Alberta ship is recreated despite a scaled-down model. Professional expertise is visible in every corner, angle, and nook of the model
• · The royal yacht is an excellent gifting proposition for a friend or relative, also a great housewarming gifting proposition. Compacts-sized model means you can place it anywhere – the model of the HMS Alberta does not need much space

Showcase this Royal Yacht HMS Alberta model in the living room for a perennial conversation starter. We blend nautical expertise, artisan-like approach and the latest technology to ensure that every bit of the ship model is rendered with absolute precision. From recreating tug boats, wartime vessels to sleeker yachts that are currently engaging attention, we cover a wide range of model ships . Choose from our growing collection of historic, classical and modern sailing vessels

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How Royal Family’s Solent trip ended in tragedy

Author PAUL KENDALL – an Honorary Midshipman with the University of London Royal Naval Unit when he served on the Gunwarf-based P2000 patrol craft HMS Puncher in the early 1990s  and who has fond memories of Portsmouth and Gosport – provides a riveting extract from his new book, Queen Victoria: Her Life & Legacy…  

THE illustrated biography tells the story of Queen Victoria’s life and legacy, through locations and objects, including a chapter on the day the Royal Steam Yacht Alberta collided with the yacht Mistletoe .

On August 18, 1875, Victoria, accompanied by Princess Beatrice and Prince Leopold, began their journey to Balmoral when they boarded the Alberta  at Osborne House around 6pm and steamed towards Clarence Victualling Yard at Gosport, escorted by the Royal Yacht Victoria and Albert .

The Queen’s nephew, Ernst Leopold, Prince of Leiningen, commanded the  Alberta . The routine 40-minute crossing was interrupted when the Alberta  collided with the  Mistletoe  owned by Manchester banker Edward Heywood.

Some of the yachts in the Solent sailed close to the  Alberta  in the hope that those on board could get a glimpse of the Queen. A seaman named Brown was just about to dip the ensign on the Mistletoe  to salute the Queen when the  Alberta , steaming at 14 knots, struck the  Mistletoe  along the starboard side abreast the mainmast, close to Stokes Bay.

A number of the crew from the  Alberta  and  Victoria and Albert leapt into the Solent to rescue the occupants of the  Mistletoe  that were thrown overboard by the collision.

The  Alberta  had cut the  Mistletoe  in two and she sank within three minutes. In total, three lives were lost, including the master, Thomas Stokes, and Annie Peel (Heywood’s sister-in-law), as a result of the collision. The owner of the Mistletoe , Mr Heywood, was recovered from the sea. Despite being shaken and traumatised by the experience, Victoria and her entourage continued their journey to Balmoral.

The incident caused consternation amongst the yachting community in the Solent, who believed that the Prince of Leiningen had been responsible for this catastrophic accident, however, the Admiralty refused to try the prince by court martial. Instead, his navigating officer was found to be responsible, which caused a public outcry.

It was further inflamed when General Sir Henry Ponsonby, the Queen’s Private Secretary, on behalf of the Queen, sent a letter to the Marquis of Exeter, president of the Cowes Yacht Club, instructing all its members not to approach the Royal Yacht too closely when the sovereign was aboard.

The yachtsmen interpreted this letter as the Queen trying to exonerate her officers and demonstrating that the officers commanding the royal yachts disregarded the navigational rules of the road.

Two coroners’ inquests were held regarding the collision. The first jury could not reach a conclusion,while the second jury brought a verdict of accidental death, condemning the officers aboard Alberta  for steaming too fast and for not maintaining a proper lookout. However, the officers aboard  Alberta  received no punishment.

The  Alberta  played a prominent role in the funeral of Victoria when her body was transferred from Osborne House to the mainland. Her coffin was placed aboard the yacht on February 1, 1901, beneath a canopy upon the aft deck. The  Alberta  led a procession through the Solent where the Royal Naval Fleet lay anchored and she received a gun salute as she passed each ship.

All available warships from the Channel Squadron were ordered to assemble at Spithead so that the transporting of the Queen’s coffin across the Solent would make the occasion into an imposing naval display. The British fleet was joined by a squadron of German warships commanded by Prince Henry of Prussia. They formed two lines in the Solent as Alberta steamed between these lines of warships, which fired guns while her body was conveyed across.

The Queen’s coffin remained aboard Alberta for the night at Gosport’s Royal Clarence Yard, where the Royal Marines Light Infantry provided a vigil.

After a short service on February 2, 1901, the coffin was transferred to a train waiting at the private station in Royal Clarence Yard, which was frequently used by Victoria during her lifetime when travelling between London and Osborne House. The train transported the coffin and the Royal Family, including Edward VII and Kaiser Wilhelm II, to Victoria Station, arriving at 10.51 am.

The coffin remained aboard  Alberta  at Gosport overnight before it was conveyed to London for the funeral service the following day.

Edward VII continued to use the  Alberta  until she was broken up in 1913. The deckhouse was retained and brought to Osborne House for display in the 1970s.

Queen Victoria: her Life & Legacy will be published in harback by Frontline Books on February 28, 2022, at a recommended retail price of £25. A £5 discount is available if the book is ordered in advance, using the link https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Queen-Victoria-Hardback/p/20533

PICTURED: An illustration of Royal Steam Yacht Alberta carrying the coffin of Queen Victoria into Portsmouth Harbour. Image courtesy of the author, Paul Kendall

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