A watercolour scene set in the quadrangle at Windsor Castle, with the Round Tower in the background; onlookers watch as the royal party prepare to depart the castle for a ride in a bright blue char-à-bancs. Signed and dated bottom right corner: Joseph Nash / 1844.

In October 1844, Louis-Philippe, King of the French, stayed at Windsor as the guest of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in a reciprocal visit following the British royal couple's sojurn at the Château d'Eu (Louis-Philippe's residence in Normandy) the previous year (see, for example, RCIN 919998). This was the first time a reigning French King had visited England since the fourteenth century. A number of events took place during Louis-Philippe's stay, including a State Banquet (RCIN 919790) and the King's investiture as a member of the Order of the Garter (RCIN 919793). Victoria and Albert also went on a number of excursions with their guest, who lived in England for some years during his exile at the beginning of the nineteenth century. On 10 October, they visited Claremont, home of Victoria's uncle and Louis-Philippe's son-in-law Leopold, King of the Belgians, Hampton Court to look at the painting collection there and then also the house at Twickenham in which Louis-Philippe lived for nearly ten years. Victoria described in her journal that they "drove out in Char-à-bancs, the King & I, sitting in front, which reminded us so much of the time at Eu". Louis-Philippe had sent a char-à-bancs over to England as a present for the Queen after she admired the carriages in France.

Having already made a number of watercolour sketches for Victoria and Albert of the visit of the Emperor of Russia earlier in the year, Nash was again commissioned to record events from the visit of Louis-Philippe. Scenes of the State Banquet, the presentation of the two eldest royal children to Louis-Philippe (RCIN 919792) and Victoria and the French King entering St George's Hall for the Garter Banquet, held on 11 October (RCIN 919791), are in the Royal Collection along with this watercolour. Three of the four works, including this one, were mounted by Victoria and Albert in View Album II. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert compiled nine View Albums during their marriage. These albums contained watercolours and drawings documenting their life together and were arranged in chronological order. The albums were dismantled in the early twentieth century and rebound in new volumes both in a different arrangement and with additional items, but a written record of their original contents and arrangement still exists.

A version of this watercolour was reproduced as a lithograph by Nash in his publication Views of the Interior and Exterior of Windsor Castle (1848), which he dedicated to the Queen. The introduction states: "On the various occasions when the Continental Sovereigns were entertained by Her Majesty at Windsor Castle, Mr Nash had the honour of receiving Her Majesty's commands to make Drawings of the scenes illustrative of the state and ceremony which distinguish the Royal hospitality". As well as such narrative scenes, Nash's publication also included illustrations of rooms and spaces within the Castle (see, for example, RCIN 919781). A complete set of 26 watercolours, which are probably the final works on which the lithographs in the publication were based, iis in the collection of Anglesey Abbey (National Trust).