77 years after her grandfather George III, Queen Victoria celebrated her own Golden Jubilee in 1887. After a long period of seclusion following the death of Prince Albert in 1861, Queen Victoria emerged to a series of presentations, dinners, balls, concerts and garden parties; she attended the opening of buildings and dedication ceremonies, naval reviews and exhibitions and took part in several progresses.

On 20 June, the day of her Jubilee, the queen took breakfast beneath the trees at Frogmore, near the mausoleum where Albert was buried, before travelling to Buckingham Palace by train and attending a banquet with fifty foreign kings and princes and the governing heads of Britain’s overseas colonies and dominions. She wrote in her journal:

Had a large family dinner. All the Royalties assembled in the Bow Room, and we dined in the Supper-room, which looked splendid with the buffet covered in gold plate… The Princes were all in uniform, and the Princesses were all beautifully dressed.

The following day, Queen Victoria travelled in an open landau to Westminster Abbey, accompanied by the Colonial Indian Cavalry. According to the author Mark Twain, the procession through London ‘stretched to the limit of sight in both directions’.

On her return to the Palace, she appeared on the balcony where she was cheered by huge crowds. In the evening she distributed Jubilee brooches to her family and received a long procession of diplomats and princes. The day ended with fireworks in the gardens.