GEORGE V

The Prince of Wales, and his brother, Prince Albert Victor, had entered the navy in 1877, and by 1879 it had been decided by the Royal Family and the Government that the two should undertake a cruise. They were assigned to HMS Bacchante, which was then part of a squadron intended to patrol the sea lanes of the British Empire, and the Princes, with their tutor John Neale Dalton, went aboard on 17th September 1879. The Bacchante was to be their home for the next three years. When they returned to Britain, the Queen complained that her grandsons could not speak French or German, and so they spent six months in Lausanne in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to learn another language. After Lausanne, the brothers were separated; Albert Victor attended Trinity College, Cambridge, while George continued in the Royal Navy. He travelled the world, visiting many areas of the British Empire. During his naval career he commanded Torpedo Boat 79 in home waters in 1889, then HMS Thrush on the North America and West Indies Station. His last active service was in command of HMS Melampus in 1891–1892. From then on, his naval rank was largely honorary.W. & D. Downey were Victorian studio photographers operating in London from the 1860s to the 1910s.