Detail of reliefs from Parthenon on loose block laid on wooden sleepers. Depicting 3 seated figures in profile facing right, draped in togas.

In November 1868, Prince Albert Edward and Princess Alexandra of Wales embarked on HMS Ariadne for a 7 month tour, during which the royal couple travelled along the Nile and visited the antiquities of Egypt prior to inspecting the newly constructed Suez Canal. The Prince and Princess also visited Constantinople (now Istanbul), the battlefields of the Crimea and Greece where they were hosted by Princess Alexandra's brother, King George I of Greece (1845-1913) before returning to London in May 1869. The expedition was organised by the Duke of Sutherland and travelling with the royal couple was the naturalist Richard Owen, the explorer Sir Samuel Baker and The Times journalist WH Russell who subsequently produced a written account of the voyage comprising two volumes.