A watercolour showing Emperor Napoleon III and Prince Albert riding along a street in Boulogne, surrounded by cheering crowds. Signed and dated at bottom: Geo. Thomas 1853. A pencil sketch of a carriage on the verso.

In September 1854 Prince Albert visited Boulogne at the invitation of Napoleon III, who the British had allied with - along with Turkey and Sardinia - in the Crimean War against Russia. It was suggested that Albert's visit to the military camp on the French coast would boost morale and provide a visible demonstration of the solidarity between France and Britain. It was also the first time Albert and the Emperor met, and he dictated a long memo after the visit regarding his host. The following year, the Emperor and his wife made a State Visit to England (see, for example, RCIN 919799) and Victoria and Albert then travelled to Paris (RCIN 920059).

This watercolour was given by Albert, along with two others (see RCINs 920049 and 920051), to Victoria as a present for Christmas 1854. The couple mounted two of the three works in View Album VI. 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.