Queen Charlotte's passage to England 1762 RCIN 403525

A View of the Storm when the Queen was on her passage to England, painted from a sketch drawn on board the Fubbes yacht. The vessel carrying Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz can be seen in the middle of the fleet with the Royal Standard flying at the main. Originally named the Royal Caroline, after George II’s wife, the yacht was renamed the Royal Charlotte before it set forth to collect the Princess from the north German town of Stade on 28 August 1761. It was accompanied by a flotilla under the command of Admiral Lord Anson, consisting of four other royal yachts escorted by six ships-of-war. The fleet weathered three severe storms before arriving in England on 6 September, and it was reported that the Princess, whose first sea journey it was, described the ocean as an ‘Element terrible’. The journey had been so rough that it was decided that the yacht should land at Harwich rather than travelling up the Thames to Greenwich as planned.
Signed and dated R: Wright Pinx