THE COURT.
On the 14th of April her majesty was safely delivered of a princess, her fifth daughter, and ninth child. The infant was baptized on the 16th of June. She was called Beatrice Mary Victoria Feodore. The sponsors were the Princess Royal, the Duchess of Kent, and Prince Frederick William of Prussia.
On the 5th of May, his Royal Highness Prince Albert opened the great exhibition of Art Treasures in Manchester.
On the 26th of June Prince Albert received the title of Prince Consort.
The 6th of August was signalized by a visit to the queen on the part of the Emperor and Empress of the French. The visit was paid at Osborne, and was generally believed to have been a political one, having for its object some agreement between the governments of England and France in reference to their general policy, which had for some time been so divergent.
Two ambassadors from Siam arrived in November, and attracted great notice.
The great event of the years 1857-8 to her majesty and the court was the marriage of the Princess Royal of England with the heir-presumptive to the Prussian throne. “A treaty” for this purpose was concluded between her majesty and the King of Prussia, which was signed at London on the 18th of January, 1857. The ratifications were exchanged in London on 18th of January, 1858. The solemnization of the marriage subsequently took place in the chapel of St. James’ Palace, exciting deep and universal interest among the people.