Mrs. Grey went to Copenhagen, and there writes in her journal at the beginning of 1869 the following sketch of the tour:—
“January 12.—Soon after breakfast I went to see my dear Princess, and to hear something of the proposed plans. I found her, as usual, most kind and affectionate, but very sorry that the few weeks she had been able to spend with her father and mother had come to an end. Her visit seemed to have been a great happiness to her. It is now arranged that we shall set out for our long journey on the 15th, and that while I accompany Her Royal Highness as her lady-in-waiting, Lady Carmarthen and Colonel Keppel, who accompanied the Prince and Princess from England in November, shall part from us at Hamburg, and, with Sir W. Knollys, take the Royal children home. The plan is for us to pass by Berlin and Vienna, and embark on board the Ariadne frigate, fitted as a yacht, at Trieste; sail from thence to Alexandria; and, after going up the Nile as far as the Second Cataract, to visit Constantinople, the Crimea, and Greece, before returning home somewhere about the beginning of May. Such is the plan made out for us, but it is, of course, open to many changes, as the political state of things between Greece and Turkey at the present moment may, after all, very possibly upset the latter part of the journey; and in that case we shall return home through Italy.”
King Edward and Queen Alexandra were joined at Trieste by Prince Louis of Battenberg, the Duke of Sutherland, Dr. (afterwards Sir) W. H. Russell, and other friends, together with their suite. There the Royal party embarked on board H.M.S. Ariadne, which had been specially fitted up for their reception. Of the accommodation in this vessel Mrs. Grey gives an attractive account:—
“The Ariadne, in reality a man-of-war, but for this occasion fitted up as a yacht, is most comfortable. The Prince and Princess have two large sleeping cabins, besides a large cabin for a sitting-room, and another for a dining-room. I have a charming cabin also, with a bath-room outside, and my maid next door to me. In short, I think we were all much pleased with the accommodation and arrangement of what is to be our home, while at sea, for the next four months.”
The travellers reached Alexandria on 3rd February 1869, and were met by the usual loyal greetings, addresses, and bouquets presented by the British residents. The party then went on to Cairo, where they were received by the Viceroy of Egypt and his ministers. Here the King and Queen were assigned a palace, which Mrs. Grey thus describes:—
“The Palace of Esbekieh is beautiful, full of French luxury, but without the real comfort of an English house. The Prince and Princess have an immense bedroom, full of rich French furniture. The beds are very beautiful, made of massive silver, and cost, I believe, £3000 each! My room is so large that even when the candles are lit, there might be somebody sitting at the other end of it without your knowing it. You could not even hear people speaking from one end to the other! It is as high as it is long, with nine large windows. There is a beautiful silver bed, a large divan (rather high and hard for comfort) round half of the room, a common writing-table and washhand-stand (put in all the rooms at the request of Sir S. Baker), a large sofa, and quantities of very smart chairs round the walls. The curtains and covers of the furniture are all made of the richest silk. Add to all this, one immense looking-glass, and you have the whole furniture of my room, which is more like a State drawing-room at Windsor than a bedroom. All the other rooms are furnished in the same way.”
Queen Alexandra and Mrs. Grey had an absolutely novel experience on 5th February, namely an invitation to dinner at the Harem of “La Grande Princesse,” the Viceroy’s mother.
The Queen, her lady-in-waiting, and two English ladies were received at the door of the Palace by la Grande Princesse, the second and third wife of the Viceroy (the first and fourth were not well), his eldest son, and two eldest daughters. La Grande Princesse took Queen Alexandra by the hand, while one of the wives handed Mrs. Grey, another Mrs. Stanton (wife of the British Consul), and one of the daughters Miss M’Lean; and so the party went in procession to an immense drawing-room, the whole way thither being lined with slaves. No stay, however, was made in the drawing-room, and what followed reads like a page out of the Arabian Nights.
The visitors were conducted straight to the dining-room, after having a cherry given them to eat, handed to them on a beautiful gold tray, with goblets and plates of gold and precious stones. A slave then offered each visitor a silver basin to wash their hands in before sitting down to dinner. In the middle of the room there was a kind of round silver table, about one foot high from the floor, looking more like a big tray than anything else; large square cushions were placed all round it, and the company sat down à la Turque round the table, la Grande Princesse having Queen Alexandra on her right, next whom was Mehemet Taafik Pasha, then the third Princess and Mrs. Grey, with the second Princess next, on the left side of the Viceroy’s mother. Mrs. Stanton and Miss M’Lean, with the two daughters of the Viceroy, dined in another room.