It was 175 years ago that Queen Victoria became the first British monarch to travel by rail.
It was an event remembered yesterday when Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh recreated the journey.
The Queen, looking lovely in an apricot coloured suit coat, with a floral print skirt sometimes showing, looked happy to be getting on board.
Queen Victoria travelled on a locomotive and described her journey in her diary on June 13, 1842. “It took us exactly 30 minutes going to Paddington, & the motion was very slight, & much easier than the carriage, also no dust or great heat – in fact, it was delightful and so quick,” she wrote.
The Queen and Duke made their trip from Slough to Paddington on a prototype intercity hybrid train that took just 19 minutes, slower and longer than usual, to take a different route to prevent disrupting the normal timetable. They were accompanied by descendants of Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Sir Daniel Gooch, who drove the original train.
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The British monarch spoke to fellow passengers, telling them of her love for trains, for making travel so easy. She also stopped to greet the primary school children who were gathered at the station to cheer the royals on their journey.