'The Procession of HM Queen Victoria in Trafalgar Square on her way to the Jubilee Thanksgiving Service at Westminster Abbey, 21 June 1887.'

Chromolithograph published by G W Bacon and Company, London, 1887.

On 20 June 1887 Queen Victoria marked the 50th anniversary of her accession to the throne. The following day she attended a service of thanksgiving at Westminster Abbey after being escorted there in an open carriage by Indian cavalry.

The procession went ahead despite the fact that the authorities had just uncovered a plot by Irish Republicans to assassinate the Queen alongside members of the Cabinet by detonating a bomb in the abbey.

Thousands of men from British, Indian and Imperial regiments took part in the procession or lined the route. Hordes of cheering onlookers were accommodated on terraced benches erected for the purpose.