Denmark's Royal Yacht graces West India Dock

The finest ship so far to arrive at West India Dock for the Olympics is Dannebrog, the Danish royal yacht, on which Queen Margrethe and Prince Henrik are staying for the Olympics. Their son, crown prince Frederik, who is on the Danish Olympic committee, was already in town. He lives in Notting Hill where he had been one of the Olympic torch bearers. The 78-metre yacht was built in Copenhagen in 1932, taking some of her fixtures and furnishings from the previous royal yacht, a paddle steamer that had done service for more than 50 years.

• In 1863 Princess Alexandra of Denmark sailed from Antwerp to Gravesend on the British Royal Yacht to marry the Prince of Wales, later Edward VII. "Voyage into Womanhood" is one of the stories in Father Thames. Read it online here