WATERCOLOURS once owned by Queen Victoria are to go on display in the region next spring.

The Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle is one of just four venues in the UK – and the only one in the North of England – to stage Queen Victoria in Paris.

The pictures, on loan from the Royal Collection, were commissioned by Victoria as a souvenir of her state visit in August, 1855.

They provide a fascinating record of the opulence, pomp and pageantry surrounding the trip.

Accompanied by Prince Albert and their eldest children, Victoria and Albert Edward – later King Edward VII – her visit marked a turning point in Anglo-French relations, strained since the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo 40 years earlier.

Bonaparte’s nephew, Napoleon III, and his wife the Empress Eugenie, were keen to reconcile France with Britain and visited Windsor Castle in the spring of 1855 at the suggestion of Prince Albert. Initially mistrustful, Victoria was captivated and delighted to accept a reciprocal invitation to Paris.

The royal visit coincided with the Exposition Universelle, the international exhibition of fine arts and industry modelled on Prince Albert's Great Exhibition at London’s Crystal Palace in 1851.

Cheering crowds greeted the Victoria during her packed schedule of engagements interspersed with entertainments.

It was during this period that John and Josephine Bowes were living in Paris and forming the collection that became the Bowes Museum. It is likely the couple attended some of the festivities.

As well as being politically significant, the visit was exciting for Victoria, who delighted at completing a carriage tour of Paris incognito wearing a black veil.

In her diary she recorded the "never to be forgotten week", boasting of "the closest alliance which has almost ever existed between two great, independent nations".

Victoria was a passionate collector of watercolours. Paintings in the exhibition were either commissioned by the Queen or presented as gifts by the artists as a souvenir of her visit.

Victoria was also herself a keen watercolourist and three of her works made during the Paris tour are included in the exhibition, which opens on March 24 and runs until June 24. Complementary events will be detailed on the website at thebowesmuseum.org.uk.

The first is a talk by Rosie Razzall, curator of prints and drawings at the Royal Collection Trust, entitled Queen Victoria, Napoleon III and the Events of 1855, on May 15, at 2.30pm.

The Royal Collection is one of the largest and most important art collections in the world, and one of the last European royal collections to remain intact. It is held in trust for British monarchs and the nation, and is not personally owned by The Queen.

Works and objects are displayed at The Queen’s Galleries in London and Edinburgh in temporary exhibitions as well as at royal residences and former residences across the UK.