kingdom

From Wikipedia: At the end of her cable-laying career [1878] she was refitted once again as a liner but once again efforts to make her a commercial success failed. She was used as a showboat, a floating palace/concert hall and gymnasium. She acted as an advertising hoarding—sailing up and down the Mersey for Lewis's Department Store, who at this point were her owners, before being sold. The idea was to attract people to the store by using her as a floating visitor attraction. By the time she was sold piecemeal at auction in 1888 she had become an embarrassment.

Thank you for the photo. So sad to see her in that state.

From PortCities : Eventually, in 1885, the unwanted hulk was hired by Lewis's department store in Liverpool. The store wanted to use her as a music hall, fun fair and a giant advertising billboard. The tired old screw engines were coaxed into powering the ship to the River Mersey, where it was opened to the public at a shilling (5 pence) a head. After exhibition trips to Dublin and the River Clyde, which did not make much money at all, the Great Eastern returned to the River Mersey in 1888.

great photo and unusual end use!

From History of the Atlantic Cable & Undersea Communications : By the time the Great Eastern reached Liverpool the port side facing Birkenhead carried the slogan ‘LADIES SHOULD VISIT LEWIS’S BON MARCHE CHURCH STREET’, while on the starboard side facing Liverpool: Towards the stern: LEWIS’S ARE THE FRIENDS OF THE PEOPLE Lewis’s name was painted in 30 feet high letters. Towards the bows: RANELAGH STREET LEWIS’S BON MARCHE LIVERPOOL BASNETT STREET MANCHESTER, SHEFFIELD, BIRMINGHAM On the paddle box: THE BON MARCHE LIVERPOOL

AKA: MAry of Teck, Queen consort of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, as the wife of King-Emperor George V. By birth, she was a princess of Teck, in the Kingdom of Württemberg, with the style Serene Highness (Per Wiki).

So she would be the present queen's grandmother?

Yes. For about 3 years, England technically had 3 queens once Elizabeth II took the crown.

she was a very pretty lady

I dunno -- if this picture is current with the others, Queen Mary would have been about 50 yrs old by this time (and frankly, was never this pretty). I think the lady in the photo might be this one: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Somerset,_Duchess_of_Beaufort , who would have been Queen Mary's niece, and daughter of the Prince of Teck in the next photo.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Princess_Royal_(1911)

Princess Louise, Princess Royal, later Duchess of Fife - 1867-1931, 3rd child of Edward VII (son Queen Victoria) and Queen Alexandra. At launch of Princess Royal, a Lion Class Battlecruiser.