The Royal Adelaide was a miniaturised version of the latest frigate, HMS Pique (1834) which had been designed by Sir William Symonds, the Chief Surveyor of the Navy.

[6] By 1862, the Royal Adelaide was becoming dilapidated and although the issue of replacement was raised, Queen Victoria stated that she should be retained in a "purely ornamental" condition and repairs were carried out accordingly.

A Royal Navy survey of 1877 advised that her timbers were unsound and consequently she was condemned to be broken-up,[6] but survived long enough to fire a salute on Victoria's forty-first accession day on 20 June 1878.

A three-quarter length figure, she represents Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, who became Queen consort of the United Kingdom and Hanover when her husband William IV ascended the throne in 1792.

[11] In this depiction, Queen Adelaide takes a form similar to Britannia - the female personification of Great Britain – with a trident in her left hand and flanked by two Union flag shaped shields.