After the banquet and the toasts, he left for the naming ceremony. It had already been decided that the christening would be performed by Clarissa (1790–1868), wife of Philip John Miles (1773–1845) and mother of Bristol's MP, Philip William Skinner Miles (1816–1881), a director of the company. She stepped forward, grasped the champagne bottle and swung it towards the bows. Unfortunately the steam packet "Avon" had started to tow the ship into the harbour and the bottle fell about short of its target and dropped unbroken into the water. A second bottle was rapidly obtained and the Prince hurled it against the iron hull.