"Bretagne" took part in the naval parade given in honour of Queen Victoria by Napoléon III in Cherbourg Roads on 5 August 1858. The French Emperor intended to prove to the British that the recent improvements to Cherbourg military harbour were not meant as a threat to Great Britain, and invited the British monarch, Prince Albert and a large British delegation to visit the installations, as a token of good faith. The visit was counter-productive, as the display of power of the French fleet, compounded by bouts of diplomatic clumsiness such as inaugurating an equestrian statue of Napoléon I, irritated and worried the British. After the British delegation departed in haste, "Bretagne" took the French Emperor and Empress aboard and ferried them to Brest for the next leg of their official tour.