The Queen may be the first monarch for whom travel on a worldwide scale is an important duty, but earlier monarchs did journey overseas for various reasons.
 
Since the Norman, Angevin and Plantagenet kings ruled over parts of France as well as England, they travelled backwards and forwards between their kingdoms. Regular visits were the only way to ensure the loyalty of their subjects.

Henry II, who was Duke of Normandy, Count of Anjou, Count of Tourraine and Duke of Aquitaine as well as King of England in the 12th century, spent 21 of his 35 years as king away from England, travelling from one part of his kingdom to another.

His son, Richard I, spent even less time in England - only six months in his 10-year reign. Inspired by the cruasading fever of the age, he ventured as far as the Middle East, joining forces with Philip of France in 1190 to drive the Moslem leader Saladin from the Holy Land in the Third Crusade. In 1192 the crusaders stopped short of Jerusalem, signing peace instead of capturing the city. On his way home in 1193 Richard I was taken prisoner by the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry VI, and held in Germany until a ransom was paid.

One of the earliest State visits in the modern sense was the visit by Henry VIII to the Field of the Cloth of Gold near Calais in 1520. It was a three-week peacetime meeting between Henry and François I of France to put a seal on a new treaty of friendship between their countries. The visit comprised displays of culture and wealth, sporting competitions and jousts, followed by sumptuous banquets.

But the expense, danger and slowness of transportation meant that State visits as we know them did not become a regular occurrence until the 20th century.

Queen Victoria saw little of the enormous British Empire, although she did travel in Europe on holiday and visiting relatives. She also sent her son, Prince Albert Edward, to India and Canada. He developed a love of travel, also visiting the US, as well as much of Europe.

As king, Edward VII became one of the first monarchs to conduct State visits as a regular duty. He undertook visits throughout Europe, meeting every crowned head in Europe except Serbia and Romania. In 1908 Edward became the first British king to visit Russia, arriving in the yacht Victoria and Albert for a State visit to Czar Nicholas II.

Edward VII's son George V was not fond of travelling, but did become the first monarch to visit India, in 1911, being installed as King-Emperor at a spectacular durbar in Delhi.

Royal travel as we know it today really began with the advent of flight. The Duke of Windsor, later Edward VIII, pioneered Royal flying, learning to fly in the 1920s. In 1931, during a tour of South America, he made a number of short flights to get around, laying the way for the future of Royal travel.

King George VI in 1939 made several overseas trips during his wartime reign, including a highly successful State visit to France in 1938, and became the first reigning monarch to travel to Canada and America. He had already visited Australia and New Zealand as Duke of York in 1927, shortly after the birth of his daughter Princess Elizabeth. The journey, on board the battleship Renown, took nearly two months. In 2002 his daughter made the same flight in a matter of hours.