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NEW PUBLICATION

August 2013

The Royal Baby BBookookook:::: A Souvenir Album

The Royal Baby Book: A Souvenir Album Published by Trust Price £9.95, hardback 200 x 200 mm, 144 pages, over 250 colour illustrations ISBN 978-1-905686-84-1

The Royal Baby Book: A Souvenir Album is the official publication marking the arrival of His Royal Prince George of Cambridge. Published by Royal Collection Trust, it tells the story of seven heirs to the throne from to Prince William of through items from the Royal Collection, the and the private collections of members of the Royal Family. Intimate photographs and letters, favourite toys, prams and cots, and even the future King’s first pair of shoes shed light on the lives of these royal babies from birth and infancy to arrival at school. Many of the objects and documents are published here for the first time. The book concludes with photographs of the highly anticipated first public appearance of Prince George of Cambridge on the steps of St Mary’s Hospital.

Queen Victoria was born Victoria to the Duke and at at 4.15am on 24 May 1819. Her silver-gilt rattle, today in the Royal Collection, incorporates a coral teething stick, six bells and a whistle. It can be seen in the very first portrait of the future , painted by John Fischer in 1819. As a young child the Princess spent many hours playing with her dolls’ house and made over 100 outfits for her wooden dolls, several of which survive today.

Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert had nine children. Their first son, Prince Albert Edward, known as ‘Bertie’, the future King Edward VIIVII, was born on 9 November 1841. At the age of eight months Bertie received his first pair of shoes, made of soft blue velvet with button ankle ties. Some months later, Queen Victoria wrote in her journal of her son’s first steps, ‘the Baby walked so fast & strongly holding on to his Father by only one hand’. Victoria fastidiously recorded her children’s infancy and childhood. She kept their first teeth, including Bertie’s two front teeth, in a velvet-lined casket. Locks of hair from each child are preserved in the heart-shaped lockets of a bracelet given to Victoria by Prince Albert.

On 3 June 1865 Prince George of Wales, the future King King George VV, was born to Albert Edward, and Princess Alexandra (the future King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra) at in . At one month old, the Prince was christened in St George’s Chapel, . A velvet-covered copy of the ceremonial used for the service contains a hand-decorated sheet with a chorale written by his grandfather, Prince Albert. The book shows the infant’s first pair of booties, knitted in cream wool and decorated with pom-poms. The baby Prince’s rattle was a musical marotte – a

Press Office, Royal Collection Trust, York House, St James’s Palace, London SW1A 1BQ T. +44 (0)20 7839 1377, [email protected] , www.royalcollection.org.uk bisque doll’s head on a bone stick, dressed in a lavish costume to conceal a music box beneath. A hand-painted photograph shows the waving the marotte to settle her five-month-old son.

In 1892 Prince George was created and the following year married Princess Victoria (later King and Queen Mary). On 14 December 1895 at on the Sandringham Estate, their second son, Prince Albert, known to his family as ‘Bertie’, was born – he ascended to the throne in 1937 as King George VIVI. The infant Bertie was first photographed at one month old, and one of these photographs was pasted into his baby book by his mother. The appearance of his first tooth at seven months is also recorded, and Queen Mary continued to chart her son’s development until his 21st birthday in 1916.

Princess Elizabeth (HerHer Majesty The QueenQueen), the first child of the Duke and (formerly Lady Elizabeth Bowes Lyon), was born in the early hours of 21 April 1926 at No.17 Bruton Street. A page from the Princess’s ‘Progress Book’ notes that her length was ’20 inches’, her eyes ‘blue’ and her hair ‘fair and curly’. She was christened in the private chapel at on 29 May 1926, dressed in the christening robe made for Queen Victoria’s eldest child, Prince Albert Edward. The following year, Princess Elizabeth spent the summer at Glamis Castle in , visiting her maternal grandparents. Her mother noted, ‘Elizabeth is learning to walk – very dangerous!’ Throughout her childhood the Princess was photographed on numerous occasions by her parents. In one image she is seen playing with a toy horse, in another she sits on the pony given to her by her grandfather King George V to mark her fourth birthday.

Prince Charles of Edinburgh (HHHHisis RRRoyal Royal HHHighness Highness The Prince of WalesWales) was born to Princess Elizabeth and The at Buckingham Palace on the evening of 14 November 1948. The Prince was christened in the Palace’s Music Room by the in the same christening gown that his mother Princess Elizabeth had worn. Among the christening gifts was a set of miniature cutlery in a leather case embossed with the Prince’s name and initial. The book includes photographs of a number of toys given to Prince Charles throughout his childhood, from a cloth alphabet book to more elaborate playthings, such as a model train presented in cases made by Louis Vuitton. The train set replicated part of the Paris metro, including the station ‘George V’, renamed after the Prince’s great-grandfather in 1920.

Prince William of Wales was born to Their Royal The Prince and Princess of Wales on 21 June 1982 at St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington and was christened William Arthur Louis Philip in the Music Room at Buckingham Palace on 4 August. A watercolour painted by John Ward records the occasion and shows the Archbishop of Canterbury holding the Prince with his parents close by. Much of the Prince’s childhood was spent at Highgrove in , the country home of The Prince of Wales, where he was photographed riding his pony Smokey and playing ‘dress up’ in the uniform of the Parachute Regiment. In 2011 Prince William married Catherine Middleton at . On 22 July 2013, following royal tradition, the official announcement of the birth of a son to The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge was taken from St Mary’s Hospital and driven to Buckingham Palace, before being placed on an easel in the Palace forecourt.

The Royal Baby Book: A Souvenir Album is published by Royal CollecCollectiontion TrustTrust. It is available at £9.95 from www.royalcollection.org.uk/shop and from Royal Collection Trust shops in London and Edinburgh. It is also available from all good book shops at £14.95.

Press Office, Royal Collection Trust, York House, St James’s Palace, LondoLondonn SW1A 1BQ T. +44 (0)20 7839 1377, [email protected]@royalcollection.org.uk , www.royalcollection.org.uk

A selection of images is available from www.picselect.com .

For further informationinformation,,,, please contact the Royal Collection Trust Press OfOfficefice,fice , T. +44 (0)20 7839 1377, [email protected].

Notes to Editors

Royal ColCollectionlection TrustTrust, a department of the Royal Household, is responsible for the care of the Royal Collection and manages the public opening of the official residences of The Queen. Income generated from admissions and from associated commercial activities contributes directly to The Royal Collection Trust, a registered charity. The aims of The Trust are the care and conservation of the Royal Collection, and the promotion of access and enjoyment through exhibitions, publications, loans and educational programmes. Royal Collection Trust’s work is undertaken without public funding of any kind. www.royalcollection.org.uk

Press Office, Royal Collection Trust, York House, St James’s Palace, LondoLondonn SW1A 1BQ T. +44 (0)20 7839 1377, [email protected]@royalcollection.org.uk , www.royalcollection.org.uk