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The personal passions and public causes of Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, are revealed, as photographs, prints and letters are published online today to mark the 200th anniversary of his birth
After Roger Fenton, Prince Albert, May 1854, 1889 copy of the original Queen Victoria commissioned a set of private family photographs to be taken by Roger Fenton at Buckingham Palace in May 1854, including a portrait of Albert gazing purposefully at the camera, his legs crossed, in front of a temporary backdrop that had been created.
Queen Victoria and Prince Albert
In a letter beginning ‘My dearest cousin’, written in June 1837, Albert congratulates Victoria on becoming Queen of England, wishing her reign to be long, happy and glorious.
Royal Archives / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2019
Queen Victoria kept volumes of reminiscences between 1840 and 1861. In these pages she describes how Prince Albert played with his young children, putting a napkin around their waist and swinging them backwards and forwards between his legs. The Queen also sketched the scenario (left) Royal Archives / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2019
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After Franz Xaver Winterhalter, Bracelet with photographs of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert’s nine children, 1854–7
This bracelet was given to Queen Victoria by Prince Albert for her birthday on 24 May 1854.
John Jabez Edwin Mayall, Frame with a photograph of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, 1860
In John Jabez Edwin Mayall’s portrait of 1860, the Queen stands dutifully at her seated husband’s side, her head bowed. This little-known version of the photograph, hand coloured and presented in a custom frame, was taken a year before Albert’s untimely death in 1861.
John Jabez Edwin Mayall, Mourning ring with a microphotograph of Prince Albert, c.1862
Prince Albert’s Public Role
Prince Albert’s speech at the meeting of The Society for the Extinction of the Slave Trade and for the Civilisation of Africa, 1 June 1840 On 1 June 1840, the 20-year-old Prince Albert addressed a crowd of over 5,000 people at Exeter Hall on the Strand, in his capacity as Presi- dent of The Society for the Extinction of the Slave Trade and for the Civilisation of Africa. Albert’s speech marked a pivotal moment in which a prominent member of the royal family had given their backing to the abolition of slavery, a practice the Prince described as ‘the blackest stain upon civilised Europe’.
Royal Archives / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2019
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Patron of the Arts and the Great Exhibition
The Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 was established by a charter, signed and sealed by Queen Victoria, which gave royal consent for the endeavour. © Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851, 2019
Plan of the Kensington Gore estate, c.1853
The substantial profit generated by the Great Exhibition aided the purchase of land in South Kensington by the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851. Institutions including the Victoria & Albert Museum, the Science Museum, the Natural History Museum and the Royal Albert Hall were subsequently established and the area became known collectively as ‘Albertopolis’. A plan from 1853 showing expiry of existing leases illustrates the breadth of land included in the Royal Commission’s estate.
© Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851, 2019
Social Reform
Claude-Marie Ferrier, Model house for families, 1851
This model cottage was financed by Prince Albert in his capacity as President of the Society for Improving the Condition of the Labouring Classes. It was first shown in Hyde Park for the Great Exhibition, and then reconstructed in Kennington Park where it still stands today.
William Edward Kilburn, The Chartist Meeting on Kennington Common, 10 April 1848
Prince Albert’s concern for the working classes is reflected in his purchase of daguerreotypes of the Chartist meeting at Kennington Common. Albert later spoke at a Chartist meeting about the royal family’s sympathy and concern for the working classes.
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Patron of Photography
Dolamore & Bullock, A Polish lady, 1855 This photograph was purchased by Prince Albert after it was shown in the second exhibition of the Photographic Society in 1855. Prince Albert and Queen Victoria became Patrons of the Photographic Society shortly after its foundation in 1853. Albert supported research by the Society, including contributing £50 to investigate the causes of the fading of photographs.
Charles Clifford, Entrance to the Court of the Lions, Granada, 1858–62
This photograph is from a two volume set of albums T. Carr, ‘Interior of the Coliseum’, titled 'Photographic Souvenir of Spain' which was 1893 copy after an original of 1854 created under the patronage of Queen Victoria, the Prince Consort, the Queen and King of Spain, the Albert would have seen views such as this on Emperors of France, Russia and Austria, the Duc de the Grand Tour he undertook as a young Montpensier and others. Prince.
Raphael Collection
After Raphael, The Virgin and Child (‘The Colonna Madonna’), c.1853–76 Albert’s passion for photography was instrumental in the realisation of a vast and unique project begun in 1853, which was inspired by his admiration for the Italian Renaissance painter Raphael and sought to catalogue his work. The ‘Raphael Collection’ comprises over 5,000 prints and photographs of every work regarded in the mid-19th century as being by or after Raphael, including The Colonna Madonna, the Prince’s favourite Raphael painting.
Press Office, Royal Collection Trust, York House, St James’s Palace, London SW1A 1BQ T. +44 (0)20 7839 1377, [email protected], www.rct.uk
Domestic and Family Life
Roger Fenton, Queen Victoria with her four eldest children, 8 Feb 1854, c.1880 copy of original
This domestic and maternal portrait, taken by Roger Fenton in 1854, shows the Queen draped in a tartan shawl, a pair of scissors tied at her waist, and clutching Princess Alice tightly.
Frances Sally Day, Prince Alfred, later Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1844–1900), and Princess Beatrice (1857–1944), c.1859 In this photograph taken at Osborne House by Frances Sally Day, the first woman to photograph members of the royal family, Prince Alfred tends to his younger sibling Princess Beatrice who sits on his lap.
William Bambridge, The Royal Family at Osborne, 24 May 1859 This family portrait was taken on Queen Victoria’s birthday and featured in the third volume of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert's series of 'Portraits of Royal Children' albums. They compiled five such albums during their life together.
Leonida Caldesi, Princess Helena and Princess Louise, later Duchess of Argyll, 7 April 1859 In this photograph, also included in the third volume of ’Portraits of Royal Children’, the daughters of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert are dressed for a costume ball at Buckingham Palace.
Press Office, Royal Collection Trust, York House, St James’s Palace, London SW1A 1BQ T. +44 (0)20 7839 1377, [email protected], www.rct.uk
Unless otherwise specified, all images are to be credited to Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2019
For further information please contact the Royal Collection Trust Press Office, [email protected] or +44 (0)20 7839 1377.
Press Office, Royal Collection Trust, York House, St James’s Palace, London SW1A 1BQ T. +44 (0)20 7839 1377, [email protected], www.rct.uk