The Prince of Wales and Prince Alfred with their companions

Photograph showing Prince Albert Edward and Prince Alfred of Wales sitting on a bench (with wheels on one of the short sides and handles on the other) with eight male friends. One of the friends, Lord Arthur Clinton, sits on the bench between them. The others stand next to and behind the bench. Prince Alfred and at least one of the other children are wearing kilts.

Children from respectable families were sometimes invited to the royal residences as companions for the young Princes and Princesses. On 22 June 1854, Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, wrote in his diary that 'in the afternoon the 2 Farquarsons, the 2 Dawsons, Charlie Phipps, St Maur, Arthur Clinton came to play with us.'