This website presents our knowledge and research on this important aspect of the Royal Collection. As of April 2026 it will not be regularly updated and new research on this topic will sit within the main website.

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Portraiture

Prince Albert was an early adopter of portrait photography

UNKNOWN PERSON

Friedrich III, German Emperor (1831-88) when Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia

1860

Albumen print | 8.6 x 5.3 cm (image) | RCIN 2907750

Photograph of Prince Friedrich Wilhelm standing, facing halfway to the left. He turns his head and looks towards the camera. He wears a Prussian military uniform. He holds a spiked helmet in his right hand and wears a sword by his left side. On the far right side of the photograph is an urn position on a pillar.

  • Creator(s)

    Unknown Person (photographer)

    Subject(s)

    Frederick III, German Emperor (1831-88)

  • annotation: [indecipherable] Wilhelm. 1860. [beneath work]

  • 8.6 x 5.3 cm (image)

    9.2 x 5.9 cm (mount)

    23.1 x 18.2 cm (page dimensions)

    24.3 x 19.8 x 5.5 cm (album)

  • Fritz Wilhelm, 1860. [Album: Photographs. Royal Portraits, vol.47]

  • Acquired by Prince Albert, the Prince Consort

  • Subject(s)
    • Science, Medicine and Technology
      • Engineering & Technology
        • Military engineering
          • Arms (weapons)
            • Side arms (weapons)
              • Swords
    Object type(s)
      • visual works
        • photographs
          • cartes-de-visite
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