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

GEORGE WASHINGTON WILSON (1823-93)

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

29 - 29 Sep 1855

Salted paper print | 20.0 x 15.4 cm (image) | RCIN 2906606

Photograph of a near-full length portrait of Prince Frederick William of Prussia (1831-88), later Friedrich III, Emperor of Germany, seated on a wooden chair, facing a quarter to the left. He turns his head towards the camera and gazes towards the right. He holds a cane in his right hand with a hat resting on his left arm. Photograph taken within the grounds at Balmoral.

Wilson took this portrait of Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia on the same day that he was commissioned to photograph Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and their children at Balmoral to mark the engagement of their eldest daughter, Princess Victoria, to Prince Friedrich. A miniature of Prince Frederick William, based on this portrait, is in the Royal Collection, RCIN 420531.  

  • Creator(s)

    George Washington Wilson (1823-93) (photographer)

    Subject(s)

    Frederick III, German Emperor (1831-88)

  • annotation: Pce Frederick Wm. of Prussia./ Sept: 29- 1855./ By [beneath photograph]

  • 20.0 x 15.4 cm (image)

    28.2 x 22.9 cm (page dimensions)

  • Prince Frederick William of Prussia, Sept 29 1855 [Photographic Portraits. Vol 1/59 (1853-1857)]

  • Acquired by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert

  • Subject(s)
    • Places
      • Europe
        • Great Britain
          • Scotland
            • Aberdeenshire [Scotland]
              • Balmoral Castle [Aberdeenshire]
    • Science, Medicine and Technology
      • Industries, Crafts and Trades
        • Travel Goods
          • Walking sticks
            • Canes
    Object type(s)
      • visual works
        • photographs
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