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

Lady Mary Anne Cust (c.1863)

c.1861

Albumen print | 8.6 x 5.7 cm (image) | RCIN 2910800

Photograph of a full length portrait of Lady Mary Anne Cust (c.1863) standing, facing three-quarters to the left. She gazes ahead, away from the camera. She holds a stuffed bird in her left hand and places her right hand on a plinth.

Cust was Woman of the Bedchamber to Prince Victoria, Duchess of Kent.

  • Creator(s)

    Unknown Person (photographer)

    Subject(s)

    Mary Anne Cust (c.1863)

  • annotation: Lady Cust. [beneath work]

  • 8.6 x 5.7 cm (image)

    9.6 x 6.1 cm (mount)

    23.1 x 18.0 cm (page dimensions)

  • Acquired by Prince Albert

  • Object type(s)
      • visual works
        • albums
          • photograph albums
        • photographs
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