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

    PRINCE ALBERT, PRINCE CONSORT (1819-61)

    Photographic Portraits Volume 1

    1853-57

    Leather and cloth bound album | 29.5 x 24.5 x 6.2 cm (album) | RCIN 2906500

    Album bound in half black morocco leather featuring photographic portraits (RCINs 2906501-2906640). The title is impressed in gilt on the spine and front cover. Many of the photographs are captioned by Queen Victoria (1819-1901). 

    The album includes photographs that were re-printed in carbon by Hughes and Mullins in the 1880s.

    • Creator(s)

      Prince Albert, Prince Consort (1819-61) (compiler)

      Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom (1819-1901) (compiler)

      Wilson & Hay (active 1853-55) (photographer)

      Lady Catherine Julia Vernon-Harcourt (1811-77) (photographer)

      George Washington Wilson (1823-93) (photographer)

      William Bambridge (photographer)

      Antoine François Jean Claudet (1797-1867) (photographer)

      John Jabez Edwin Mayall (1813-1901) (photographer)

      Leonida Caldesi (1823-91) (photographer)

      Thomas Richard Williams (1825-71) (photographer)

      Roger Fenton (1819-69) (photographer)

      Roger Fenton (1819-69) (photographer)

    • 29.5 x 24.5 x 6.2 cm (album)

    • Photographic Portraits. Vol 1/59 (1853-1857): album binding

    • Acquired by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert

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