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

Photographic portraits Volumes I - III

      Within Prince Albert’s (1819-61) collection of photographs are three albums dedicated to capturing and documenting portraits of a wide range of individuals significant to the royal couple. In addition to portraits of Prince Albert and his family, the albums feature portraits of, among many others, the painter Carl Haag (1820-1915), Ernest, Prince of Leiningen (1830-1904), Maharajah Duleep Singh (1838-93), Baron Stockmar (1787-1863), Napoleon III (1808-73), Sarah Forbes Bonetta (1843-80), royal household staff, including the jäger, John MacDonald (d.1860), and their children.

      With the exception of chronology, there does not appear to be an organisational or hierarchical structure to the albums. The relatively random organisation instead provides an insight into the individuals the royal couple knew and admired.

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