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.

Portraiture

Prince Albert was an early adopter of portrait photography

WILLIAM BAMBRIDGE (1820-79)

The Honourable Emily Sarah Cathcart (1834-1917)

Jan 1855

Salted paper print | 18.8 x 14.6 cm (image) | RCIN 2906616

Photograph of a full length portrait of Emily Cathcart (1834-1917) seated, facing slightly towards the left. She turns her head to the left, her face captured in profile. She wears a checked dress. She is seated at a small, cloth covered round table upon which she rests her right arm.
  • Creator(s)

    William Bambridge (1820-79) (photographer)

  • The Hon. Emily Cathcart/ Do [Ditto]

  • 18.8 x 14.6 cm (image)

    28.2 x 22.9 cm (page dimensions)

  • The Hon. Emily Cathcart, Jan 1855 [Photographic Portraits. Vol 1/59 (1853-1857)]

  • Acquired by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert