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.

Visit the Royal Collection

Portraiture

Prince Albert was an early adopter of portrait photography

ROGER FENTON (1819-69)

Victoria, Princess Royal and Prince Arthur as 'Summer'

c.1880 after an original of 10 Feb 1854

Carbon print | 12.8 x 15.8 cm (image) | RCIN 2900026

Photograph of Victoria, the Princess Royal, later Empress of Germany (1840-1901) reclining on cushions, her arms around the young Prince Arthur, later Duke of Connaught (1850-1942) who sits beside her. the Princess Royal wears a long, sleeveless gown, sandals and flowers in hair. Prince Arthur wears a short tunic and holds goblet in his right hand. The children are dressed as the embodiment of Summer for a Tableaux of the Seasons, performed at Windsor.

  • Creator(s)

    Roger Fenton (1819-69) (photographer)

    Subject(s)

    Empress Friedrich, German Empress and Queen of Prussia (1840-1901)
    Prince Arthur, 1st Duke of Connaught (1850-1942)

  • annotation: The Princess Royal & Prince Arthur/ as Summer in the Tableaux of the Seasons./ Windsor Castle. 10 Feb: 1854./ By Mr Fenton. [beneath work]

  • 12.8 x 15.8 cm (image)

  • Acquired by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert

  • Object type(s)
      • visual works
        • photographs
PreviousNext
PreviousNext
Policy links
Royal Collection TrustIn Partnership with

Royal Collection Trust is a charity caring for the Royal Collection and welcoming visitors to the royal palaces. We bring our shared history to life through world-class experiences that involve and inspire people, wherever they are. Income from tickets and retail sales helps us to conserve the Collection so that it can be enjoyed by everyone for generations to come.