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

AFTER ROGER FENTON (1819-69)

Victoria, the Princess Royal and Prince Arthur as 'Summer'

1854

Carbon print | 9.8 x 11.8 cm (image) | RCIN 2900025

Photograph of a full length double portrait of Victoria, the Princess Royal, later Empress of Germany (1840-1901) and Prince Arthur, later Duke of Connaught (1850-1942). The Princess Royal reclines on cushions. She holds a sickle in her right hand and raises her left hand to her head. She gazes upwards. Prince Arthur lies beside her, seemingly asleep. He wears a short tunic and there is a bundle of twigs to his right. The children are dressed as the embodiment of Summer for a Tableaux of the Seasons performed at Windsor.

  • Creator(s)

    After Roger Fenton (1819-69) (photographer)

    William Bambridge (1819-79) (photographer)

    Subject(s)

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

  • 9.8 x 11.8 cm (image)

  • Acquired by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert

  • Object type(s)
      • visual works
        • photographs
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