'Queen Victoria and Prince Albert'

Glass plate negative featuring four views of William Theed's sculpture of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert created in 1867 (RCIN 60778). They royal couple appears full length in Saxon dress, standing. The work is placed on a hexagonal pedestal made from an antique African marble from Rome and it bears the inscription ‘Allured to brighter worlds, and led the way’ from the poem ‘The Deserted Village’ by Oliver Goldsmith (1730-1774).

This marble group was commissioned after the death of the Prince Consort in December 1861 and according to Queen Victoria’s diary the idea came from her oldest daughter Victoria, the Princess Royal.

The group was moved to the Royal Mausoleum in 1938.

The glass plate negative has been photographed showing the coated side and therefore the image appears laterally reversed. Prints form this negative do not seem to exist in the Collection.