'Queen Victoria with the Princess Royal, the Prince of Wales, Princess Alice, Princess Helena and Prince Alfred'

Glass plate negative of daguerreotype depicting a full-length group portrait of Queen Victoria and her five eldest children. The group are positioned, from right to left: Princess Alice, Prince Alfred, Princess Helena, Queen Victoria, Albert Edward, Prince of Wales and Victoria, Princess Royal. Queen Victoria is seated at the centre of the group with her face turned towards the right. She wears a bonnet, meaning her face is not visible. Princess Helena rests her head in her mother's lap.

A similar daguerreotype exists in the Royal Collection, in which Queen Victoria has scratched out her face, RCIN 2932491. She scratched out her face owing to her displeasure with her appearance. It is likely Queen Victoria adopted the pose shown in this photograph so as to avoid any further dissatisfaction.

The glass plate negative has been photographed showing the coated side and therefore the image appears laterally reversed. Although the daguerreotype does not seem to exist in the Collection, a print from this negative survives, RCIN 2106400.