Prince Albert was an early adopter of portrait photography
Family portraits
From the 1850s, Prince Albert (1819-61) and Queen Victoria (1819-1901) employed and commissioned photographers on a regular basis to document important familial occasions and daily life. The photographers regularly employed include Roger Fenton (1819-69), Leonida Caldesi (1822-91) and Dr Ernst Becker (1826-88). Initially, these portraits were purely for private consumption. However, the royal family quickly realised the possibilities of the new medium to promote and disperse an image of the royal family, and forge a greater connection with the population. In 1857, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert gave permission for a portrait of the royal family, taken by Caldesi in Osborne, to be published as an etching. The following year the photograph was displayed at the Photographic Society of Scotland exhibition in Edinburgh, the first time a portrait of the royal family was exhibited. Two years later, in 1860, Queen Victoria gave permission to J J Mayall (1813-1901) to publish and sell photographs of her and Prince Albert as cartes-de-visite. The photographs were a sensation. For the first time, the public could own a realistic, photographic image of their sovereign. Understandably, the cartes sold in the thousands.
The photographs of the royal family commissioned and collected by Prince Albert and Queen Victoria provides a sense of their personal life, in addition to their use of photography to present a public image.
Conrad HR Carelli (1869-1956)
Blue Velvet Album of Hand-Coloured photographs
William Henry Fox Talbot (1800-77)
Portraits, Vol.1
Dr Ernst Becker (1826-88)
Photograph album featuring Victoria, Duchess of Kent and her family
Camille Silvy (1834-1910)
Folding portfolio containing portraits of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert
William Edward Kilburn (1818-91)
Prince Albert (1819-1861)
William Edward Kilburn (1818-91)
Prince Albert (1819-1861)
William Constable (1783-1861)
Prince Albert (1819-1861)
Bryan Edward Duppa (1804-66)
Prince Albert (1819-1861)
Jenner & Knewstub, (33 St. Jame's St)
Prince Albert (1819-61)
After William Constable (1783-1861)
Prince Albert (1819-61)
After William Constable (1783-1861)
Prince Albert (1819-61)
John Jabez Edwin Mayall (1813-1901)
Frame with a photograph of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert
Antoine François Jean Claudet (1797-1867)
Queen Victoria (1819-1901)
After Sir William Ross (1794-1860)
Four daguerreotype portraits of Queen Victoria; Prince Albert; Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha; Albert Edward, Prince of Wales
William Edward Kilburn (1818-91)
Queen Victoria with the Princess Royal, the Prince of Wales, Princess Alice, Princess Helena and Prince Alfred
Antoine François Jean Claudet (1797-1867)
Queen Victoria, the Prince of Wales, Princess Alice and the Duchess of Gloucester at Gloucester House, 1856
Theodore Brunell (1822-61)
The Princess Royal and Princess Alice
Theodore Brunell (1822-61)
The Prince of Wales and Prince Alfred
Thomas Richard Williams (1825-71)
Victoria, Princess Royal, later Empress of Germany (1840-1901)
West : 1 St. James's Street
Frame with an enamel of Prince Albert (1819-61)
West : 1 St. James's Street
Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1784-1844)
West : 1 St. James's Street
Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (1784-1844)
Unknown Person
Ernest I, Duke of Saxe Coburg and Gotha (1784-1844)
Charles Clifford (1819-62)
Frame containing photograph of Queen Victoria
Samuel Robert Lock (active 1849-1854)
Victoria, Princess Royal (1840-1901)
British School, 19th century
Princess Beatrice (1857-1944)
British School, 19th century
William II, Emperor of Germany, when Prince William of Prussia (1859-1949)
John Jabez Edwin Mayall (1813-1901)
Princess Beatrice (1857-1944) later Princess Henry of Battenburg
Alexander Lamont Henderson (1838-1907)
Queen Victoria (1819-1901) and Prince Albert (1819-61)
After Thomas Richard Williams (1825-71)
Enamel of Victoria, Princess Royal on her wedding day
Alexander Lamont Henderson (1838-1907)
Princess Beatrice (1857-1944)
? Joseph Cundall (1819-95)
Prince Alfred, later Duke of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (1844-1900)
John Jabez Edwin Mayall (1813-1901)
Queen Victoria (1819-1901) and Prince Albert (1819-61)
William Lake Price (1810-96)
Prince Alfred, later Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1844-1900)
John Jabez Edwin Mayall (1813-1901)
Prince Albert (1819-61)
Roger Fenton (1819-69)
Queen Victoria and Albert, Prince Consort
Unknown Person
Prince Albert (1819-61)
Leonida Caldesi (1823-91)
Queen Victoria (1819-1901) and Victoria, Princess Royal, later Empress of Germany (1840-1901)
Dr Ernst Becker (1826-88)
Prince Alfred, later Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1844-1900), in the costume of Sikh Prince
Dr Ernst Becker (1826-88)
Prince Arthur and Prince Alfred in the costume of Sikh Princes
Leonida Caldesi (1823-91)
Prince Arthur, later Duke of Connaught (1850-1942)
Leonida Caldesi (1823-91)
Prince Arthur, later Duke of Connaught (1850-1942)
Thomas Pearce (active c. 1850s)
Prince Alfred, later Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1844-1900)
Martin Laroche (1814-86)
Charles, Prince of Leiningen (1804-1857)
Unknown Person
Prince Albert (1819-61)
Martin Laroche (1814-86)
Charles, Prince of Leiningen (1804-56)
John Jabez Edwin Mayall (1813-1901)
Prince Albert (1819-61)
Leonida Caldesi & Co (active c. 1860-66)
Group portrait including Prince Albert and Albert Edward, Prince of Wales
Leonida Caldesi (1823-91)
Group Portrait at Buckingham Palace
Leonida Caldesi (1823-91)
The Royal Family on the terrace at Osborne
Leonida Caldesi (1823-91)
The Royal Family at Osborne
Dr Ernst Becker (1826-88)
Queen Victoria, the Prince Consort, and their children with the Duchess of Kent
Frances Sally Day (1815-92)
Princess Victoria, Duchess of Kent and Prince Alfred
Leonida Caldesi (1823-91)
Queen Victoria (1819-1901)
Roger Fenton (1819-69)
Princess Helena and Princess Louise, Balmoral
Roger Fenton (1819-69)
Spring
Roger Fenton (1819-69)
Autumn
After Roger Fenton (1819-69)
Winter
After Roger Fenton (1819-69)
Tableau of the Seasons
Leonida Caldesi (1823-91)
Victoria, Princess Royal, later Empress of Germany (1840-1901)
Dr Ernst Becker (1826-88)
The Prince of Wales on his pony and the Gillie, Murdoch
Camille Silvy (1834-1910)
Prince Albert (1819-61)
Camille Silvy (1834-1910)
Prince Albert (1819-61)
Camille Silvy (1834-1910)
Prince Albert (1819-61)
Frances Sally Day (1815-92)
Queen Victoria and Prince Albert at Osborne
Frances Sally Day (1815-92)
Queen Victoria (1819-1901) and Prince Albert (1819-61)
Frances Sally Day (1815-92)
Queen Victoria (1819-1901) and Prince Albert (1819-61)
John Jabez Edwin Mayall (1813-1901)
Queen Victoria (1819-1901) and Prince Albert (1819-61)
John Jabez Edwin Mayall (1813-1901)
Queen Victoria and Prince Albert at Osborne
Camille Silvy (1834-1910)
Prince Albert (1819-61)
Camille Silvy (1834-1910)
Prince Albert (1819-61)
John Jabez Edwin Mayall (1813-1901)
Prince Albert (1819-61)
Camille Silvy (1834-1910)
Prince Albert (1819-61)
John Jabez Edwin Mayall (1813-1901)
Queen Victoria (1819-1901)
Camille Silvy (1834-1910)
Prince Albert (1819-61)
John Jabez Edwin Mayall (1813-1901)
Prince Albert (1819–61)
John Jabez Edwin Mayall (1813-1901)
Prince Albert (1819-61)
John Jabez Edwin Mayall (1813-1901)
Prince Albert (1819-61)
John Jabez Edwin Mayall (1813-1901)
Portrait photograph of Prince Albert, Prince Consort (1819-1861), 1861
Mason & Co : London
Prince Albert (1819-61)
John Jabez Edwin Mayall (1813-1901)
Prince Albert (1819-61)
John Jabez Edwin Mayall (1813-1901)
Prince Albert (1819-61)
John Jabez Edwin Mayall (1813-1901)
Prince Albert (1819-61)
Oscar Gustav Rejlander (1813-75)
Prince Albert (1819-61)
John Jabez Edwin Mayall (1813-1901)
Queen Victoria (1819-1901)
J Deplanque
Prince Albert (1819-61)
Unknown Person
Prince Albert in deerstalking dress
Unknown Person
Prince Albert (1819-61)
After Frances Sally Day (1815-92)
Prince Albert (1819-61)
John Jabez Edwin Mayall (1813-1901)
Prince Albert (1819-61)
John Jabez Edwin Mayall (1813-1901)
Queen Victoria and Princess Beatrice
Unknown Person
Prince Albert Consort (1819-61)
Charles Clifford (1819-62)
Queen Victoria (1819-1901)
George Mansfield: 90 Grafton Street, Dublin
Edward VII (1841-1910), when Prince of Wales
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The aims of The Royal Collection Trust are the care and conservation of the Royal Collection, and the promotion of access and enjoyment through exhibitions, publications, loans and educational activities.