Masterpiece of the Week: Frogmore House, 1857

Frogmore House:
The Duchess of Kent's Sitting Room
James Roberts, 1857
The Royal Collection

Long a Royal residence and one-time home of Queen Charlotte, Frogmore House is mostly remembered as being the home of Queen Victoria’s mother, The Duchess of Kent, who occupied the mansion for twenty-years.


Queen Victoria often employed favorite painters to render scenes of the interiors of the family homes. James Roberts was commissioned to capture The Duchess of Kent’s sitting room in Frogmore House. The Duchess can be seen in the picture, sitting with Victoria’s beloved dog, Boz. This painting was completed just after the Duchess of Kent had finished the redecoration of Frogmore House. Lilac walls and red carpets comprised her decoration of this, her favorite room. The Duchess retained many of Queen Charlotte’s antique furnishings, but chose to hang her own collection of paintings on the walls. Prominent in the scene are portraits of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert—without whose support the opulent décor would not have been possible.