Painting of the Day: Queen Victoria with Prince Edward, 1845

Queen Victoria with Edward VII When Prince of Wales
Robert Thorburn, 1845
Miniature
Watercolor and Ivory
The Royal Collection

Edward, the Prince of Wales, was a precocious boy who, though not terribly interested in his studies, showed a spark of intelligence which proved he would make a fine king one day. This portrait miniature of watercolor on ivory was painted in 1845 by Robert Thorburn at the request of Queen Victoria.


It’s a happy image of mother and son and not indicative of the rift that would arise between the two of them following the death of Prince Albert. Here, we see the future King Edward VII looking adoringly at his mother, the woman in whose footsteps he would one day follow as monarch.