Antique Image of the Day: Queen Victoria and the Princess Royal, 1845

Queen Victoria and
The Princess Royal
1845
The Royal Colelction

This is the earliest known photograph of Queen Victoria. The Queen was an avid fan of photography, even going as far as staging a recreation of her wedding day so that it might be photographed.

Here, we see a young Queen Victoria with her first child and daughter, Victoria, the Princess Royal who was known to the family as “Vicky.” At the age of seventeen, Vicky was wed to Prince William Frederick of Prussia. She was later the Empress of Germany and Queen of Prussia.

Queen Victoria had a great affection for her eldest daughter, making sure that she was created Princess Royal, a title often bestowed upon the eldest daughter of a Royal family. Victoria praised her child’s curiosity and intelligence—two traits which were not demonstrated in Victoria’s eldest son, the heir presumptive, Prince Albert Edward (later King Edward VII).

Object of the Day, Museum Edition: A Miniature of the Eye of Princess Victoria, 1857

Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

We’ve looked at a variety of miniature eyes. This beautiful example is attributed to Sir William Charles Ross (1794-1860) and depicts the eye of Victoria, Princess Royal (1840-1901), the eldest daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. The Princess Royal would later become Empress Frederick III of Germany.

This watercolor on ivory miniature is laid on card and mounted in a gold pendant set with a ruby. The Royal Collection lists the creation of the piece as 1857 and notes that it was commissioned by Queen Victoria.

Typically these miniature eyes were given as tokens to a male suitor. The date of creation puts this piece smack dab in the middle of the engagement of Victoria and Albert’s daughter to the Prince Frederick of Prussia (The German Emperor and King of Prussia) who were engaged in 1856 and married in 1858. It’s a safe bet that this miniature was intended for the future Kaiser Frederick III. Whether or not he received it, I don’t know, but it’s back in the Royal Collection.

Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
via The Royal Collection Trust
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Click Image to Enlarge

Gifts of Grandeur: A Wedding Gift from Prince Albert to Queen Victoria

Miniature on Bracelet, 1840
Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Let's face it, Prince Albert knew he was getting a good deal when it was announced he was going to marry his cousin, Victoria, who happened to be the Queen of England and a whole bunch of other stuff.  It's not as if it came as a surprise.  Albert had long been groomed to be the groom.  After all, his Uncle....ahem, their Uncle...Prince Leopold, King of Belgium, had been pushing for the marriage for quite some time.  It also helped that Victoria had, upon their second meeting, fallen madly in love with the handsome prince, gushing about his fine face, broad shoulders and slim hips.  Oh, yes, Albert was fond of Victoria, too.  But, not quite as effusively.  He was German, you know.

Among the many gifts Albert presented to his royal bride upon their marriage in February of 1840, was this miniature which the young Prince had commissioned from a German jeweler and miniaturist W. Schmidt.  

The gold bracelet held a locket containing a gorgeous watercolor on ivory portrait of the young Prince of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.  This miniature of Prince Albert was painted shortly before his marriage. Schmidt has modeled the face from the oil portrait that George Patten had been despatched to paint in Gotha early in 1840, although Schmidt has substituted evening dress where Patten portrays the Prince at half-length in the uniform of the Saxonian Light Infantry.

According to the Royal Collection:

This bracelet originally had another three lockets on it. This remaining miniature and photograph formed part of a group of jewels placed in the ‘Albert Room’ at Windsor Castle after the Queen's death in 1901. This was the room in which Prince Albert had died in 1861 and the Queen left instructions for a specific list of personal jewellery to be placed there and not passed on in the family.

We're not quite sure what became of the other three pendant lockets.  The one which remains, a shell-shape of gold contains a photograph of Victoria, the Princess Royal (their first-born) which was taken before her wedding day in 1858.

Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
Image Courtesy of
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

The miniature is set in a flexible gold bracelet clasp supplied in 1860 by Garrards (this replaced the original velvet band upon which the locket was presented in 1840) with the interior cover engraved with the inscription "ALBERT / 1840"  and the exterior applied with floral decoration.  The reverse is inscribed with a four-leaf clover and the engraved inscription "Coburg 1st October 1860."  

Curious.

What's the significance of that day in October, 1860?

The clover and date both refer to and commemorate the Prince Consort's lucky escape from death in a carriage accident which had happened while ALbert was visiting his homeland of Coburg.

Queen Victoria recorded in her Journal a year later: 

The anniversary of that fearful accident which befel [sic] my dearest Albert at Coburg last year. May God ever extend His mercy to him, as He did so signally then. Have founded a Charity at Coburg, in remembrance of it.

Sadly, but not surprisingly, Victoria's prayers went unanswered as Albert was not extended any mercy.  He died two months after that journal entry, in December of 1861.

I wonder how the missing pendants looked.  The pendant shell which does remain is engraved "from Victoria / 1st Feb 1858.

The bracelet portion which was added by Garrards can be tucked away and the miniature can be worn as a pendant.

Mastery of Design: Queen Victoria’s 1842 Christmas Brooch

Princess Victoria Brooch
Presented to Queen Victoria on Christmas, 1842
Designed by Prince Albert
Crafted by William Essex after William Ross, miniaturist
Enamel, Gold, Diamonds, Rubies, Sapphires, Emeralds, &
Topazes
The Royal Collection

To celebrate Christmas with his wife and their first child, Princess Victoria, Prince Albert designed a beautiful enamel and jeweled brooch for Queen Victoria. Inspired by a painting by Raphael, the prince envisioned an angel with sparkling wings and the face of their infant daughter.


Jeweler William Essex was commissioned to create the brooch to Prince Albert’s specifications. For Princess Victoria’s enameled, cherubic face, Essex used as his model a miniature painting of the child princess by William Ross. The resulting brooch of enamel, gold, sapphires, rubies, emeralds, diamonds and topazes shows the young Princess as a putti draped in a regal blue robe. In her tiny hands, she clutches a cross of diamonds and rubies.

Queen Victoria was—rightfully—thrilled with the brooch and wrote in her journal, “The workmanship and design are quite exquisite, and dear Albert was so pleased at my delight over it, it’s having been entirely his own idea and taste.”

Gifts of Grandeur: A Wedding Gift from Prince Albert to Queen Victoria

Miniature on Bracelet, 1840
Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Let's face it, Prince Albert knew he was getting a good deal when it was announced he was going to marry his cousin, Victoria, who happened to be the Queen of England and a whole bunch of other stuff.  It's not as if it came as a surprise.  Albert had long been groomed to be the groom.  After all, his Uncle....ahem, their Uncle...Prince Leopold, King of Belgium, had been pushing for the marriage for quite some time.  It also helped that Victoria had, upon their second meeting, fallen madly in love with the handsome prince, gushing about his fine face, broad shoulders and slim hips.  Oh, yes, Albert was fond of Victoria, too.  But, not quite as effusively.  He was German, you know.

Among the many gifts Albert presented to his royal bride upon their marriage in February of 1840, was this miniature which the young Prince had commissioned from a German jeweler and miniaturist W. Schmidt.  

The gold bracelet held a locket containing a gorgeous watercolor on ivory portrait of the young Prince of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.  This miniature of Prince Albert was painted shortly before his marriage. Schmidt has modeled the face from the oil portrait that George Patten had been despatched to paint in Gotha early in 1840, although Schmidt has substituted evening dress where Patten portrays the Prince at half-length in the uniform of the Saxonian Light Infantry.

According to the Royal Collection:

This bracelet originally had another three lockets on it. This remaining miniature and photograph formed part of a group of jewels placed in the ‘Albert Room’ at Windsor Castle after the Queen's death in 1901. This was the room in which Prince Albert had died in 1861 and the Queen left instructions for a specific list of personal jewellery to be placed there and not passed on in the family.

We're not quite sure what became of the other three pendant lockets.  The one which remains, a shell-shape of gold contains a photograph of Victoria, the Princess Royal (their first-born) which was taken before her wedding day in 1858.

Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
Image Courtesy of
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

The miniature is set in a flexible gold bracelet clasp supplied in 1860 by Garrards (this replaced the original velvet band upon which the locket was presented in 1840) with the interior cover engraved with the inscription "ALBERT / 1840"  and the exterior applied with floral decoration.  The reverse is inscribed with a four-leaf clover and the engraved inscription "Coburg 1st October 1860."  

Curious.

What's the significance of that day in October, 1860?

The clover and date both refer to and commemorate the Prince Consort's lucky escape from death in a carriage accident which had happened while ALbert was visiting his homeland of Coburg.

Queen Victoria recorded in her Journal a year later: 

The anniversary of that fearful accident which befel [sic] my dearest Albert at Coburg last year. May God ever extend His mercy to him, as He did so signally then. Have founded a Charity at Coburg, in remembrance of it.

Sadly, but not surprisingly, Victoria's prayers went unanswered as Albert was not extended any mercy.  He died two months after that journal entry, in December of 1861.

I wonder how the missing pendants looked.  The pendant shell which does remain is engraved "from Victoria / 1st Feb 1858.

The bracelet portion which was added by Garrards can be tucked away and the miniature can be worn as a pendant.

Sculpture of the Day: The Prince and Princess, 1845-1850

Princess Victoria and Prince Edward
Staffordshire, 1845-1850
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Staffordshire figures often depicted popular people of the era. As we know, when these figures were first produced in 1840, the first subjects were Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, so it’s only fitting that their children would also find themselves to be the subjects of these colorful porcelain sculptures.

Here we see a figure group of lead-glazed earthenware depicting Edward, Prince of Wales and his sister, Victoria, the Princess Royal—the first two children of the Queen and her consort. The Princess Victoria was the first born and was heiress presumptive to throne until the birth of her brother who, being male, took precedent in his place in the line of accession—later becoming King Edward VII.

Princess Victoria is riding in a carriage drawn by a horse on which the Prince ridden by the Prince. The oblong base is decorated by a scrolled front picked out in gilding, and inscribed “PRINCE AND PRINCESS” in black.

Mastery of Design: The "Victoria's Grandchildren" Bracelet, 1870-1880

Locket Bracelet
Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
This and all images courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

While Princess of Wales, Alexandra (the future Queen Alexandra, consort of King Edward VII), presented this cylindrical link gold bracelet with five oval gold lockets to her Royal mother-in-law, Queen Victoria.

Each of the lockets is  mounted with different stone-set motifs and each conceals a photograph of one of Victoria's grandchildren.  Their names are inscribed inside the covers:

Prince Albert Victor's (the second in line to the throne until his unexpected death) photo is housed in a locket set with a Horseshoe in diamonds.

Prince George (who would become King George V) is found in a locket mounted with a "G" reversed in rubies & diamonds).

Princess Louise's visage is hidden behind an "L" of diamonds & sapphires.

Princess Victoria, a "V" of diamonds & emeralds, and Princess Maud's locket is adorned with "M" in turquoises.

Antique Image of the Day: Queen Victoria and the Princess Royal, 1845

Queen Victoria and
The Princess Royal
1845
The Royal Colelction

This is the earliest known photograph of Queen Victoria. The Queen was an avid fan of photography, even going as far as staging a recreation of her wedding day so that it might be photographed. 

Here, we see a young Queen Victoria with her first child and daughter, Victoria, the Princess Royal who was known to the family as “Vicky.” At the age of seventeen, Vicky was wed to Prince William Frederick of Prussia. She was later the Empress of Germany and Queen of Prussia.

Queen Victoria had a great affection for her eldest daughter, making sure that she was created Princess Royal, a title often bestowed upon the eldest daughter of a Royal family. Victoria praised her child’s curiosity and intelligence—two traits which were not demonstrated in Victoria’s eldest son, the heir presumptive, Prince Albert Edward (later King Edward VII).

Gifts of Grandeur: The Greyhound Box, c. 1888

Micromosaic, gold and agate box
England, 1888
Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

This handsome circular agate box and cover boasts gold rims and an intricate micromosaic of a greyhound set against a background of brilliant sky blue. The inside of the cover is engraved with the Prince of Wales’ feathers, his motto and the cipher “AE.” 

This box has a rather interesting history within the Royal Family. It was made for Edward VII when still Prince of Wales. The box was a gift from Mr. Percy Doyle who’d asked that the interior be engraved with the prince’s cipher for his birth name, Albert Edward. 

After King Edward VII’s death in 1910, the box was passed to his sister, Princess Victoria (daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, who lived FOREVER) who would later give the box to her nephew, the new King George V on his birthday in 1932. Of course, George’s consort, Mary, was quick to get her hands on it, and, in doing so, preserved this masterpiece in the Royal Collection. 

Mastery of Design: Queen Victoria’s 1842 Christmas Brooch

Princess Victoria Brooch
Presented to Queen Victoria on Christmas, 1842
Designed by Prince Albert
Crafted by William Essex after William Ross, miniaturist
Enamel, Gold, Diamonds, Rubies, Sapphires, Emeralds, &
Topazes
The Royal Collection

To celebrate Christmas with his wife and their first child, Princess Victoria, Prince Albert designed a beautiful enamel and jeweled brooch for Queen Victoria. Inspired by a painting by Raphael, the prince envisioned an angel with sparkling wings and the face of their infant daughter.


Jeweler William Essex was commissioned to create the brooch to Prince Albert’s specifications. For Princess Victoria’s enameled, cherubic face, Essex used as his model a miniature painting of the child princess by William Ross. The resulting brooch of enamel, gold, sapphires, rubies, emeralds, diamonds and topazes shows the young Princess as a putti draped in a regal blue robe. In her tiny hands, she clutches a cross of diamonds and rubies.

Queen Victoria was—rightfully—thrilled with the brooch and wrote in her journal, “The workmanship and design are quite exquisite, and dear Albert was so pleased at my delight over it, it’s having been entirely his own idea and taste.”

Sculpture of the Day: Victoria, Princess Royal as Summer, 1846

Victoria, Princess Royal as Summer
Mary Thornycroft
Britain, 1848
Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

One of a series by Mary Thornycroft (1814-1895) (wonderful name), this sculpture was given to Queen Victoria by Prince Albert on August 26, 1848. The series depicts the Royal offspring as the seasons. Exhibited at the Great Exhibition of 1851, the life-size marble statue depicts Princess Victoria, still a child, as Summer. She’s caught in a moment, just about to sit on a tree stump, wearing flowing robes in the classical style. The princess holds, in her left hand, a floral wreath and a sheaf of corn.

Painting of the Day: Victoria, Princess Royal, with Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, 1843

Victoria, Princess Royal with Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, and Islay the Dog
Thomas Musgrove, 1843
Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Thomas Musgrove Joy (1812-66) painted this masterpiece in 1843. The piece was commissioned by Her Majesty Queen Victoria and is actually a newer version of a different painting which was originally created by Sir Francis Grant of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert’s two eldest children. 


Now, it may look like two little girls, but let's remember that, in the early Nineteenth Century--in fact, well into the late Nineteenth Century--little boys below a certain age wore dresses, too.

Here, we see Prince Albert Edward (“Bertie”—later King Edward VII) who is shown as a child with a rattle in his hand and his sister, Victoria the Princess Royal, is holding up a biscuit for which Islay the dog is begging. Islay was Queen Victoria’s favorite Skye terrier. The Queen described him as “my faithful little companion of more than 5 years ... always with me, & ... a great darling.”

Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Mastery of Design: A Miniature of Victoria, the Princess Royal from Queen Victoria's Bracelet,

Queen Victoria's Bracelet, 1845
Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

On May 24, 1845, Prince Albert presented his beloved wife, Queen Victoria with a gold, enamel and pearl bracelet created from miniature portraits of their children.

Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

This particular link depicts Victoria, the Princess Royal, the first of the couple’s children. The portrait is the work of William Essex (1784–1869) who worked the enamel himself.

It is signed, dated and inscribed on the reverse: Victoria / Princess Royal / 1845 / Painted by W. Essex / Enl painter to H.[R.H.] Prince [Albert].

Friday Fun: Kaiser Frederick III and Princess Victoria

Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Frederick William
Franz Xaver Winterhaler, 1862
Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
Courtesy of Her Majesty,
Queen Elizabeth II

This beautifully made little video is a wonderful slideshow of Victoria, the Princess Royal and her husband, Emperor Frederick William, King of Prussia. You’ve seen most of the images of Princess Victoria on this web site. They’re not credited in the video. And, even though I didn’t make the video, my friendly relationship with the Royal Collection and Historic Royal Palaces compels me to note that they are, in fact, all “Crown Copyright.” As for the images of Frederick III, I don’t know where they came from.


Nevertheless, it’s a great video and rather soothing, too. Enjoy!

Unfolding Pictures: The Empress Frederick William Iron Fan, 1862

This and all related images from:
The Victoria & Albert Museum

This unusual fan is made of cast iron filigree with floral and architectural motifs. The individual blades of thin iron are held together with ribbon at the top and a pin at the bottom. This was one of a pair designed by Edward Schott at Ilsenburg-am-Harz as an example of the fineness which could be achieved with iron castings.


This other of the two fans was shown at the International Exhibition of 1862. This example was presented to Princess Frederick William (later the Empress Frederick William) of Prussia (1840-1901), formerly Victoria, the Princess Royal, Queen Victoria's eldest daughter.

The identical fan is now in MAK: Austria’s Museum of Applied Art in Vienna.

The reverse of the fan, which looks a lot like the front.

Obscure Book of the Day: Princess Victoria and Kaiser Frederick

Traditionally, British princesses were married to “foreign” princes. It was considered a good way to expand the bloodline and form favorable ties with other empires. Germany, it seems, was thick with princes. So, by the time Queen Victoria ascended the throne, let’s be honest, her bloodline was more German than it was British, and then, she married a German Prince.

So, when it came time for the eldest daughter of Prince Albert and Queen Victoria to marry, the natural inclination was to match her up with a German Prince (also a Prince of Prussia) who would eventually ascend as Emperor of Germany and King of Prussia. Enter Prince Frederick. Queen Victoria liked the idea. Prince Albert definitely liked the idea. And, no one was happier than Uncle Leopold who had arranged the marriage of Victoria and Albert and who had long been a champion of getting a German stronghold on the British throne.

Princess Victoria and Prince Frederick greatly admired the relationship of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and decided that when Frederick ascended the throne of Germany they would rule in a similar Monarch/Consort arrangement as Princess Victoria’s parents. They waited 30 years for their chance. In 1888, Frederick and Victoria ascended as Emperor and Empress of Germany and King and Queen of Prussia. But, then, after 99 days on the throne, Frederick died a painful, horrible death from cancer of the larynx at the age of 57. And, that was that.

Princess Victoria remained in Germany throughout her widowhood. She kept constant communication via post with her mother and her younger brother, the future King Edward VII. Victoria would die in 1901 after suffering for two years from breast cancer.

The twenty-fifth in the series “Royal Romances: The Love Affairs that Shaped History” chronicles the relationship of Princess Victoria and Kaiser Frederick.

Let’s take a look inside:

Object of the Day, Museum Edition: A Miniature of the Eye of Princess Victoria, 1857

Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

We’ve looked at a variety of miniature eyes. This beautiful example is attributed to Sir William Charles Ross (1794-1860) and depicts the eye of Victoria, Princess Royal (1840-1901), the eldest daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. The Princess Royal would later become Empress Frederick III of Germany.


This watercolor on ivory miniature is laid on card and mounted in a gold pendant set with a ruby. The Royal Collection lists the creation of the piece as 1857 and notes that it was commissioned by Queen Victoria.

Typically these miniature eyes were given as tokens to a male suitor. The date of creation puts this piece smack dab in the middle of the engagement of Victoria and Albert’s daughter to the Prince Frederick of Prussia (The German Emperor and King of Prussia) who were engaged in 1856 and married in 1858. It’s a safe bet that this miniature was intended for the future Kaiser Frederick III. Whether or not he received it, I don’t know, but it’s back in the Royal Collection.

Sculpture of the Day: The Prince and Princess, 1845-1850

Princess Victoria and Prince Edward
Staffordshire, 1845-1850
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Staffordshire figures often depicted popular people of the era. As we know, when these figures were first produced in 1840, the first subjects were Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, so it’s only fitting that their children would also find themselves to be the subjects of these colorful porcelain sculptures.


Here we see a figure group of lead-glazed earthenware depicting Edward, Prince of Wales and his sister, Victoria, the Princess Royal—the first two children of the Queen and her consort. The Princess Victoria was the first born and was heiress presumptive to throne until the birth of her brother who, being male, took precedent in his place in the line of accession—later becoming King Edward VII.

Princess Victoria is riding in a carriage drawn by a horse on which the Prince ridden by the Prince. The oblong base is decorated by a scrolled front picked out in gilding, and inscribed “PRINCE AND PRINCESS” in black.

Painting of the Day: A Portrait of Victoria, The Princess Royal, at her Christening, 1841

The Princess Royal at her Christening
Charles Robert Lesie, 1841
The Victoria & Albert Museum
A similar portrait of Queen Victoria in the same
christening gown resides in the Royal Collection.

The first child of young Queen Victoria and Prince Albert was baptized Victoria Adelaide Mary Louisa, the Princess Royal on February 10, 1841 at Buckingham Palace. In attendance was painter Charles Robert Leslie who had previously painted the Queen.
Leslie made several sketches of the event, taking special care to represent the Royal personages who stood around the radiant child. The painter took great pains with his sketches of the infant whom he described as, “then three months old, and a finer child of that age I never saw.”

This small portrait of the Princess Royal was the result of those sketches and one of Queen Victoria’s most prized possessions. The Princess Royal would later become German Empress and remained a confidant to her mother until her death.

Antique Image of the Day: Queen Victoria and the Princess Royal, 1845

Queen Victoria and
The Princess Royal
1845
The Royal Colelction

This is the earliest known photograph of Queen Victoria. The Queen was an avid fan of photography, even going as far as staging a recreation of her wedding day so that it might be photographed.


Here, we see a young Queen Victoria with her first child and daughter, Victoria, the Princess Royal who was known to the family as “Vicky.” At the age of seventeen, Vicky was wed to Prince William Frederick of Prussia. She was later the Empress of Germany and Queen of Prussia.

Queen Victoria had a great affection for her eldest daughter, making sure that she was created Princess Royal, a title often bestowed upon the eldest daughter of a Royal family. Victoria praised her child’s curiosity and intelligence—two traits which were not demonstrated in Victoria’s eldest son, the heir presumptive, Prince Albert Edward (later King Edward VII).