FeaturesHistory

Becoming Victoria

Hanging in the magnificent Waterloo Chamber at Windsor is the state portrait of King William IV in his Garter robes with the Garter and Bath collars, painted by Sir David Wilkie for the King in 1832, that parliamentary historic year of the Reform Act and also the year in which the young Princess Victoria of Kent, began her great journal. In the context of the Waterloo Chamber, the portrait is but…
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Queen Victoria and royal widowhood

For some, Queen Victoria remains etched into the popular memory as the monochrome royal widow, dressed in black for the rest of her life, a black occasionally relieved by the enormous white handkerchiefs which she often took around with her, or the little lace cap, that…
FeaturesHistory

Queen Victoria's dolls

The wooden dolls of the future Queen Victoria have long been the subject of fascination. Perhaps this is because we are fascinated by something so strongly associated with the childhood of that Queen who to a large extent, still remains in the historical imagination as…
FeaturesHistory

Cards from Queen Victoria's children

Some of the earliest Christmas cards to survive in the Royal Collection date from the first half of Queen Victoria’s reign. These were handmade by Queen Victoria’s children and are typical of the sentimental nineteenth century; although in the case of the Queen’s family, everything was preserved and nothing too small to commemorate. The German Christmas was properly introduced into England…
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Breakfasting with Queen Victoria

Across the Quadrangle at Windsor Castle is a room, clearly visible, jutting out in a pentagon shape amongst the jigsaw of the Clarence, Queen’s, Augusta, York, and Lancaster Towers and King George IV Gate. Part of the private apartments, it was merely called what it…
FeaturesHistory

Queen Victoria's baby shoes

With 2019 marking the 200th anniversary of the birth of Queen Victoria, possibly the most symbolic objects to commemorate this historic date, are the baby shoes thought to have been owned by the Queen, which are preserved in the Royal Collection and kept at the Museum of London. The future Queen Victoria was born at Kensington Palace on 24 May 1819; the shoes date from around 1820. Queen…
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In the footsteps of four royal brides

The Chapel Royal at St James’s Palace has provided the setting for many historical events, most particularly royal weddings and christenings, most recently that of HRH Prince George of Cambridge in 2013; it is only ever open to the public for religious services. To enter…
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Loving Albert

In Prince & Patron, the Summer Opening Exhibition at Buckingham Palace, a bust of Prince Albert is displayed, labelled simply as ‘William Theed (1804-91) Prince Albert, 1862; marble.’ But it is no ordinary bust, nor is it just one among other memorial busts…
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The linked hands of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert

An exquisite oil on panel painting by Franz Xavier Winterhalter, that fashionable artist of European court portraiture, is currently on display in Prince & Patron, the Summer Opening Exhibition of the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace, showcasing some of the personal favourites of HRH The Prince of Wales chosen from the Royal Collection and that of his private collection, as well as by artists…
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