This website presents our knowledge and research on this important aspect of the Royal Collection. As of April 2026 it will not be regularly updated and new research on this topic will sit within the main website.

Portraiture

Prince Albert was an early adopter of portrait photography

    LADY MARY CHARLOTTE FOLEY (1822-69)

    Group portrait

    1889 copy after an original of 1854

    Carbon print | 11.2 x 12.4 cm (image) | RCIN 2906600

    Photograph of a full length group portrait of four women comprising from left to right: Lady Emily Suffield (d. 1881), Augusta, Duchess of Cambridge (1797-1889), Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge (1833-97), standing alongside Louise, Duchess of Manchester (1832-1911), later Duchess of Devonshire. The two women on the left are seated. The group are flanked by busts on pedestals.
    • Creator(s)

      Lady Mary Charlotte Foley (1822-69) (photographer)

      Gustav William Henry Mullins (1854-1921) (photographer)

    • Reproduced & Printed in Carbon by [break] Mullins 1889

      Dss Suffield, The Dss of Cambridge, Pss Mary and Dss of Manchester

    • 11.2 x 12.4 cm (image)

      28.2 x 22.9 cm (page dimensions)

    • Group Portrait (interior) 1854 [Photographic Portraits. Vol 1/59 (1853-1857)]

    • Acquired by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert

    • Subject(s)
      • Arts, Recreation, Entertainment & Sport
        • Plastic arts
          • Sculpture
            • Busts (sculpture)