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.

Visit the Royal Collection

Portraiture

Prince Albert was an early adopter of portrait photography

    LOUIS JOSEPH GHÉMAR (1819-73)

    Queen Victoria (1819-1901) and Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein (1846-1923), when Princess Helena

    Oct 1862

    Albumen print | 8.7 x 5.5 cm (image) | RCIN 2908061

    Photograph showing Queen Victoria dressed in mourning, seated, looking down at a miniature, possibly of Prince Albert, that she holds in her right hand. Queen Victoria's left arm is placed around the shoulders of Princess Helena, who kneels by her mother's side, her left hand on the miniature. Princess Helena looks towards the camera.

    • Creator(s)

      Louis Joseph Ghémar (1819-73) (photographer)

      Subject(s)

      Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom (1819-1901)
      Princess Helena (1846-1923)

    • 8.7 x 5.5 cm (image)

      9.7 x 5.8 cm (mount)

      22.7 x 18.0 cm (page dimensions)

      23.9 x 19.4 x 5.9 cm (album)

    • The Queen and Princess Helena, 1863. [Album: Photographs. Royal Portraits, vol.49]

    • Acquired by Queen Victoria

    • Subject(s)
      • Social sciences
        • Ethnology
          • Mourning
      Object type(s)
        • visual works
          • photographs
            • cartes-de-visite
    PreviousNext
    PreviousNext
    Policy links
    Royal Collection TrustIn Partnership with

    Royal Collection Trust is a charity caring for the Royal Collection and welcoming visitors to the royal palaces. We bring our shared history to life through world-class experiences that involve and inspire people, wherever they are. Income from tickets and retail sales helps us to conserve the Collection so that it can be enjoyed by everyone for generations to come.