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.

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Portraiture

Prince Albert was an early adopter of portrait photography

      THOMAS RICHARD WILLIAMS (1825-71)

      Victoria, Princess Royal, later Empress of Germany (1840-1901)

      25 - 25 Jan 1858

      Hand-tinted ambrotype | 3.4 x 2.8 cm (image) (image) | RCIN 2932490

      Hand-tinted ambrotype of Princess Victoria wearing her wedding dress. She is seated facing right wearing a white lace dress decorated with flowers and a veil. The ambrotype is mounted in a gilt frame housed in a brown leather case with a red velvet interior. Princess Victoria married Prince Frederick of Prussia on the 25th of January 1858 in the Chapel Royal at St James's Palace. Williams was commissioned to take two photographs to mark the event, the other showing the bride with her parents. There are no photographs of the wedding itself, as it would have been impossible to make adequate exposures in the dimly lit confines of the Chapel Royal.

      • Creator(s)

        Thomas Richard Williams (1825-71) (photographer)

        Subject(s)

        Empress Friedrich, German Empress and Queen of Prussia (1840-1901)

      • 3.4 x 2.8 cm (image) (image)

        4.9 x 4.3 cm (excluding case, cover, etc)

      • Commissioned by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in 1858

      • Subject(s)
        • Social sciences
          • Ethnology
            • Social customs
              • Marriage
                • Wedding Ceremonial Costume
                  • Wedding dresses
                • Royal Weddings
        Object type(s)
          • visual works
            • photographs
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