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.

Glass plate negatives

Albert and Victoria’s collection of glass plate negatives show photographers’ working methods

      JOHN JABEZ EDWIN MAYALL (1813-1901)

      Family portrait with bust of Prince Albert

      Apr 1863

      RCIN 2082662

      Glass plate negative of a full length group portrait of royal family members taken after the wedding of Prince Albert Edward (1841-1910) and Princess Alexandra (1844-1925). The family are posed around a bust of Prince Albert. The sitters include Princess Louise, Alexandra, Princess of Wales, Queen Victoria, Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, Princess Beatrice, Prince Leopold, Princess Alice of Hesse, Princess Helena and Prince Louis of Hesse.

      The glass plate negative has been photographed showing the coated side and therefore the image appears laterally reversed. At leats two prints from this negative exist in the Collection, RCIN 2927096 and 2900742.
      • Creator(s)

        John Jabez Edwin Mayall (1813-1901) (photographer)

        Subject(s)

        Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom (1844-1925)
        King Edward VII, King of the United Kingdom (1841-1910)
        Princess Helena (1846-1923)
        Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine (1837-92)
        Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll (1848-1939)
        Queen Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom (1819-1901)
        Beatrice, Princess Henry of Battenberg (1857-1944)
        Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany (1853-84)
        Prince Albert, Prince Consort (1819-61)
        Princess Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse & by Rhine (1843-78)
      • Acquired by Queen Victoria 

      • Subject(s)
        • Arts, Recreation, Entertainment & Sport
          • Plastic arts
            • Sculpture
              • Busts
        Object type(s)
          • visual works
            • photographs
              • negatives
                • glass plate negatives