Queen Victoria's Family

This album of Queen Victoria's family explores the lives, personalities, tastes and contributions of the Queen, her children and her children's children through four generations. The beginning of the Queen's reign coincided almost exactly with the beginnings of photography so that, before her children had left the nursery, the first commercial photographs of the royal family were available on the streets and finding a ready market. Photography added a new dimension to people's perception of the monarchy: for the first time ordinary people could see exactly what the Queen looked like, and they became aware of her family as human beings who wore day clothes, not just gold and ermine; who were confident or shy before the camera; and whose children frowned, sulked or fidgeted. The Queen's grandchildren and great-grandchildren grew up accustomed to being photographed. Their fashions and hairstyles were emulated and it became customary to display royal photographs beside more humble subjects in the family album.