Queen victoria smiling

Our image of the Victorians is shaped by the photographs we see in history books – stern, austere and relentlessly severe. Yet there was a playful side to our 19th-century ancestors, and Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones has the proof. Here he introduces a selection of portraits that show the sitters doing something entirely unexpected: smiling

Queen Victoria~~ We so rarely see her smiling.

““What a joyous childhood we had!” wrote Princess Alice, the second daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. These were no mere words and it was a sentiment shared by many of her siblings. Far from being the tyrannical or neglectful parents presented so often by the sensational press, Albert and Victoria devoted themselves to their children, doing their utmost to secure their happiness” - Christina Croft in “Dear Papa, Beloved Mama”

Queen Victoria

High-quality film of Queen Victoria on her last trip to Ireland has been rediscovered.

A grieving Queen Victoria in mourning for her husband Prince Albert and her mother the Duchess of Kent, who both died in 1861. Her mother died on the morning of March 16th 1861. Prince Albert passed on Saturday December 14th 1861. (Book: Victoria by Deborah Jaffé [2010]).

On her Coronation day the 18-year-old wrote of her awe at seeing ‘the millions of my loyal subjects who were assembled’ and even her adored husband Albert was not immune from her frightful tantrums.