"Say Cheese!" Part 4

Je back again (please note the wonderful French...yup, that A was a fluke.) Anyway, I thought that I had all the photos from the early 1860s, but it magically turns out that I've found two more from some time in the 1860s (possibly 1870 if Getty Images is to believed) so here they are. Enjoy. : )



Well here we have another grandson/daughter one. This time it's a thrilling mix of Waleses (I know that's not a word, but oh well) and two Hesse sisters. From left to right: Eddy, Victoria (no points for guessing her, sorry), George, Victoria, Ella (sitting down.) I think that's right, but my copy's very, very small, so it's hard to tell and if I'm wrong, spear me on an avocado and be done with it. From what I can see of this one, it's quite nice and a bit unusual, as it's quite rare that the queen invited more than one set of grandchildren to stay with her (according to a book by Miranda Carter anyway and she's a proper historian, so she should know.) If I find out properly when this photo was taken, I'll bung it in here, so bear with my for a while. Yes, I have found out: 1871, according to Whyte Fairy, whom I trust in these matters and the same for the other one. Onwards and...downwards...



Well doesn't everyone looked chuffed to be there? Honestly, I know they're royalty, but SMILE for once. Hmph. Well, enough of the Great Grin Debate, on to the photo. Well this one's quite obviously from the same set as the one above, but people have moved a little bit. Ooh yes, and doesn't Victoria of Hesse look EXACTLY like her mother in this one and the one before?? It's quite uncanny... Ho hum, well let's dash off to another decade. Ta ra 1860s/1870s.



Ah, now while this isn't a brilliant photo quality-wise, I think it's quite a nice one because of the comparative jocularity of all involved. From the left: the Queen, Princess Beatrice, Victoria of Hesse (now Princess Louis of Battenburg) and Princess Alice of Battenburg (Prince Phillip's mother.) Quite a nice one again, but not a great deal more to say, except I think it's from 1885, as that's the year Alice was born.



This is a nice one isn't it? This is Victoria with her granddaughter, Margaret of Connaught, who would later go on to become the Crown Princess of Sweden, but would unfortunately die before she could become Queen. Well this photo is part of a series, so there'll be another one in a minute, but this one's particularly sweet in my view. I've got the date as 1886, which would make Margaret (or "Daisy" as she was known) about four. Onto the one with her brother...




Another sweet one, I hope you'll agree. This was taken at the same time as the previous one, so it's from 1886 again, but this time includes Arthur of Connaught (the younger, I must add - the older one had a moustache by this point) and a rather attractively carved desk. These two are quite common photos, but I had to include them, as they're both rather lovely. :)



I was quite excited about this one (and no, I don't have a life before you even ask) as I'd never seen it before. It's from 1887, the year of the Queen's Golden Jubilee and this is either on the day or just for a formal photograph. Despite the fact that there appears to be a concealed CCTV camera in the urn to the right of the picture and both the queen and the random paige boy have got distracted by something off camera (Mr Gladstone doing his famous rendition of 'Camptown Races' on the banjo perhaps?) I like this photo. I know it emphasises how short she was, but you must admit that the queen's dress is certainly something special with all that lace and...polka dots... Oh yes, and I hadn't made up that aforementioned song and Prime Minister combination, he really did that once in front of the Prince and Princess of Wales and received many an encore.



Ok, here we are in 1886 (or around then anyway) just before the Golden Jubilee. The small child in this one is Alexander of Battenburg, son of Princess Beatrice and Henry of Battenburg (he of the wonderful moustache). By now (as my loyal follower, Whyte Fairy so brilliantly put it) Victoria is more of "a potato in a dress", though it is a rather stripy number (exciting isn't it?) and matched with that funky hat/bonnet thing...well it's not as nice as some of the past dresses, but it's...different shall we say? Onto the next photo:



Now the famous 'Four Generations' photo, but this one's a tad different, as Bertie appears to be in the middle of lunging for a cigar and George is giving the camera a somewhat startled look, perhaps suggesting more alarming political antics (Lord Salisbury playing 'Oh I do Like to be Beside the Seaside' on a portable organ on wheels perhaps?) Yes, I did make that one up. Well, other than the curtains and the carpet/tiles (but I think carpet) this isn't too bad on the eye. My spider senses tell me to hang upside down from the ceiling on a web, so I'll ignore them and tell you that I think it's from about 1894.



And now, the ladies. The baby, I forgot to mention, is the future Edward VIII, who goes down as probably my least favourite royal, but there you are. The lady with the AMAZING hair is Alexandra, the Princess of Wales, the other lady (with sadly more dissappointing hair) is the future Queen Mary and Victoria is...well...herself. This one's also from 1894. Yay.

Well, as I must fly now (not literally, otherwise I'd be on the news by now) so I'll stop here for today, but stay tuned to go right to the end and then some 'mopping up' with photos I've recently found, but can't put in the right order. HENJOY.

:)