Noël, Alphonse Léon: The Royal Highness the Princess Helena 1861 (Helene Auguste Victoria, Princess of England)

In accordance to an oil sketch of Winterhalter, the print depicts the narrow face of Princess Helena in mourning for her father with photographic precision. “Lenchen” (1846–1923) was the fifth child and the third daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Unlike her other sisters, Helena was more interested in sports and technology. In 1866, her mother eventually gave in to Helena’s wish to marry Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, on condition that the couple would settle near the widowed Victoria. Lenchen and Christian led a rather unspectacular family life with several children but fulfilled representative and administrative tasks for the court.

To the digitised copy