She was sitting there like a crumbling wooden doll.She symbolized the things that were drawing to their end.
Victoria the beauty queen: The picture she gave Albert
By REBECCA ENGLISH FOR THE DAILY MAIL
UPDATED: 09:19 GMT, 16 October 2009
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By Victorian standards, it is really rather daring.
Even more so when one realises that the lovely young woman languorously baring her shoulders is none other than Queen Victoria.
The portrait, known as ‘the secret picture’, was commissioned by the young Queen in 1843 as a 24th birthday present for her beloved husband Albert. It was painted by the respected artist Franz Xaver Winterhalter.
Queen Victoria
Radiant royal: The 1843 portrait of Victoria by Winterhalte
By all accounts it was well received. Victoria, also 24 at the time, referred to it as ‘my darling Albert’s favourite picture’.
He was said to particularly like the way he hair, half released from its traditional knot, cascaded down her back.
The phrase ‘the secret picture’ was taken from Victoria’s journal and referred to the fact that she had commissioned it for her husband’s eyes only. It has only been displayed in public on one occasion since she gave it to him 166 years ago.
Now it is to be one of the highlights of an exhibition at Buckingham Palace which royal curators hope will challenge the popular image of a staid monarch perpetually dressed in her widow’s weeds.
Queen Victoria in 1873
Solemn monarch: Queen Victoria in 1873
The show will focus on the period of Victoria’s engagement to Prince Albert in 1839 and their marriage a year later, up until his death in 1861.
Victoria and Albert were first cousins – her mother, Princess Victoria, and his father, Duke Ernst, were brother and sister.
The couple met in 1836 at Victoria’s 17th birthday celebrations. She was captivated by Albert’s handsome looks, sense of humour and intellect.
She acceded to the throne following the death of her childless uncle, William IV, in 1837 but owing to the preoccupations of state, the couple did not meet again until the autumn of 1839.
Among the personal effects to go on show is a display of several of her handwritten journals, including one in which she chronicles the moment that she accepted Albert’s proposal on October 15 that year.