Henry John Hudson Ra, Sba, Rp 1841 - 1910 Portrait of King Edward VII 1841 -1910 Signed with Monogram

Henry John Hudson RA, SBA, RP 1841 - 1910

Portrait of King Edward VII 1841 -1910

signed with monogram

oil on canvas

101.6 x 76.20 cm. (40 x 30in.)

There is a three quarter length portrait of Edward VIII in his coronation robes in the collection of Ealing Town Hall, the portrait is signed and dated 1903, it is probable that this portrait was painted at the same time and shortly after the Kings Coronation on August 9, 1902.

Provenance

A Canadian Institution

Notes

Edward VII (1841–1910), king of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the British dominions beyond the seas, and emperor of India, was born at Buckingham Palace, London, on 9 November 1841, the first son and second child of the nine children of Queen Victoria (1819–1901) and Prince Albert (1819–1861). He was named Albert Edward (against the advice of the prime minister, Lord Melbourne, who preferred Edward Albert), and he was commonly known by both names, except in the family, where he was called Bertie. Insistence on the primacy of the name Albert reflected the burden of the queen's expectations which the prince was to carry until 1901, when, on ascending the throne, he declared himself Edward. He was the first heir born to a reigning sovereign since 1762, and the last to be born with privy councillors present to attest his identity (subsequently only the home secretary attended). He was made prince of Wales aged one month and, against the advice of Palmerston, was also styled duke of Saxony in addition to the other usual royal titles (he habitually later travelled abroad semi-incognito as earl of Renfrew or earl of Chester, or, when king, duke of Lancaster). A strong German presence at his christening on 25 January 1842 confirmed the view of the whigs, who saw the court coming under German sway, and attested to the remarkable range of European royal relatives which was to be so important an aspect of the prince's life. Albert Edward was brought up to be trilingual—in English, German, and French, with a governess for each language—but his best languages in the nursery were German and English; he found German initially the easier of the two. The Baron von Bunsen noted that the royal children ‘all spoke German like their native tongue, even to one another’ (Lee, 2.17). The prince's early days were supervised by Mrs Southey, his nurse, who was soon dismissed, and then by Sarah, Lady Lyttelton, who acted as governess and substitute mother (the queen being frequently pregnant and both Victoria and Albert preferring the Princess Victoria, the prince's elder sister). The prince was slow to learn, fell behind his younger siblings, and soon developed a stammer and a temper. Lady Lyttelton was a relative of William and Catherine Gladstone, whose similarly aged son, William Henry Gladstone, became the prince's playmate. The prince was taught elocution by the actor George Barley, but always had a slight German accent.

In January 1847 the prince's parents set out a detailed plan of education for their children, by which Lady Lyttelton retained a prominent role in Albert Edward's development. Victoria and Albert's intention was to ensure that the future king was as unlike his profligate Hanoverian uncles as possible, and that he was educated to the highest levels of contemporary knowledge: he was to be like Albert, able to talk to politicians and people of letters and science on their own terms. However, his educational development remained halting. On Prince Albert's instruction he was whipped (as were from time to time his sisters). When Albert Edward was six, Henry Birch, formerly a master at Eton, became his tutor and found his pupil difficult to teach. Albert arranged for an examination by George Combe, the phrenologist, who reported that the prince's cranium suggested that ‘strong self-will, at times obstinacy’ would be characterist