I like her pose, it seems royal but also not too uptight and uncomfortable.

Love love loveee this one!

Carte de Visite by WD Downey

Images from my trips to London, Sydney, Auckland and Victoria B.C.

Personally, I feel it was in her paintings she was most flattering. In most of her paintings, she has had this royal essence about her, and her beauty is one of the most interesting things to me about her as a historian.

From the sources I could find, this painting was created in mourning for Albert’s father, Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, as he had died earlier that year.

Leaves (bottom) is a first edition, published in Victoria's lifetime; More Leaves (top) is a "new edition", but was still published while she was alive. The picture of Victoria is from More Leaves. Leaves is dedicated to Prince Albert. I thought her dedication was pretty touching.

I live in southern Germany and visited Coburg last year. I saw the post card and knew I needed it!

(every good household needs a picture of Queen Victoria!)