This photograph, or carte-de-visite, shows Queen Victoria and Prince Albert at their beloved residence, Osborne House, in the 1850s. Developed between 1845 and 1851, this seaside retreat on the Isle of Wight was a favourite family home for the royal couple away from the bustle of court life. There the royal children enjoyed a two-storey timber Swiss Cottage near the main house where they learnt practical skills like cooking and gardening during their visits. After Prince Albert's death in 1861, Queen Victoria returned to Osborne frequently for rest and recollection. 

Cartes-de-visites (literally 'visiting cards') were produced in their thousands in the 1850s and 1860s. The small, affordable format of these photographs enabled many people to have their portraits taken or to acquire landscape views as souvenirs of places they had visited. The images, which are the size of a visiting card, were typically exchanged by friends and visitors or posted to loved ones while travelling away from home. Queen Victoria collected many hundreds of portraits of members of European royalty in this form.