The British Royal Family
The British Royal Family are represented in many objects here at the Horniman, from clothing to music.
We have selected a few of our favourite objects with connections to British royalty.
Royal Clothing
The lining of medieval coronation cloaks often had fur known as ermine, made from the white winter coat of the stoat.
This specimen from our Natural History collection has the black-tipped tail on the left, which was used to make a dotted pattern of black on white for high-ranking peers and royalty.
King Charles (the dog)
This Horniman tea card shows a King Charles spaniel, a breed of toy spaniel popular from the 16th century and named after King Charles II.
Although a favourite of the British King, the King Charles spaniel may have common ancestry with the Pekingese and Japanese breeds.
Rotten Pears
This 19th century cartoon shows King George IV pruning rotten peers (or pears) from his garden.
One of these peers is the Duke of Wellington who later became Prime Minister and defeated the French Emperor Napoleon at Waterloo.
Fun and Games
This board game shows monarchs of England all the way from William the Conqueror (1066), who is on the bottom left corner, and spirals in to George IV (1820’s) in the middle.
We don’t know the exact date of this game, but it must be after the death of Queen Caroline in 1821, as this is the last event it shows.
A plate fit for a King
This plate commemorates the coronation of William III and Mary in the 17th century.
William is wearing the distinctive ermine cloak that was reserved for royals and the social elite.
Commemorative plates are still produced now for coronations, marriages and births.
The Great Exhibition
This is a detail from a page from the Illustrated London News showing Queen Victoria outside Crystal Palace for the ‘Great Exhibition of Industry of All Nations’.
The figure behind Victoria is Britannia, a symbol of the British Empire who was based on ancient Greek and Roman art.
Queen Victoria
This little figure is a late 19th-century statue of Queen Victoria from Nigeria.
This is a very detailed figure; the skirt is hollowed out and underneath she is wearing small heeled boots.
A musical monarchy
This black zither has a picture of George V and Queen Mary on the left and was made to commemorate their coronation.
King George was the first of the Windsor line, the same royal family of our current monarch, Queen Elizabeth II.
…a right Royal Drink
This Horniman tea caddy depicts Edward VII and Alexandra enjoying a cup of our tea.
The slogan on the side of the box reads: “Horniman’s Pure Tea, A right Royal Drink”.
Princess Puppets
This wooden rod puppet represent Princess Diana, perhaps in a wedding dress with a white veil.
She is holding a boquet of bright red and yellow flowers and the articulated jaw and arm mean the puppet could have been positioned and moved.