Alexandrine of Baden, Duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (1820-1904)

Queen Victoria witnessed several of the Duchess of Coburg’s sittings to Sir William Ross during the Duke and Duchess’s stay at Buckingham Palace from 6 February until 4 March 1848: ‘Went later in the morning to sit with Alexandrine, whilst Ross was painting her’, she reported on 11 February (RA QVJ); ‘I again kept Alexandrine company when she sat to Ross’ (12 FebruaryFebruary); ‘Sat with dear Alexandrine, whilst she was being painted by Ross’ and ‘I sat with dear Alexandrine whilst Ross finished her miniature’ (1 March). Two copies of the miniature were painted for the Duchess by Ross. One was set in a bracelet and given by her to the Duchess of Kent; the other, which she gave to her husband, is now in the Veste Coburg. The Duchess found herself unable to meet the cost of the miniatures and her expenses were defrayed by Queen Victoria. Another miniature of ‘H.S.H. the Duchess of Saxe-Coburg’ remained in the artist’s studio at his death and was exhibited by his executors at the SA 1860 (no. 65). Queen Victoria's version of the miniature was well received when exhibited at the RA in 1848: it was thought to have been ‘treated with breadth and endowed with the easy natural movement of life’ (Art Union, 1848, X, p. 179).

Ross also painted a watercolour of the Duchess at the same time (913820; Royal Collection). The pose, tilt of the head and costume are very similar to those in the miniature, the only difference being the substitution of the roses for the wreath in the hair. During the Duchess’s visit Queen Victoria wrote to her uncle, Leopold I, King of the Belgians: ‘Alexandrine is really a most dear aimiable [sic] character whom one must love dearly’ (RA VIC/Y 199/89).