Marriage of Edward, Prince of Wales, and Princess Alexandra of Denmark, March 1863
Engraver William Henry Simmons British
After William Powell Frith British
Publisher Henry Graves & Co. British
Not on view
The marriage of Edward, Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) to Princess Alexandra (later Queen Alexandra) took place at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle on March 10, 1863. Frith received the commission to depict the grand ceremony from Queen Victoria herself who stipulated that she should be "unmistakeably visible" in the painting. The large canvas (over 2 by 3 meters in size, now Royal Collection) crowded with over 125 figures took the artist many years to complete and was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1865. The Queen allowed Frith to make a reduced replica for reproduction which was completed in August 1866. The equally large print by Simmons also took many years to complete and was eventually issued in 1870 in a range of examples including, as here, impressions signed by both artist and printmaker.
