George and Mary - A Miniature Souvenir Photo Album

This is a little trinket I bought for one of my dolls' houses last week and absolutely love.

Having recently been immersed in researching the miniatures relating to Queen Mary's Dolls' House for an article I wrote for Dolls' Houses Past and Present online magazine, I'm now hooked on everything to do with Queen Mary and the post-Edwardian era monarchy leading up to our present queen, Queen Elizabeth II (Queen Mary's granddaughter).

The tiny album measures only 2.3 cm high x 1.8 cm wide. The front features a photograph of King George and Queen Mary together.

Inside is a set of fold-out photos of King George, Queen Mary and each of their six children.

First we have King George V of England (b. 1865, d. 1936) who reigned from 1910 to 1936. George was the son of Edward VII and grandson of Queen Victoria.

Next we have Queen Mary of Teck (b. 1867, 1953). Originally betrothed to Prince Albert, the eldest son of Edward VII, she ended up marrying George, after Albert died unexpectedly.

Queen Mary is well-known in dolls' house collector circles for her keen interest in dolls' houses. It was said that when she visited stately homes with dolls' houses in them, the owners dreaded showing them to H.M. because if she took a fancy to something in the house, as she often did, they really had no option but to gift it to her!

It was for Queen Mary that Sir Edwin Lutyens was commissioned in 1921 to construct the palatial dolls' house known as Queen Mary's Dolls' House, now on display in Windsor Castle.

Next in the tiny photo album we have, on the left above, Prince Edward (b. 1894, d. 1972), who later became King Edward VIII before abdicating from the throne to marry the American socialite Wallace Simpson.

On the right above, is Prince Albert (b. 1895, d. 1952), who became King George VI following his brother's abdication. George was the father of our present queen, Queen Elizabeth II.

On the left above, we have Mary, the Princess Royal (b. 1897, d. 1965) who later also became the Countess of Harewood.

On the right above, we have Prince Henry (b. 1900, d. 1974) who became Duke of Gloucester.

Next we have, on the left above, Prince George (b. 1902, d. 1942) who later became the Duke of Kent and died tragically at the age of 39, along with fourteen other men in a military air crash.

And finally, on the right above, we have Prince John (b. 1905, d. 1919) who was diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of four. He was subsequently sent to the King's Sandringham estate where he was kept out of the public eye. He died of a severe seizure when he was only thirteen years old.

Judging by the ages of the children in the photos, I am guessing that the miniature will date to around 1911 when the eldest son, Prince Edward, would have been about seventeen, and the youngest, Prince John, about six. This would make sense because the souvenir is likely to have been produced to commemorate the coronation of King George V which was in June 1911.

The photos are all signed "Lafayette", referring to Lafayette Photography which began trading in 1880 and is still trading today, claiming to be the oldest photographic company in Ireland and possibly even in the world.

All that remains now is for me to place the album in a dolls' house of the right period - I'll add a photo here when I've done so, but just at the moment, they're all [very frustratingly] packed away pending a full-size house move.

Until next time,

Zoe