A photograph of Queen Victoria and her family: what can it tell us?

Married to Prince Alfred, second son of Queen Victoria, from 1874

She was the daughter of Tsar Alexander II. Three of her brothers – the Grand Dukes Sergei, Pavel and Vladimir – attended the wedding of her daughter Victoria Melita and they appear in the photograph.

Queen Victoria’s first great-grandchild

Her mother was Charlotte of Prussia, the eldest daughter of Victoria, Princess Royal. She suffered throughout her life from various unspecified illnesses and eventually committed suicide. Recently it has been suggested she inherited porphyria, the illness that affected King George III.

The eldest child of Queen Victoria

She married the Crown Prince of Prussia in 1858, eventually becoming empress in 1888. Her marriage was intended to cement ties between Britain and Germany. Mother and daughter exchanged thousands of letters discussing their family, often suggesting suitable marriages for children and grandchildren.

The sixth child of Victoria’s daughter Princess Alice

Shortly before this photograph was taken, her engagement was announced to Grand Duke Nicholas of Russia. By November 1894, Alix was Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna. Her life at the Russian court was difficult, particularly after the birth of her son Alexei in 1904 who had inherited haemophilia.

The eldest son of Tsar Alexander III

Nicholas became tsar only a few months after his engagement was announced. His rule was beset with difficulties, including Russia’s disastrous involvement in the First World War. The February revolution of 1917 led to Nicholas II’s abdication. In July 1918, the Bolsheviks murdered Nicholas, Alexandra and their children.

The second child of Princess Alice

She attended her brother’s wedding with her husband Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, son of Tsar Alexander II. Her husband’s assassination in 1905 shocked her deeply and she took up a religious life, becoming abbess of a convent. Following the revolution, she was murdered in July 1918. She was canonised in 1981.

The son of Princess Victoria, Queen Victoria’s eldest child

He became emperor in 1888. Wilhelm’s increasing unpopularity at home and abroad, together with his lack of control during the First World War and the beginnings of the German revolution, contributed to his abdication in November 1918 and lifelong exile to the Netherlands.

‘Cousin’ of Queen Victoria through his paternal grandmother Sophie, the sister of Queen Victoria’s mother

Count Mensdorff worked for the Austro-Hungarian diplomatic service, and in 1889 transferred to London. He was appointed ambassador in 1904. He left London during the First World War and later worked for Austria at the League of Nations.

The daughter of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh (son of Queen Victoria) and Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna of Russia

She married Prince Ferdinand of Romania in 1893, becoming Queen of Romania in 1914. Despite an unhappy marriage, Queen Marie became the public face of Romania during the First World War and helped Romanian politicians achieve their objectives at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919.

Ascended the throne in 1837

Her marriage to Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in 1840 produced nine children, of whom all except one had children. After Prince Albert's death in 1861, the queen devoted much energy to organising the lives of her family. Marriages were arranged with royal families from Russia, Prussia, Romania, Greece, Denmark, Sweden and Spain.

Sophie Gordon is senior curator of photographs at the Royal Collection

This article was first published in the February 2012 issue of BBC History Magazine