On 28th November 1843 Queen Victoria arrived at Drayton Manor for a three night stay with Prime Minister, Sir Robert Peel. Upon arriving at the Manor, Queen Victoria was greeted by Lady Peel and the Duchess of Buccleuch, who took her into the Drawing Room before showing the Queen and Prince Albert to the rooms in which they would be staying. ‘[Drayton Manor] is a fine, simple house in the plain Elizabethan style… There is a fine Gallery, into which all the rooms open’ wrote the Queen, adding that her rooms were ‘extremely comfortable & pretty, comprising a cheerful sitting room, bedroom & 2 dressing rooms’ (1). In one of those well prepared dressing rooms Victoria carefully got ready for her first dinner in Robert Peel’s home. Led in on the arm of her host, Victoria entered dinner in ‘a rich broche pink silk and satin dress with rich lace, adorned with a profusion of diamonds and emeralds’ (2), with the addition of the insignia of the Order of the Garter. Unfortunately Victoria’s dress from that day no longer survives, however there is a painting which resembles this description in the Royal Collection. Painted by George Koberwein in 1865, the portrait in question is currently on display in the Jewel Room at Kensington Palace. It’s is said to be a copy of Winterhalter’s 1852 portrait of the Queen, which was commissioned as a gift to Baron Stockmar. Like the dress that was worn by Victoria during her historic visit, the painting shows the Queen in a dress of pink silk, decorated in lace and flowers. The only thing that makes this portrait noticeably separate from the description – besides the decades in which they were created – is the Queen’s iconic emerald and diamond tiara, which was made two years after her visit to Drayton Manor. Of course, the painting isn’t an accurate representation of Victoria’s 1843 dress, it gives us a wonderful insight into the colourful wardrobe of the young monarch.
© Queen.Victoria.Roses 2026
Citation:
(1) RA VIC/MAIN/QVJ (W) 28 November 1843 (PRINCESS BEATRICE’S COPIES) retrieved 10 March 2026 Royal Collection Trust / © King Charles III
(2) ‘Arrival of Her Majesty At Tamworth’, Saint James’s Chronicle, 30 November 1843, p. 3. The British Newspaper Archive (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) [accessed 10 March 2026]
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