2-716-314 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Prince Albert in costume as Plantagenet King Edward III for the Bal Costumé, May 12 1842, (1843). Albert (1819-1861) is dressed as Edward III (1312-1377) but is wearing the anachronistic jewelled Sword of Offering, made by Rundells for George IV's coronation in 1821. The costumes were designed under the supervision of James Robinson Planché and were specifically intended to give work to the declining Spitalfields silk industry. The royal couple's costumes were based on tomb effigies. The ball of 1842, held at Buckingham Palace in London, was the first of three costume balls held by Queen Victoria and Albert, Prince Consort. The second, on 6 June 1845, was in early Georgian dress, while the third, on 13 June 1851, was in the style of the Restoration. From "Souvenir of the Bal Costumé, given by H.M. Queen Victoria at Buckingham Palace, May 12, 1842 / drawings from the original dresses by Coke Smyth; letterpress by J.R. Planche", 1843. [Paul & Dominic Colnaghi & Co, London, 1843]