2-716-318 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

James Innes-Ker in Plantagenet costume for Queen Victoria's Bal Costume, May 12 1842, (1843). British peer James Innes-Ker, 6th Duke of Roxburghe (1816-1879) in chain mail and crown. Members of the Royal Household were expected to wear dress of the Plantagenet period (c1154-1485), although other guests could wear costumes of their own choosing. 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 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]