Noble Hounds And Dear Companions

Among the many treasures of the Royal Photograph Collection at Windsor is a handsome album entitled The Property of the Queen - Photographs of Dogs in the Royal Kennel, Windsor . It is perhaps the earliest official record of the Royal Family and their many canine companions - from Queen Victoria's beloved confidante, her spaniel, Dash, to Prince Albert's elegant greyhounds; from Edward VII and his charming if disreputable fox-terrier, Caesar, to Queen Alexandra and her collection of exotic toy-dogs. Taking the album as its starting point, this book records over a century of royal pets, immortalised with owners and without. Paintings and works of art from the Royal Collection complete the story - or stories, in some cases - the creation of Landseer's famous painting Dignity and Impudence , the arrival of the first Pekinese in England, and Caesar's finest hour, as a masterpiece from the workshop of Carl Faberge.