A watercolour depicting figures, including the Prince and Princess of Wales, the Duchess of Sutherland and Lord Hartington, in fancy dress at a ball.

On 22 July 1874 the Prince and Princess of Wales held a costume ball at their London residence Marlborough House which was attended by over 14 hundred guests. Much like the sequence of balls held by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert a few decades ago, guests were encouraged to wear fancy dress. Albert Edward, the Prince of Wales, dressed as Charles I, and Princess Alexandra wore a Venetian costume. Their two eldest sons, the young princes Albert Victor and George (later King George V), were attired as pages of honour, their costumes having been copied from a painting in the National Gallery (according to the Illustrated London News of August 1, 1874). The Royal Academician Frederic Leighton was on the planning committee for the ball.