CONSERVATION CASE STUDY

Queen Mary's Photo Albums

Princess Mary (later Queen Mary, 1867-1953) photographed at York House holding open a large book or album (RCIN 2808151)
Princess Mary (later Queen Mary, 1867-1953) photographed at York House holding open a large book or album (RCIN 2808151) ©

Members of the royal family have been compiling photo albums of their memories for generations. The Royal Photograph Collection houses Queen Mary’s 33 albums, which contain photographs documenting her official visits, family life, and travel from 1880 to 1952. Queen Mary collected over 12,000 photographs that she arranged and captioned herself.  

The albums are currently undergoing conservation treatment, including cleaning and repairs to the paper and binding. In some instances, the albums have been completely rebound. The project aims to make the albums safer to handle, so that they can be digitised, researched, and displayed in the future. 

Watch the film to learn more about how conservators are carefully repairing each album. 

Conserving Queen Mary's Photograph Albums Copyright: Royal Collection Enterprises Limited


Royal Collection Trust is a charity caring for the Royal Collection, one of the world’s great art collections. Income from your visit helps us to conserve and share the Collection so that it can be enjoyed by everyone, wherever they are.