When a French theatre company performed The Count of Monte Cristo at Drury Lane there was a violent outcry at the slight to English drama. To show her support for English theatre Queen Victoria instituted the Windsor Theatricals, which were performed by Charles Kean and company at Windsor Castle over Christmas between 1848 and 1861. They included many Shakespeare plays, such as a performance of Hamlet in 1849, the playbill for which is shown in this book. A watercolour original for one of the book’s printed plates is reproduced behind.