On the morning of 9 March 1893, George Washington Wilson died, and with him so too did the fortunes of the family business, which began to succumb to pressures of increased competition and rising overheads. Robert Milne succeeded Charles Wilson as photographer at Balmoral in the same year and in 1896 was granted the royal warrant as ‘Photographer to Her Majesty’ at Ballater.

This tableau attributed to Milne, which features Abdul Karim standing second from right, portrays an Indian hunting scene set against a painted backdrop. Queen Victoria described the tableau as ‘very well done & very realistic … The whole thing was very successful & gave me much pleasure.’