Queen Victoria described Prince Alamayou’s first arrival at Osborne House on 16 July 1868:

'Heard that the Empr. Theodore's poor little boy, whom we had been expecting since yesterday, had arrived […] Little Alamayou is a very pretty, slight graceful boy of 7 with beautiful eyes & a nice nose & mouth […] He can say one or two words in English. Capt. Speedy, who has brought him, says the poor boy will never leave him for a moment, & always sleeps near him. They are an extraordinary contrast, Capt. Speedy being 6ft 6" & having red hair

Queen Victoria Journal, (RA VIC/MAIN/QVJ (W) 16 July 1868).

Reginald Easton began work as an engraver but later took up watercolour and miniature painting. He exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1835 until 1887 and became particularly well known among aristocratic circles for his miniature portraits of children. Easton was engaged to paint the children of Prince and Princess Louis of Hesse at Osborne House in the summer of 1868 and must have been requested to paint Alamayou within weeks of the young Prince's arrival there. The result is an exceptionally sensitive portrait and one of the finest examples of Easton's work.