In 1862, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert sent their eldest son, Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, on an educational tour of the Middle East. Like all the royal children, the Prince had been encouraged as a boy to collect artefacts from across the globe for the family museum at Osborne House. He continued in this tradition during his Middle Eastern trip, acquiring personal souvenirs and historic works of art from Egypt and Rhodes in particular. While at Thebes, he was shown many 'precious little objects' and helped excavate a mummy, in which he discovered a scarab. The Prince subsequently acquired several scarabs, some of which were set in jewellery on his return to London. This blue-green glazed example, dating from 700 bc, was already set into a brooch when it was acquired by the Prince. He later presented it as a wedding gift to Princess Alexandra of Denmark (1844–1925) in March 1863 and a portrait bust of the Princess shows her wearing the brooch later that year (RCIN 2094).