This photograph, taken by Roger Fenton, shows Queen Victoria surrounded by her four eldest children, from left to right: Prince Albert Edward, Princess Victoria, Princess Alice and Prince Alfred. It is extraordinary for both the apparent ‘ordinariness’ of the sitters, and the dramatic narrative that suggests itself through the strong, direct gaze of the Queen, as she protectively clutches her daughter Princess Alice against her. Here the Queen is presented, first and foremest, as a mother.