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They were intimate pictures she never wanted the public to see. So when Queen Victoria’s family portraits – sketched by herself – were leaked to a journalist, she sought an injunction. In one of the first cases of its kind, the furious monarch applied to the courts to stop publication of the drawings in the 1840s. Now, more than 150 years later, the public will be offered the rare chance to see them when copies of six of the pictures go to auction.
They were shrouded in secrecy for most of Victoria’s life and only trusted friends and family were allowed to own copies. Her injunction was one of the earliest examples of high-profile figures turning to the courts to prevent reporting on their private lives – a facility now popular with philandering celebrities. The etchings are expected to make up to £1,500 when they are sold at Dominic Winter Book Auctions in Cirencester on January 25.
Chris Albury, senior catalogue auctioneer, said: ‘This is one of the earliest examples of high-profile figures taking injunctions out against the Press. The sketches were for Queen Victoria’s own amusement, and not meant for circulation among the public.
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