An album containing 377 photographs collected and arranged on Queen Mary between June 1913 and July 1916. The photographs are numbered RCINs 2303706 to 2303766 (with parts). It covers events from the summer of 1913, the State Visit to France in April 1914, a tour of Scotland in the summer, the escalation of tensions in Europe and military preparations leading to the declaration of war in August 1914, numerous visits of country houses and reviews of troops, up to July 1916.

In 1913 Queen Mary visited the new buildings of Bedford College for Women, the Commonwealth Buildings (now Australia House) and King’s College Hospital, during June and July 1913. The King and Queen holidayed in Cowes and Balmoral, where the Prince of Wales, recently returned from Germany, photographed the royal family relaxing in the grounds of Balmoral and Mar Lodge. There are photographs of the wedding of Prince Arthur of Connaught and Princess Alexandra of Fife, who were first cousins, in October.

There are interesting photographs of the renovations of Buckingham Palace, particularly of the new Palladian-style façade designed by Aston Webb, completed on time in 1914. Some photographs of the garden were taken by Prince Henry, probably while on leave from Eton College. In April the King and Queen made a State Visit to France, visiting Paris, Chantilly and Vincennes, with the French President and Mrs Poincare, which was a great success and thoroughly enjoyed by Queen Mary – she covered 21 pages with photographs to commemorate the visit.

After the funeral of the Marquess of Lorne, 9th Duke of Argyll, at Westminster Abbey in May, Queen Mary visited a numbers of country houses such as Ravensworth Castle, Auckland Castle, Lyme Park, Norwich Castle. In May 1914 there is a tour of some importance of Aldershot Camp and Farnborough Common where the Royal Aircraft Factory was located, and where different aeroplanes and an airship were reviewed. Prince Prajadhipok, later Rama VII, King of Thailand (1893-1941) was stationed at Aldershot at the time, and the Prime Minster Herbert Asquith also attended. In June 1914 a tour of Scotland was undertaken, using the Palace of Holyroodhouse as their base, from where the King and Queen travelled to Glasgow, particularly the shipyards and factories, Stirling Castle, Dundee and Hamilton Palace. On 4th August 1914 Britain declared war on Germany following the invasion of Belgium. The King and Queen cancelled their annual summer visit to Balmoral and attended reviews of troops as the country mobilised for war.

During 1915, the King and Queen visited many hospitals and military establishments, reviewing troops, particularly Canadian troops, which were stationed in Salisbury Plain for training before the second Battle of the Somme. In between there were occasional light-hearted breaks with visits to Adelaide Cottage in the Windsor Home Park (the King mowing the lawn in his top hat, joined by Prince John), boating in Virginia Water Lake, and Cobham Hall in Kent. In October 1915, King George V went to France to tour the Western Front, where he had a serious fall from his horse, which had taken fright during an inspection of Royal Flying Corps. He fractured his pelvis and had to rest for the rest of the year of 1915, so Queen Mary deputised for the King on many official occasions such as military inspections or hospital visits, which left her no time for her albums. The months between November 1915 and March 1916 are represented by Tuck postcards of senior officers of the British High Command.

In late March 1916 the King and Queen hosted a series of tea parties for wounded soldiers and sailors in the Royal Mews, where entertainments was put on and the men were waited on by members of the royal family and friends. The album ends with visits to the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst and Wellington College, an independent boys’ school in Berkshire: a considerable number of former pupils fought in the Great War, including Prince Maurice of Battenberg.

The photographs are arranged over 61 pages, most are by professional photographers (some identified) and some by amateurs including Queen Mary’s children. Many of the original photographs have been trimmed to fit a space on the page, so names and details may be lost. It was not intended to be a private and intimate album, but a record of the places and people that were encountered during these three years. The captions are written by Queen Mary and are all brief.