On 11 May 1921, the last day of Crown Prince Hirohito’s official visit to Britain, he attended a banquet at St James’s Palace given in his honour by Edward, Prince of Wales. More than 70 guests were invited, including the crown prince’s great-uncle Field Marshal Prince Kan’in Kotohito (1865–1945) and Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught (1850-1942), who had visited Japan in 1890. To mark the occasion, the host summoned Richard Speaight to take a series of portraits of the four men just before dinner. A professional photographer with several clients from European royalty, Speaight was well practised in setting up temporary studios away from his premises in Bond Street, even in such unusual spaces as a barn or a servants’ corridor. On this occasion, he set up his camera in the cloakroom at the top of the palace’s Grand Staircase.

This photograph, of the four princes in white tie, is the sole portrait from the session that survives in the Royal Collection. It is also the image that the Illustrated London News printed in its 21 May 1921 issue. No earlier publication featuring the crown prince in civilian attire on an official tour has yet come to light. Many Japanese newspapers subsequently published similar pictures; until then they were limited to reproducing images of his formal processions during a visit. While we cannot be certain that Speaight’s work influenced the Japanese Home Ministry’s decision to relax image circulation restrictions, this photograph is key to understanding the development of the crown prince’s public image.

Text adapted from Japan: Courts and Culture (2020)