Photograph of Queen Victoria in a head and shoulders length portrait, right side profile. She wears a white widow's cap and black dress.

This photograph presents the Queen for which she is best known, a widow. The Queen adopted mourning dress from 1861 following the death of her husband, Prince Albert, until her own death in 1901. In this photograph, the Queen wears a peaked widow's cap which by the 1880's were becoming more elaborate. Made from tulle or silk, some were supported on a wire base to give extra height to the garment.