Prince Victor of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, best known as Count Gleichen, was the son of a half-sister of Queen Victoria. Upon his retirement in 1866, after serving in the Royal Navy, he took up a career as a professional sculptor and trained for three years in the studio of William Theed. Having gone bankrupt he was granted a studio at St James's Palace by Queen Victoria. He became a frequent exhibitor at the Royal Academy and an accomplished sculptor.