The first items noted in the Queen's careful record of her acquisitions were miniatures – including the two of her parents given by her mother, the Duchess of Kent. The Duchess was the daughter of Franz Friedrich Anton, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, and the sister of Prince Leopold, later King Leopold I of the Belgians. Her first husband was Charles, Prince of Leiningen (1763–1814), by whom she had two children, Charles and Feodora. Her second husband, Edward, Duke of Kent, whom she married in 1818, was Queen Victoria's father.

Collen, born in London, began his artistic training as a pupil of George Hayter before entering the Royal Academy Schools in September 1820. Hayter gave drawing lessons to Princess Victoria and probably introduced Collen to the royal family. By 1835 Collen had been appointed Miniature Painter to the Duchess of Kent and the Princess Victoria, and on 16 August 1837 became Miniature Painter to Her Majesty.

In August 1841 Collen acquired the first commercial licence from W.H. Fox Talbot to operate a photographic studio, using the calotype process which Talbot had patented. Talbot and Collen had been working together, refining the process, since early 1841.

Signed and dated: H Collen 1829 (scratched out, the H and C in monogram)