Princess Helen of Waldeck is shown in the dress she wore on the occasion of her marriage to Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, at St George's Chapel, Windsor, on 27 April 1882, and this miniature (a pair with 422109) must be based on a wedding photograph, although the source has not been identified. Queen Victoria described her on that occasion in her Journal: 'A lovely sight she was, her white satin dress & train, embroidered with silver lilies & trimmed with Brussels lace. She wore on her head a diamond diadem, in the shape of flowers (a Waldeck family jewel) surrounded by a bridal wreath & a long tulle veil' (RA QVJ: 27 April 1882).

Princess Helen of Waldeck and Pyrmont, third daughter of George Victor, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont, and of Princess Helene of Nassau, married, in 1882, Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, fourth son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Less than two years later Prince Leopold, who suffered from haemophilia, died after a fall at Cannes. Their daughter, Princess Alice of Albany, later Countess of Athlone (1883 – 1981), became the last surviving grandchild of Queen Victoria; their son, Prince Charles, 2nd Duke of Albany, succeeded as a minor to the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha on the death of his uncle, Prince Alfred of Edinburgh.