A watercolour showing Archie and Annie Macdonald with two of Queen Victoria's dogs. Archie Macdonald is shown full-length, seated on a low stool and looking down at a Scotch terrier seated on the stool to the right. A dachshund is shown seated at the boy's feet. Annie Macdonald is shown standing to the right of the stool, leaning to put her arm around her brother. Both children are shown in Highland dress. Inscribed below: Archie & Annie Macdonald with Daphne & Fancy at the Kennel. Inscribed lower right: VR began Nov: 1849. finished March 31 1850. (from nature) Archie and Annie MacDonald were the children of one of Prince Albert’s gillies, or gamekeepers, who came south to run the royal kennels at Windsor. Here Queen Victoria paints them with two of the royal pets, the dachshund Daphne and the ‘Scotch terrier’ Fancy. The inscription at the bottom notes the work was begun in November 1845 but not finished until March 1850, indicating that the Queen took trouble to assemble and complete each individual element of a composition. Text adapted from Victoria & Albert: Art & Love, London, 2010