A watercolour showing studies of trees, possibly executed under the tutelage of WL Leitch. The trees are shown in four groups around the page. A further study of a coastline in silouette is shown to the lower left. From the age of eight Queen Victoria received regular lessons in drawing and watercolour from professional artists including Richard Westall (1765 – 1836) and Edward Lear (1812 – 88). However, it was the Scottish landscape painter William Leighton Leitch (1804 – 83) with whom she had the most enduring relationship, as he taught her for 22 years. Before teaching Queen Victoria, Leitch had established an impressive reputation as an art tutor, with his pupils including the Duchess of Buccleuch, the Duchess of Sutherland and Queen Victoria’s lady-in-waiting Charlotte Canning.