Royal Naval uniform: pattern 1846

This frock is part of a sailor suit was made for Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (later Edward VII) in 1846, when he was four years’ old. It is white linen with side gussets. At the shoulder, encircling the upper arm, are the strips of the watch made of blue twill tape. The sleeve terminates in a cuff of blue jean edged with three white tapes and fastening with a mother of pearl button. The collar is of blue jean with three white tapes, and, near the edge of the V-neck are two white tying tapes on each side to secure the black silk.

The suit also includes trousers (UNI0293), which are of white linen with a flap front that fastens with four buttons. Behind this flap is a three-button central closure, as well as a concealed pocket of white cotton. The flap front is partially lined, and this is secured in a decorative arcade pattern of running stitch.

Queen Victoria recorded in her diary that the prince, who was nicknamed Bertie, wore a sailor suit on a voyage on the royal yacht ‘Victoria and Albert’ from Osborne House on the Isle of Wight to Jersey on 2 September 1846. She wrote: ‘After passing the Alderney Race it became quite smooth; and then Bertie put on his sailor’s dress, which was beautifully made by the man on board who makes for our sailors. When he appeared, the officers and sailors, who were all assembled on deck to see him, cheered, and seemed delighted with him’.

Bertie’s father, Prince Albert, commissioned Franz Xaver Winterhalter to paint a portrait of the young prince in his nautical costume as a Christmas gift for Victoria. The painting (Royal Collection, RCIN 404873) was exhibited to the public in 1847 at St James’s Palace, where it was reportedly seen by over 100,000 visitors, and an engraving after the painting by S. Cousins was published on 15 February 1848. The exhibition and engraving have been credited with helping to popularise sailor suits as childrenswear.