Description

This gathering of British military officers was occasioned by the visit of Queen Victoria’s seventh child, Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (1850–1942) (seated, second from left). His wife, Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia, is the woman on the right. As commander in chief of the Bombay Presidency from 1886 to 1890, the prince performed military inspections and embarked on diplomatic missions throughout India. Dignitaries’ visits were routinely commemorated with a professional photograph. The photographer often took the image for free, counting on the purchase of prints by those wanting to feature the dignitary in their parlors on walls and tables or in albums.