Lecture at The Arts Society Wye Valley: Princess Louise – An Aesthetic Sculptor Locked Away in the Royal Archives

Date: 20 January 2027
Location: Michael Herbert Hall, South Street, Wilton, Salisbury, SP2 0JS.
Princess Louise in Venice 1881 from the Royal Collection
Princess Louise in Venice 1881 from the Royal Collection

Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll (1848–1939) was a talented and unconventional royal artist who became a widely respected, professionally trained sculptor.  The sixth child of Queen Victoria, she broke royal protocol by attending the National Art Training School (now the Royal College of Art) and went on to produce several major public monuments.  Her most celebrated masterpiece is a large marble statue of her mother, Queen Victoria, now located directly outside Kensington Palace depicting a young Queen Victoria in her 1837 coronation robes at just 18 years old.