Queen Alexandra, when Princess of Wales

This 1893 portrait of Alexandra as Princess of Wales was painted eight years before Edward VII's accession, when she was still heir apparent's consort rather than queen. The dating is significant: Alexandra had been Princess of Wales for three decades by 1893, enduring a prolonged waiting period during which she managed the public role of future queen while living with Edward's well-documented infidelities. Portraits of the Princess of Wales served both royal and public purposes — maintaining her image in the national consciousness, circulating to colonial and diplomatic contexts, and affirming the dynasty's visual continuity. Fildes was already established in court circles by the early 1890s, and this commission reflects his access to royal sitters before the formal appointment as Principal Painter that came with Edward's accession in 1901.

Alexandra at forty-nine is depicted with the elegance and restraint that characterised Fildes's female royal portraits throughout his career. The paint handling gives appropriate attention to the dress and jewellery that were Alexandra's visual signature. The face is rendered with sympathetic but honest observation.