The Royal Family at Buckingham Palace, 1913

This large canvas, commissioned in 1913 and now at the National Portrait Gallery, documents the royal family's presence at Buckingham Palace in a format that merges state portrait with interior genre scene. The work predates the formal dynastic group portrait and appears to have functioned as a document of royal domestic ceremonial — the palace as setting rather than mere backdrop. Lavery had gained access to Buckingham Palace interiors through his royal commission and used that access to record the formal and informal life of the court with a painter's eye for light, space, and movement. The National Portrait Gallery's version differs in purpose from the Royal Collection pictures: where those emphasise the individual, this image places figures within a historic architectural interior.

Lavery deployed his interior painting skills to balance figure and setting — the palace's architectural grandeur is evoked through tonal recession rather than literal architectural detail, while figures are handled with his characteristic warm, summary treatment. Light entering the composition from tall palace windows creates the atmospheric diffusion Lavery favoured.