This photograph was originally conceived by Queen Victoria as a tribute to her late husband, Prince Albert, taken on the second anniversary of her last 'Great Expedition' with him into the Highlands. G.W.Wilson subsequently gained permission to distribute it as a carte de visite, cropping out another figure to focus attention on the mourning Queen's relationship with her faithful servant, John Brown. In its first year of publication, this and a few similar images sold near 13,000 copies, their popularity doubtless heightened by the rumour-mongers who referred to the Queen as 'Mrs Brown'.