Queen Victoria having remained in seclusion following
the death of Prince Albert in December 1861, the role of
the Prince of Wales (Edward Albert, later King Edward
VII) as representative of the Crown was significantly
enhanced, and in May 1865 the Prince made an official
State Visit to Ireland to open the Dublin International
Exhibition. Arriving at Kingston aboard the royal yacht Victoria
and Albert on Monday 8th May, the Prince
was warmly welcomed, and local authorities had arranged
'a series of entertainment in his honour in full keeping
with the splendour and magnificence of the inaugural
ceremony.'1 That night there was a party at
the Vice Regal Lodge, on the Tuesday the Prince 'opened
the International Exhibition with great éclat in
the presence of about 10,000 persons'2, and
in the evening following the formal ceremonials the Lord
Mayor hosted a grand ball at the Mansion-house. Finally,
the next day, Wednesday 10th, the civic and
cultural program was rounded off in military style.
According to a report in The Times:
"A grand review of the troops in garrison in
Dublin was held this afternoon on the Fifteen Acres, in
the Phoenix Park. The Duke of Cambridge took the command
of the troops. They were reviewed by the Prince of Wales
and the Lord-Lieutenant; Lady Wodehouse, Mr Edmund R.
Wodehouse, the Hon. Ralph Harbord, and other members of
the Vice Regal Household accompanied the Royal Party.
The number of spectators on the ground was greater than
on any similar occasion since the visit of the Queen in
1849. The Prince of Wales, who was attired in the
uniform of the 10th Hussars, of which
regiment his Royal Highness is Colonel, was received
with the greatest enthusiasm. On the arrival of the
Prince, at a quarter past 3 o'clock, a Royal salute of
21 guns was fired, and the troops having been inspected
the review at once commenced. It terminated at half-past
4 o'clock." 3
The present work provides a formal artistic record of
this historic event. As noted by the Times
correspondent, the Prince is in his Hussar's uniform,
looking very much as he does in Robert Jefferson
Bingham's carte-de-visite photograph (1864,
National Portrait Gallery, London). He rides at the head
of the reviewing party, in front of George, Duke of
Cambridge (General Commanding in Chief of the British
army) in red coat and bicorn hat, and another military
gentleman, possibly the Prince of Leiningen, a distant
cousin of the Prince and a leading member of his Irish
entourage. The figure in a top hat at the edge of the
picture is probably Lord Wodehouse, the Lord-Lieutenant
of Ireland. In the distance can be seen the smoke of the
salutary cannonade, with Dublin Bay and Howth Head
behind.
A fine and delicately finished watercolour, the work
is by Henry J. Fleuss. Fleuss was German (born in Düsseldorf),
but is believed to have settled in England around 1830.
A portrait and subject painter in oil and watercolour,
he was employed as Drawing Master at Marlborough College
from 1844 to 1857. Though relatively little is known of
his work, Fleuss has a certain fame by association:
William Morris attended Marlborough during his time
there, and Fleuss's daughter Margaret later married John
Bentley, architect of Westminster Roman Catholic
Cathedral. He is represented in the collections of the
Manchester City Galleries, with a portrait of the Earl
of Wilton.
