T.R.H The Duke and Duchess of York, Princess Elizabeth Country Life Magazine Portrait December 25 1926

T.R.H The Duke and Duchess of York with Princess Elizabeth Country Life Magazine Portrait, Frontispiece, December 25 1926. LX No. 1562

The featured frontispiece this week is a portrait of T.R.H. the Duke and Duchess of York with their infant daughter, Princess Elizabeth. Their Royal Highnesses were due to sail in H.M.S. Renown early in the New Year to visit Australia and New Zealand. The Duke and Duchess of York—later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother—are shown with their firstborn child, Princess Elizabeth, the future Queen Elizabeth II, then only a few months old.

• The Voyage: The journey formed part of the 1927 Royal Tour of Australia and New Zealand, a major diplomatic mission of the period.
• Departure: Their Royal Highnesses departed England on January 6, 1927.
• The Ship: They travelled aboard H.M.S. Renown, a battlecruiser frequently used for royal tours.
• Australia: A principal purpose of the visit was to open the provisional Parliament House in Canberra in May 1927.
• New Zealand: The royal party visited several cities, although the Duchess was obliged to shorten her tour due to illness.
• Princess Elizabeth: The infant princess did not accompany the tour, remaining in London under the care of her grandparents, King George V and Queen Mary.
• Public Reception: The tour proved an immense success, with large crowds gathering throughout the visit, including over one million people in Sydney Harbour.

This is an authentic original page from Country Life magazine, part of the iconic series often affectionately referred to as the “Girls in Pearls” portraits — elegant society images that captured a distinctive era of British publishing and portraiture.

Size: Approximately 13.75 x 9 inches (35 x 23 cm)

Condition: Very good for its age. As with all vintage magazine pages, light signs of handling or minor age-related blemishes may be present. Please review the large photo carefully for full condition details.

This original Country Life Magazine frontispiece portrait forms part of The Old Map Shop’s curated archive of society portraits published between 1897 and 2026.