Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor by Dorothy Wilding

Dorothy Wilding (1893-1976) was an English “society” photographer. She operated studios in London and New York City. Her ability to produce relaxed yet poised portraits of important figures from English society resulted in Wilding being awarded the distinction of a royal warrant to act as the official photographer at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Wilding’s coronation portrait appears on the definitive postage stamps that bore the Queen’s likeness in various Commonwealth countries between 1952-1967.

-Adapted from Wikipedia

This photograph was formerly the property of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, and purchased at Sotheby’s famous auction of their estate in the fall of 1997. It retains its original, unique presentation matting used by top-end portraitists of the day, and bears an impressive studio stamp on the reverse of the mount. The print itself has soft, luminous tones, with some slight silvering along the outer margin of the image.

Of the many society figures that sat for Dorothy Wilding’s camera, Prince Edward is perhaps the most controversial. He is famously remembered for abdicating his position as King of England in 1936 so that he might marry twice-divorced American socialite Wallis Warfield Simpson.

This playful portrait is from a sitting that took place in 1935. Coincidentally, during this same period Wilding’s studio also produced a portrait of Wallis Simpson that would be reproduced on the cover of Time, declaring Mrs. Simpson its first “Woman of the Year” in 1936.

A selection of portraits made by Dorothy Wilding from the collection of the National Portrait Gallery, UK - National Portrait Gallery 

Houston plays host to and exhibition of five centuries of British royal portraits - Lonely Planet, October 2018