New exhibition reveals Queen Victoria's intimate life with Albert

An intimate portrait of Queen Victoria with her hair down - belying her traditional frumpy image - and a painting she commissioned of an American lion tamer are both part of a new exhibition at the Queen's Gallery, Buckingham Palace.

Victoria and Albert: Art and Love brings together more than 400 items collected during the the royal couple's 21 years of marriage, from 1840 until Albert's death in 1861.

Curator Kathryn Jones said: "What we tried to do with the exhibition was bring out that it was really a partnership, that they inspired each other to collect and commission works of art. That's why we've called it "Art and Love".

The exhibition is arranged chronologically, beginning with the royal couple's engagement portraits, along with a giant family portrait by Franz Winterhalter and a picture of Prince Albert's beloved greyhound, Eos.

Around a third of the objects in the exhibition were exchanged as gifts between the couple to mark special occasions.