Although the back of the mount bears a backplate identifying the photographer as S. Ayling of 493, Oxford Street [London], this photograph is actually one of a series taken by Victor Albert Prout. The occasion was the Braemare Gathering held in the grounds of Mar Lodge in August 1863 during the first official visit to Scotland by the Princess and Princess of Wales. At the celebrations which followed the games, the Prince and Princess were entertained by a series of tableaux vivants and scenes from amateur theatricals staged by other guests. Full details of the event and the Mar Lodge album subsequently produced are given in "Staged Photography in the Victorian Album", an essay by Marta Weiss in Acting The Part: Photography as Theatre (2006).
