June 19, 1906 · H.M.Y. Victoria and Albert · Private dinner for Their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales
On June 19, 1906, Their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales — the future King George V and Queen Mary — dined aboard the royal yacht. The menu is entirely handwritten in French, the diplomatic language of the period, and presents a classical French royal court table: consommé, hollandaise, beef tenderloin, asparagus, peaches, and Quiche de Lorraine.
The hand-painted watercolour at the top shows the Victoria and Albert at sea under a royal standard. Below it, the gold cartouche reads “H.M.Y. Victoria and Albert.” The calligraphic French script below is in the formal Belle Époque royal household hand. This is among the most historically significant single documents in the NYPL menu collection — a working day’s menu from the most senior household of the British Empire at its height.
H.M.Y. Victoria and Albert was the third British royal yacht of that name, launched 1899 and used by the British monarchy from Edward VII through George VI. She served as the official conveyance for the Sovereign on state visits, royal regattas, and ceremonial voyages until her retirement in 1954.
Visual style: Watercolour vignette of the royal yacht above a fully handwritten French menu.
What you receive
- Three print sizes: 8×10, 11×14, 16×20 inches (300 DPI, ready for any home printer or framing shop).
- Two versions of each size: a pure print (no added text) and a museum print (with a small caption: restaurant or ship, year, and source).
- A 1–2 page PDF with the menu’s historical context.
- One ZIP file, instantly downloadable after checkout.
About the source
This menu is preserved in the Buttolph Collection of Menus at The New York Public Library and is in the public domain in the United States. The Menu Press has curated, digitally restored, and reformatted the work for modern printing.
