Two More Royal Stained Glass Windows

Still looking at some of the stained glass panels in the Stained Glass Museum at Ely Cathedral, I came across two Royal coats of arms.

This one should be pretty recognizable to most of you.

As the portrait alone should tell you, but with the added identification immediately below her, this is Queen Victoria, Queen ("Regina") and Emperor ("Imperator").

The two shields below are the arms of the Prince Consort, Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (whose arms were granted in 1840, but this depiction lacks the label of three tags the center tag charged with a cross gules on the UK quarters) and the Royal Arms of the United Kingdom borne by the Queen.

This window was created in 1910 by Hugh Arnold (who died in action at Gallipoli in 1915). It comes from St. Mary Magdalene’s Church, Bear Street, Barnstaple, Devonshire. It was a gift to the Museum in 1989 from the London Stained Glass Repository.

The next one is of a Royal personage who may not be as familiar to you. It is entitled "The Duke of Clarence as St. George".

Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale (Albert Victor Christian Edward, 1864-1892), was the eldest child of the Prince and Princess of Wales (later King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra), and was plainly named after his grandparents, Albert and Victoria. Victor fell ill with influenza in the pandemic of 1889-1892, and developed pneumonia and died at Sandringham House in Norfolk on January 14, 1892, less than a week after his 28th birthday. At the time of his death he was engaged to marry Princess Victoria Mary of Teck. The following year, she became engaged to Victor's only surviving brother, George, who subsequently became King George V.

The window was designed by John Lisle and made in 1905 as a memorial to the Duke. It was located in the Minister's Staircase at Buckingham Palace in London, and was loaned to the Museum by Her Late Majesty in 1984.

The Duke's breastplate and the trim on his cloak bear the arms of St. George (Argent a cross gules), while the shield by his side bears the arms of England (Gules three lions passant guardant in pale or).

These panels are great examples of the height of the stained glassmaker's art at the beginning of the 20th Century. And I'm not just saying that because they happen to have heraldry in them. No, really!