Any collector of postal history will be familiar with the black-edged stationery used in the 19th century when the size of extended families and the relatively short life expectancy meant that families could spend more time dressed in widow’s weeds than in conventional dress. Queen Victoria was renowned for her habit of wearing black following the death of her beloved Prince Albert for the remainder of her reign.
The loss of a member of the Royal Family was the occasion for much public grief and publishers were
