This looks like an ordinary white cotton nightdress but look closer and you will see that It bears the monogram, ‘VR’ with a crown above, situated below the frill. This nightdress in our Costume Collection belonged to Queen Victoria.
It was originally thought that it may have been worn during a visit to Mulgrave Castle when she came to stay with her great friend, Maharajah Duleep Singh. The Maharajah leased the castle from 1858 for a period of four years. However, at this time the Queen was quite a slight figure and the size of the nightdress would indicate that is worn in her later years.
The then Princess Victoria also visited Whitby in 1834, when it is known that she climbed the West Pier lighthouse which had been opened three years previously.