What period? Which regiment?

[Shonagh]

Hello

Sorry about the poor quliaty of the photo but hopefully it will be good enough for someone to recognise the uniform, period and medals on the young man.

Can anyone help.  This photo, we think, was taken in Norfolk. 

Does anyone have an opinion on the ages of the couple?  Everyone seems to look much older in the old photos, due I suppose to the formality of their dress and severe hair styles.

Any help would be much appreciated.  I've looked for the medals on the internet but can't find anything that looks like the one of the man's chest.

Shonagh

[km1971]

Hi Shonagh

It is not a medal. He is wearing the neck badge and star of an order. I don't recognise the neck badge as being British, so likely to be European. The cuff on his uniform looks foreign as well.

If you have an idea of the country you should google it with 'foreign orders and decorations' and you might spot it.

Ken

[Shonagh]

Thanks for your message Ken.  I had posted this photo on the photo dating site and called them badges and stood corrected by someone who told me they were medals.  Seems I was correct in calling the badges in the first place.

It's interesting that you think they are foreign.  For some reason I too looked at the photo and thought he looked foreign and that the uniform didn't look British BUT this had thrown up a real question as to who the heck are the couple?  This was in a family album and we thought it was of grandparents or gt grandparents - who were definitely English, born and bred in Norfolk.

Hmm, I'll keep on looking.

Shonagh

[neil1821]

I had posted this photo on the photo dating site and called them badges and stood corrected by someone who told me they were medals.  Seems I was correct in calling the badges in the first place.

You're right.....and so is the other person. Semantics.
The neck badge and star of an order, as Ken says, but if you take the word medal as a catch-all for Orders, Decorations, Campaigns medals and the rest, then it can be called a medal (my Medal Yearbook includes Orders of Chivalry for example).

The neck badge seems to be a Maltese Cross with crossed swords or something similar, almost like the design of the Belgium Croix de Guerre for example.
The breast star is an 8-pointed star with some device in the centre.
Not sure what country we're dealing with, but you may want to browse:

http://www.medals.org.uk/index.htm

[John Young]

Shonagh,

I can do better than tell you the regiment, I can name the couple.

They are Prince Henry of Battenberg (1858-1896) & his wife, Princess Beatrice, daughter of Queen Victoria (1857-1944).

Judging by the style and the age of the subjects I'd put the image circa the late 1880's.

Prince Henry was commissioned into the 1st Regiment of the Rhenish Hussars in the Prussian Army, so the uniform he is wearing is either a Prussian or Hessian uniform.

Isandlwana

[Shonagh]

Thanks to all who responded.  It's not very often that my research makes me laugh out loud!  I wish I'd contacted you first.  I've spent so much time on this.  The photo was sent to me and a distant cousin by a distant cousin who now lives in Australia.  He has a number of family photos, including the one that I sent for identification.  I think we must have had a fan of the Royals amongst our ancestors as it would appear that someone had carefully stuck it in the albumn along with family photos.  Rather sweet really.  I thought they looked rather grand really but you never know ........  At any rate, we're not related to them at all. 

Thanks for solving the puzzle.  I've sent some other photos of the couple to my  'cousins' that I found on the net - including one of 'our ancestor' with her mother 'Queen Victoria'.  It'll make em laugh at any rate.

[maidmarianoops]

what a shame they were not yours
sylvia


snap

[maidmarianoops]

if at first
oops

[Shonagh]

Yes, what a shame but we really have no claim to Royalty!  Isn't it funny!  Wonder why the photo was stuck in the albumn without the  signature (as per the attachment by Maidmarian!)  I have a number of other photos sent by the same 'cousin' in Australia from the same albumn.  They don't look as grand so maybe they are ours. 

I daren't put them on here though.  Just a thought - I wonder if it was the 'cousin' in Aus who thought he'd have a laugh?  Soon find out.  At least I made sure that a lot of people laughed with us.

Hee Hee