When we heard that cushions would be required for chairs in the Victoria Revealed exhibition, we thought it would be an ideal project to work with community groups on - making cushions which would be seen by hundreds of thousands of people. However, we decided that we would try something different for this particular project - to work in partnership with the prison embroidery charity Fine Cell Work. Fine Cell Work have built an extremely good reputation over the last few decades teaching prisoners how to do needlework, and in so doing have also taught them transferable skills and patience.

We decided that the cushions for the room all about Victoria and Prince Albert's love for each other would be made by 16 prisoners, each of whom were given historical information sheets to give them background knowledge of Queen Victoria's life. Each cushion features words from Victoria's journal which she used to describe her love for Prince Albert, such as 'Dream', 'Bliss', and of course, 'Love'. Interlocking 'V&A's and crowns also featured in the cushion designs. Using Berlin woolwork style needlework with cotton threads, the cushions took about four months to produce, and each one contains 11,000 stitches. They are exquisite.

The cushions are now on display in the 'Love' room in Victoria Revealed, and a few are also on display in the Duchess of Kent Community Room elsewhere in the palace (this latter room is not part of the public route, but is for use by community groups for learning sessions).