French, 'Prince Charles Edward Stuart (The Young Pretender)', after 1748

Prince Charles Edward Stuart, popularly known as ‘Bonnie Prince Charlie’, was born in Rome in 1720 and died there in 1788. He was the son of James Francis Edward Stuart and the grandson of the exiled King James II of England and Ireland and VII of Scotland (known as the ‘Old Pretender’). The crowns of England and Scotland had been personally united in 1603 by King James I and VII and their parliaments joined in 1707 (creating Great Britain).The Catholic James II and VI ruled the three Kingdoms from 1685 to 1688, when he was deposed and the Dutch Protestant William of Orange (his nephew and son-in-law) and Mary II (James’s daughter) were invited by Parliament to replace him. After James’s exile, the Jacobite cause aimed to restore the senior and Catholic branch of the Stuart dynasty.

Prince Charles Edward was known as ‘the Young Pretender’ on account of his own claim to the British throne and his heroic but failed attempts to reclaim it for his father. His intention, with French support, was to remove the Protestant Hanoverian monarchy and return Britain to Catholicism. He is particularly remembered for his role in the 1745 Jacobite rising and his defeat at the Battle of Culloden in 1746, after which he escaped to France, so ending hopes for the return of the Catholic Stuart monarchy.

On his arrival in Scotland in 1745, Prince Charles Edward managed to assemble a force large enough to march on Edinburgh, which surrendered to him. On 21 September 1745 he defeated the British army troops in Scotland at the Battle of Prestonpans. Having marched to Derby, he returned north but was pursued by King George II’s son, the Duke of Cumberland, who defeated the Jacobite forces at Culloden on 16 April 1746. Prince Charles Edward fled with the help of Flora MacDonald (disguised as her maid); his escape is commemorated in the popular folk song ‘The Skye Boat Song.’ The British government took various measures to punish and disarm the Highlanders, including making the wearing of Highland dress such as kilts and tartan illegal for any males except within the British army.

This small portrait in oil on wood by an anonymous artist is derived from an engraving after a portrait by Louis Tocqué of 1748. It shows Prince Charles Edward Stuart bust-length in armour and tartan after his defeat and return to France. The portrait is damaged, especially on and around the face, and is in reverse to the engraving. There are two portraits by Tocqué in the National Gallery’s collection.