Lawrence was the most fashionable and also the greatest portraitist of his generation. He was made Principal Painter to George III in 1792 after Reynolds’s death, and received occasional commissions; however it was only after 1814 that George IV began to employ him in earnest. This portrait was commissioned by George IV at a cost of 200 guineas and was painted between 1825 and 1829 (the reverse of the canvas bears the date 1827); a frame was provided by Edward Wyatt in 1830. The sitter was the daughter of Pedro IV of Portugal who spend the years 1826 to 1829 in exile in London. In this portrait she is wearing a white dress with puff sleeves and a multi-order ribbon and Stars.