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 300 guineas; it was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1824. Morant supplied frames for this portrait and its pair (RCIN 403420) in 1825 at a cost of 50 guineas. During George IV’s reign the pair were hung successively at Carlton House, St James’s Palace, Windsor Castle and again St James’s. The Duchess is placed in an interior with columns draped with red swags looking to landscape beyond. She is wearing a black dress and a plumed hat while holding a fan in her right hand; she also wears a jewelled miniature of George III on her left shoulder.