Prince Frederick Charles of Prussia is shown with head and shoulders to the front in the uniform of the Zieten Hussar Regiment. His stars include: the Black Eagle, 'Pour La Mérite', the Hohenzollern House Order, St George (1st class) and the Iron Cross; and his badges include: 'Pour La Mérite', the Hohenzollern House Order, the Iron Cross and the Order of Maria Theresa.

A distinguished soldier, the Prince was given command of the Second Army at the outset of the Franco-Prussian war and created Field-Marshal after the destruction of the French Imperial armies. His fourth daughter, Louise, married the Duke of Connaught in 1879. He was described by the Crown Princess as harsh, domineering and violent, but devoted to his wife and children. The Princess, however, she described as gentle, forbearing, but unhappy, not on good terms with her husband or her children.

This portrait is a copy after an original work by Von Angeli. It is signed and dated 'Nach d. Original v. H. v. Angeli 1876 / gem. v. A. Hindorf 1884' and is inscribed on the back to the same effect. It was probably painted, with the companion portrait of his wife Maria-Anna (RCIN 404894), for Queen Victoria. On 23 January she wrote to the Crown Princess that she was anxious to have copies of their portraits, heads only, for Windsor. She had heard that there was a competent female copyist in Berlin and begged her daughter to try to get them done. On 18 February, however, she wrote to ask her not to order the portrait of the Prince, if she had not already done so, as he had behaved so brutally to his wife. The two portraits are probably those for which the Lord Chamberlain's Department paid £60 in September 1884.