Winterhalter was born in the Black Forest where he was encouraged to draw at school. In 1818 he went to Freiburg to study under Karl Ludwig Schüler and then moved to Munich in 1823, where he attended the Academy and studied under Josef Stieler, a fashionable portrait painter. Winterhalter was first brought to the attention of Queen Victoria by the Queen of the Belgians and subsequently painted numerous portraits at the English court from 1842 till his death.

Prince Leopold's father, Duke Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg, was uncle to both Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. The Queen was extremely fond of her cousin and she describes him in her Journal as lively, intelligent, good-tempered and charming. He subsequently achieved the rank of Major-General in the Austrian army.

The Queen commissioned three copies of this portrait from William Corden, which she gave as Christmas presents to the King of Portugal (first cousin to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert), Duke Ferdinand (uncle of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert) and the Duchesse de Nemours (daughter of Duke Ferdinand and cousin to Queen Victoria) in 1850.