Hoppner was the son of a German physician working at the court of George II; he was encouraged to become a painter by George III, studying drawings in the Royal Collection as well as attending the RA Schools. In 1793, after the death of Reynolds, Hoppner was appointed Principal Portrait Painter to the Prince of Wales.

This is probably the portrait exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1796 where it was criticised for its ‘hasty execution’. Carlton House inventories of the 1820s describe the painting hanging in the Old Throne Room apparently paired with Reynolds’s portrait of the sitter’s brother, the Duke of York (RCIN 405411) both paintings valued at 350 guineas. Hoppner’s work here is clearly inspired by Reynolds’s late manner, with clear colours (often faded in Reynolds’s case) and boldly blocked-out forms. Hoppner’s composition also seems to reflect an untraced full-length of the Prince painted by Reynolds in 1788-9.

The sitter is wearing Garter robes and holding in his right hand the plumed hat of the Order.