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1 of 253523 objects
Princess Charlotte of Wales (1796-1817), Princess of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld c.1817-19
Oil on panel | 76.3 x 63.9 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external) | RCIN 405449
Alfred Edward Chalon (1780-1860)
Princess Charlotte of Wales (1796-1817), Princess of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld c.1817-19
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Princess Charlotte of Wales (7 January 1796 – 6 November 1817) was the only child of George, Prince of Wales (eldest son of King George III, later to become King George IV) and Caroline of Brunswick. Had Charlotte outlived her father and her grandfather, she would have become Queen, but she died following childbirth at the age of 21. She had a rebellious adolescence and after a number of dramatic romances married Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld on 2 May 1816. The Prince was a calming influence on Charlotte and the marriage was happy and popular. A contemporary observer described the public reaction to her death in these words: 'It really was as though every household throughout Great Britain had lost a favourite child.' The country went into deep mourning. Drapers ran out of black cloth, shops closed for two weeks, as did the Royal Exchange, the Law Courts, and the docks. Even gambling dens shut down on the day of her funeral, as a mark of respect. Charlotte's death left King George III without any legitimate grandchildren to continue the royal line. Prince Leopold suggested that the King's fourth son, Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, marry Leopold's sister Victoria, Dowager Princess of Leiningen. Their daughter, Charlotte's cousin, became Queen Victoria.
A contemporary label on the back of the painting, apparently in the artist's hand, gives Chalon's address as 42 Great Marlborough Street, to which he had moved in 1825-6. The Princess is referred to as the late Princess. This may be the portrait Chalon exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1819.
Signed and dated 'AE Chalon. [initials in monogram] R.A.'Provenance
Given to Queen Victoria by the painter, June 1853 (Queen Victoria's acquisitions 1853); perhaps the portrait exhibited by Chalon at the Royal Academy in 1819; recorded in the State Visitors' Sitting Room no 227 at Buckingham Palace in 1869
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Creator(s)
(nationality)Acquirer(s)
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Medium and techniques
Oil on panel
Measurements
76.3 x 63.9 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external)
111.0 x 99.3 x 9.5 cm (frame, external)
Category
Object type(s)