This portrait was originally painted in 1734 for Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke (1690-1764) and celebrates the sitter's marriage in that year to William IV, Prince of Orange (1711-51). Amigoni was a Neapolitan painter who had worked in Venice and Bavaria before spending a decade (1730-9) in London; this portrait is characteristic of his glossy, decorative and fanciful type of portrait. The Princess is presented in a white dress with an ermine-lined cloak and a crown on the table beside her. Two flying cherubs bring together two torches (of Hymen, god of marriage) to symbolise the commingling of their flames in loving matrimony. One holds roses and the other orange blossoms, alluding to the house of Orange and Tudor (from which the Hanoverians descended).