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.

Payne was a naval officer as well as being the friend and private secretary to the Prince of Wales. In this portrait he wears the full-dress uniform of a Rear-Admiral, a position to which he was promoted in 1799, with the Gold Medal for the Battle of 1 June 1794.

Like almost all Hoppner portraits painted for George IV this one was only delivered in 1810 after the artist’s death and by his widow. In 1828 it was sent with what seems to be its pair, the portrait of Viscount Keith (RCIN 400990), to the ‘New Gallery’ in Windsor (that is Grand Corridor).