Duke Ernest wears the uniform of a Major General in the Prussian army with the ribbon and star of the Garter. There are pentimenti (changes made by the artist) in the position of the Garter ribbon and the sitter's fingers. When the Duke stayed with Queen Victoria for the first time in 1848, she noted his 'unbecoming beard'. Say exhibited a portrait of the Duke at the Royal Academy in 1848, which may have been this painting, and there is a version of the portrait in the Coburg family collection, but in that the Duke is wearing ordinary day clothes.

Signed: 'F.R. Say Pinx'