Winterhalter was born in the Black Forest where he was encouraged to draw at school. In 1818 he went to Freiburg to study under Karl Ludwig Schüler and then moved to Munich in 1823, where he attended the Academy and studied under Josef Stieler, a fashionable portrait painter. Winterhalter was first brought to the attention of Queen Victoria by the Queen of the Belgians and subsequently painted numerous portraits at the English court from 1842 till his death.

Prince George was Queen Victoria's cousin and almost exactly the same age as she. He spent his childhood in Hanover, where his father was the governor-general, but in 1830 he was sent to live with William IV and Queen Adelaide in England. In August 1835, he was made a knight of the Order of the Garter (he is wearing the ribbon of the Garter in this portrait) and re-joined his parents in Hanover in 1836. On the accession of Queen Victoria, in June 1837, the Duke of Cambridge returned with his family to England. On the Queen's wedding day, 10 February 1840, George met the beautiful actress and dancer Sarah – usually known as Louisa – Fairbrother (1816–1890), daughter of Robert Fairbrother, a London theatrical printer. They began an affair and had two children before marrying on 8 January 1847. Known as 'Mrs FitzGeorge', Louisa bore the Prince another son on 12 June 1847. Prince George had a distinguished military career and was extremely popular within the army. He was also a keen sportsman, an excellent after-dinner speaker, and acknowledged by contemporaries to be a kind and considerate man. The Queen recorded in her Journal on 5 June 1852 that Winterhalter 'has finished the portrait of George, which is excellent'.

Signed and dated: F Winterhalter / 1852. Inscribed on the back with the names of the artist and sitter and the date, June 1852.