Georg Friedrich Reichmann (1798-1853) served in the Prussian army against the French, in the campaign of 1813-1815. He subsequently enrolled as a student at the Academy in Kassel. In 1821, he went to Munich, where his painting of Oedipus and Antigone was the subject of considerable attention. The Royal Collection has three of the portraits for which he is best-known, including this portrait of Princess Mary, and another of her sister Augusta (RCIN 402481).

Princess Mary Adelaide (1833-1897) was Queen Victoria’s cousin, the youngest of the three children of Adolphus Frederick, Duke of Cambridge (1774–1850), son of George III, and his wife, Princess Augusta (1797–1889). In 1866 she married Prince Francis of Teck and she became known as a great philanthropist, giving away at least twenty per cent of her annual allowance of £5,000 granted by parliament. The many charities she supported included Dr Barnardo's, the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, and the St John Ambulance Association. She was the mother of Queen Mary (1867-1953).

The Princess appears here as a child, seated, full length on the bank of a river; facing almost half to the right; her head turned half to the left, looking down at a swan; wearing a white dress with a pink sash, her blonde hair in ringlets; with a basket of fruit at her left side.