This miniature is hand-coloured over a photograph of the Prince Imperial taken probably in London shortly before he went on his ill-fated expedition to Zululand in1879. The Prince Imperial is shown in evening dress with the ribbon and star of the Légion d'honneur.

Louis Napoleon, Prince Imperial, only son of Napoleon III, Emperor of France, and the Empress Eugenie; followed his parents into exile in England on his father's deposition in 1870. He succeeded his father as head of the Imperial House of Bonaparte, but was killed, aged 23, whilst out with a reconnaissance party serving with the British Army in Zululand in 1879.