Prince Augustus William is wearing the orange ribbon of the Order of the Black Eagle. He was the brother and heir to Frederick the Great, but died before him. In 1742, he married Louisa Amalia of Brunswick-Bayern. Their son became Frederick William II, King of Prussia.

This miniature was probably based on one of the state portraits painted by Antoine Pesne in the late 1730s. A similar full-length portrait by Pesne is in the Royal Collection (RCIN 403010). From 1711, Pesne was court painter to Frederick I of Prussia, Augustus William's grandfather, whose brother-in-law, George, Elector of Hanover, became King of England (as George I) in 1714.