Prince Charles is wearing armour with a leopard skin flung over one shoulder and the blue ribbon of the Order of St Esprit (the Holy Spirit). 'Bonnie Prince Charlie' was born in the Muti Palace in Rome in 1720. He was seen by Jacobite supporters as the future leader who could win back the British throne for the Stuarts. In 1743, the French decided to send an invading force to Britain, led by 'the Young Pretender', as his enemies called him, but the scheme fell through due to stormy weather. The Prince decided to go ahead without French assistance, and he set out for Scotland with only a handful of companions, landing in the Outer Hebrides in July 1745. He won over the Highland chiefs, gathered an army of 5,000 men, marched to Edinburgh, and defeated a Hanoverian force led by Sir John Cope at the battle of Prestonpans, near Edinburgh, in September.
Charles was determined to invade England and marched his army south. His commanders, however, were convinced that they could never take London, as George II had three armies ready to meet them and there was no support for Charles among the English. The Prince's army retreated and was finally crushed at the battle of Culloden in 1746. Charles escaped to France, to spend the rest of his life in exile. His late marriage in 1772 to the German Louise of Stolberg was childless and she eventually left him. He died in Rome in 1788.

The miniature has been retouched and the blue ribbon and feather are later additions, as may be the wig and part of the robe. It might be based on a portrait by the French artist Louis Toqué (1696-1772) of 1748 but the identity of the artist is unknown. The exact pose and helmet were used in an earlier portrait of Frederick, Prince of Wales, known through an engraving dated 1740, which has led to the suggestion that the miniature may be of German origin.

Inscribed on the back in pencil: Charles Edward.