Prince Augustus (1773-1843) is wearing the star of the Order of the Garter. The head and voluminous white cravat in this miniature are copies of those in another miniature of the Prince (RCIN 420975) but here he wears a coat instead of uniform. He was the sixth son and ninth child of George III and Queen Charlotte. From 1786, when he entered the University of Göttingen, Germany, until 1804, he mostly resided abroad. As a young man, he suffered severely from asthma and his frail health prevented him from joining the army or navy. The voluminous cravat seen here came into fashion in 1792, so the original portrait was probably painted before his departure for Rome in the autumn of 1792 aged 19, or on his brief return to London a year later, after he had secretly married the Catholic Lady Augusta Murray, in 1793. This contravened the provisions of the Royal Marriages Act of 1772, and the marriage was declared void by the King in August 1794. In 1801, Prince Augustus was created Duke of Sussex, Earl of Inverness and Baron Arklow.

Edward Miles (1752-1828) was born at Yarmouth in Norfolk. He became an errand boy to a surgeon who encouraged him in drawing. In 1771, he went to London and entered the Royal Academy Schools. He was appointed Miniature Painter to the Duchess of York in 1792 and to Queen Charlotte in 1794. He was Court Painter to the Tsar in St Petersburg 1797 to 1806. He finally settled in Philadelphia, where he became a founder member of the Academy.

Catalogue entry adapted from Masterpieces in Little: Portrait Miniatures from the Collection of Her Majesty The Queen (1992) and George III and Queen Charlotte: Patronage, Collecting and Court Taste (2004).