Frederica, Princess Royal of Prussia, was the only daughter of Crown Prince Frederick William of Prussia (1744-97), later King Frederick William II, and his first wife Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1746-1840). Her parents divorced in 1769 and Frederica never saw her mother again. She was brought up by her paternal grandmother, Princess Luise Amalie, and her stepmother, Frederika Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt, who married the Crown Prince almost immediately after his divorce. In 1791, Frederica married Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany, the second son of George III. She received an enthusiastic welcome in London, but the marriage was not a happy one and the couple soon separated. Frederica retired to Oatlands Park, Weybridge, where she lived until her death in 1820. Scholars have recognised the miniature as a copy after the miniaturist Richard Cosway, although no certain original is recorded. Judging from the sitter's costume and hairstyle, the lost original must have been painted shortly after her marriage in 1791.