Queen Charlotte

On 28 September 1789 Queen Charlotte was in no mood to sit for a young painter. Her husband, George III, had been through months of mental illness, and events in France were troubling her too. At Windsor Castle she gave Lawrence probably a single sitting. She arrived in a bonnet, he objected, and she sat bare-headed. One of her daughters read aloud to her, but it did not lift her spirits. X-rays show he repainted her features several times. When he asked for one more session to paint her jewels, she refused and let an assistant keeper of her wardrobe model them for him. The pearl bracelets carry the King's portrait and monogram. The King wanted the picture engraved for relatives in Hanover, but Lawrence could not pay for the engraving, and the canvas stayed with him until his studio sale after his death.