Queen Charlotte (1744-1818), wife of George III, wearing a delicately colored pink dress, sits in an imposing architectural interior. On her lap, she holds her young son, Prince Frederick; at her side stands Prince George Augustus Frederick of Wales, later King George IV, holding a bow in one hand and arrows in the other. The essentially domestic nature of the composition is heightened by the inclusion of the workbasket on top of the harpsichord and a leather-bound volume entitled Locke on Education. Born in Edinburgh, Ramsay painted mainly in London, although he returned on occasion to Scotland, and accordingly belongs to the history of both English and Scottish art. In 1761, he was appointed painter to King George III. It is thought he began the initial version of this composition, now in Buckingham Palace, around 1764, based on numerous preparatory drawings. This painting, partly the work of Ramsay’s studio assistants, was probably completed in the late 1760s.