Hoppner was the son of a German physician working at the court of George II; he was encouraged to become a painter by George III, studying drawings in the Royal Collection as well as attending the RA Schools. In 1793, after the death of Reynolds, Hoppner was appointed Principal Portrait Painter to the Prince of Wales. The sitter here was born the Hon. Francis Rawdon, called Lord Rawdon from 1762, created Baron Rawdon in his own right in 1783; he added Hastings to his surname in 1789 in accordance with his uncle’s will; he succeeded his father as the Earl of Moira in 1793 and was made Marquess of Hastings in 1816. He was a gallant and successful soldier in the American and French Wars and an important politician, before becoming Governor-General of India in 1812, in which role he acquired Singapore in 1819. He was always a close friend and loyal political ally of the Prince of Wales. The character of Rawdon Crawley in Thackeray’s ‘Vanity Fair’ is loosely based upon him. This portrait was commissioned by the Prince of Wales and exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1794. It was only delivered after Hoppner's death (by his widow) in 1810; two year's later Hoppner's son took it back to add the Garter regalia after the sitter became a knight of that Order in June 1812. The portrait hung in the 1820s in the East Anti Room of Carlton House in a group of four Hoppner full lengths (RCIN 405408, 405410, 405901, 405902) all then valued at 200 guineas.