Winterhalter was born in the Black Forest where he was encouraged to draw at school. In 1818 he went to Freiburg to study under Karl Ludwig Schüler and then moved to Munich in 1823, where he attended the Academy and studied under Josef Stieler, a fashionable portrait painter. Winterhalter was first brought to the attention of Queen Victoria by the Queen of the Belgians and subsequently painted numerous portraits at the English court from 1842 till his death.

Princess Helena (1846-1923), nicknamed Lenchen, was the fifth child and third daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. She was lively, outspoken and something of a tomboy. In 1866 she married Prince Christian of Schleswig Holstein and in 1916 they celebrated their Golden Wedding anniversary; she was the only child of Queen Victoria to do so.

Queen Victoria spent two hours with Winterhalter on 17 April 1849 while he was 'trying a little sketch for another surprise for Albert'. The 'surprises' were this portrait of 'Lenchen in the helmet' and another portrait of Princess Helena (RCIN 401025). There is an enamel miniature copy of this painting in the Royal collection, and Queen Victoria herself was working on a copy of it in 1850.

Signed: F Winterhalter. Inscribed on the back as painted in 1849, when the sitter was three years old.