Of all the Stuart monarchs, George was especially fascinated by Charles I, the great collector king. In 1813 he was able to encounter him in person when Charles I’s coffin was exhumed from the vault of St George’s Chapel, Windsor, at the Prince’s request. A lock of Charles I’s hair was cut and placed in this seventeenth-century locket, which George then presented to his daughter, Princess Charlotte.

Collection of Princess Charlotte; acquired by Queen Victoria before 1896