At James VII and II's accession, his Protestant daughter Princess Mary was his heir. But in June 1688 James's second wife, Mary of Modena, gave birth to a male Catholic heir. Rumours that the child was not the queen's were spread by Protestants to discredit the new-born prince's legitimacy. This portrait entertains no such conspiracy. The child is surrounded by royal symbols including his ermine-lined robe and crowned ‘P’ for prince.

Cat. 209