Prince Alfred (1844-1900) was the second son and fourth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Prince Alfred had been impressed with the miniatures by Kenneth MacLeay which he had seen exhibited at a special exhibition of Scottish art in honour of the Social Science Congress at the Royal Scottish Academy in 1863. Following a recommendation of Macleay’s work by Noel Paton (Queen’s Limner for Scotland), Queen Victoria commissioned the artist to paint watercolour portraits of her three younger sons. Prince Alfred sat in Highland dress for the full-length watercolour which was completed at Dalkeith Palace, the residence of the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch, in June 1864. Prince Alfred was resident in Edinburgh for several months in 1863 and 1864 and studied at Edinburgh University.