Attributed to John Westbrooke Chandler Portrait of Maria, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh (1736-1807)

Attributed to John Westbrooke Chandler Portrait of Maria, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh (1736-1807)
Portrait of Maria, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh (1736-1807)
Oil on canvas
49 x 39 inches (124.5 x 99 cm)
Unframed
The sitter was born Maria Walpole, granddaughter of Robert Walpole, first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and niece of the noted antiquarian Horace Walpole. Since she was a commoner and illegitimate, her marriage in 1766 to Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh and younger brother of George III, was a scandal that resulted in the Royal Marriages Act of 1772, which restricted such irregular unions.

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