Jul 29, 2022
Unfinished Portrait of an Unknown Lady Joshua Reynolds (1723–1792) This portrait may show Anne Luttrell (1743–1808), who controversially married Prince Henry, Duke of Cumberland and Strathearn, the younger brother of George III, in 1771 – she was a commoner, not a member of the royal family or even aristocracy, and previously married. Her family were seen as political opportunists. Horace Walpole cruelly wrote: ‘her coquetry was so active, so varied and yet so habitual, that it was difficult not to see through it and yet as difficult to resist it.’ Their marriage resulted in the Royal Marriage Act (1772) which prevented future descendants of George II to marry without the permission of the sovereign.
Glasgow Museums Resource Centre (GMRC)