The Lost Portrait of Bonnie Prince Charlie: A Culture Show Special The Culture Show

2014.

The year of a referendum on whether Scotland should remain

part of the United Kingdom.

When were the eyes of Europe, and indeed the world,

last so intently focused on Scotland and Scottish politics?

When was the Union last so threatened?

Possibly not since the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745.

And back in 1745,

portraits of this man, Bonnie Prince Charlie,

had a huge role to play.

'I'm Dr Bendor Grosvenor,

I'm an art detective and a historian.

And in this programme, I'm setting out to unravel

one of the greatest mysteries in Scottish art.

I want to find a lost portrait of Bonnie Prince Charlie,

one that might have been painted in Scotland

'during his doomed attempt to regain the crown in 1745.'

There are portraits of Charles Edward Stuart as a young boy.

There are portraits of him as an old man, too,

when he cuts quite a sad figure,

broken by drink and disappointment.

But no portraits of Bonnie Prince Charlie from 1745

are known to survive,

when he was a determined 24-year-old

leading the Jacobite uprising,

when he was the warrior prince.

It's always been thought that no portrait of Bonnie Prince Charlie

was ever painted while he was here in Scotland

leading the Jacobite Rebellion.

But I suspect that at least one picture of him

was painted while he was here,

and I'm determined to find it.

'In this programme, I will travel the length and breadth of Britain

'in search of the real Bonnie Prince Charlie

'and in search of what I believe is his lost portrait.'

God, it's really good, isn't it?

'This is an exploration

'of one of Scotland's most fascinating and enigmatic heroes,

'using art to tell his incredible story.'

After leaving exile in Italy, travelling to France,

and then to the Western Isles,

on the 25th of July, 1745,

Bonnie Prince Charlie set foot on the Scottish mainland

for the first time in his life.

When Charles landed here at Borrowdale in the Western Highlands,

he came with great hope and determination,

but not really much else.

He'd left France with two ships,

but the one carrying all the troops and the money and the weapons

had been intercepted by the Royal Navy and forced to flee.

So when Charles came ashore on this beach with his invasion force,

it consisted of just 12 men,

and one of those was a priest.

It wasn't exactly what you would call a promising start.

This, though, is why Charles is one of my heroes -

because he thought nothing of such a set-back.

In fact, he sent away his one remaining ship

so he had no choice but to proceed.

And when the first Highland chief he met here

told him rather bluntly to go home, he replied simply,

"Home? I am come home."

Bonnie Prince Charlie's whole life

had been designed for this very moment -

mounting a campaign to finally regain the throne

for the Stuarts and his father.

But why am I looking for a lost portrait of Bonnie Prince Charlie?

I'm not Scottish.

I do love investigating art, of course,

but there's more to it than that.

You could say I have a debt to pay.

I have a confession to make - I've a bit of a history

with a painting that used to hang in this gallery,

a picture that used to be known

as Scotland's best-loved portrait of Bonnie Prince Charlie.

Back in 2008, I discovered that it wasn't in fact him,

but his younger brother, Henry.

'Now Henry's not even on display in Scotland any more.

'I've had to ask for him to be brought out

'of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery stores

'so I can see him face to face.'

'And I feel a bit bad for him,

'consigned to the stores

'for unwittingly impersonating his elder brother.'

The two brothers look quite similar,

and over the years, the identities had been muddled up.

The main reason is that Henry, our man here,

later became a Catholic cardinal

and so was normally shown in his red cardinal's robes.

But here, he's painted in armour,

and because Henry was the slightly better-looking of the two brothers,

and because this picture was painted

shortly after the Jacobite Rebellion,

it fitted the bill perfectly for a heroic, dashing image

of Bonnie Prince Charlie leading his troops into battle.

Now, in its artistic quality,

it's actually one of the best pictures

that the National Portrait Gallery here in Scotland owns.

It's a beautiful pastel

by the French artist Maurice Quentin de La Tour.

In fact, it's one of his finest works, I think.

However, it just isn't Bonnie Prince Charlie.

It's the wrong man.

When everyone thought that the pastel portrait

of Prince Henry in armour

was Bonnie Prince Charlie,

it hung in pride of place in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.

It appeared in historical exhibitions,

adorned shortbread tins...

and bookcovers.

When I raised the sticky issue

that the portrait wasn't Bonnie Prince Charlie,

Scotland lost its most iconic image of her Warrior Prince.

Back in 1688, Charles's grandfather, James II,

had been deposed, essentially for being a Catholic,

and was replaced by his Protestant daughters, Mary,

and then later, Queen Anne.

But when it was realised that neither Mary nor Anne

would have any surviving heirs, there was something of a crisis.

Who would succeed to the throne?

As the Protestant ruling classes unfurled their royal family tree

in the search for an heir,

they realised that they had a bit of a problem.

In strictly genealogical terms -

that's the way a hereditary monarchy normally works -

the next in line to the throne

was the son of James II, James III,

our Bonnie Prince Charlie's dad.

However, he was a Catholic,

and, of course, that wouldn't do.

So to exclude James III from the throne,

the English Parliament cunningly declared

that you could only be monarch if you were a Protestant.

But to find their Protestant heir,

the Parliament first had to exclude quite a few Catholic ones.

Grandchildren of James I.

Charles Louis - Catholic. Charles Louis II - Catholic.

Princess of Denmark - Catholic.

Duke of Orleans - Catholic.

Another Duke of Orleans - Catholic.

Catholic, Catholic, Catholic.

'In fact, the first 57 individuals in line to the throne

'were all Catholic.'

Catholic, Catholic, Catholic, Catholic...

Until eventually, they found their Protestant heir

in the person of Prince George of Hanover in Germany.

Now, he'd never been to England before,

and, of course, didn't speak a word of English.

But because he said his prayers in the right way, he was in,

and the Catholic Stuarts were out.

And that's how we ended up with the Hanoverians

and all these German Georges.

But the exiled Stuarts in

Rome hadn't given up on the British Crown,

and one of the biggest weapons in their armoury was portraiture.

They went to huge effort and expense

distributing portraits of their young princes across Europe.

It was their way of reminding the world

that although the Stuart kings had been expelled from Britain,

they refused to be out of sight and out of mind.

The Stuart PR campaign was surprisingly successful,

and, by 1745, it could still rely on the support of people across Europe.

These supporters were known as Jacobites,

which comes from the Latin for James, Jacobus.

And it was King James III's two sons,

Bonnie Prince Charlie and Prince Henry,

who were still keeping the Stuart claim to the throne very much alive.

So I'm going to mount my own campaign.

I want to follow in Bonnie Prince Charlie's footsteps through Scotland

in the hope of finding a lost portrait of the Prince

or clues as to where one might be.

And my first point of call is Glenfinnan,

where Bonnie Prince Charlie raised his standard

on the 19th of August, 1745, where he gathered the clans.

PIPE BAND PLAYS

Today, the Glenfinnan Gathering still takes place

on the Saturday closest to the 19th of August.

Representatives of the clans that turned up

to swear allegiance to Bonnie Prince Charlie

still take part in a procession with clan standards held aloft.

In 1745, this gathering marked the start

of Bonnie Prince Charlie's military campaign

to regain the throne for the Stuart kings.

1,200 clansmen turned out that day to pledge their support.

After Charles raised the Jacobite standard -

a simple red banner with a white square in the middle,

possibly on this very spot - it was ceremoniously blessed,

and then his father King James's manifesto was read out.

That promised three crucial things -

first, to recall the Scottish Parliament,

second, to end punitive taxation,

and third, to restore Scottish independence.

Now, all this pleased the gathered clansmen so much

that it's reported that they threw their bonnets in the air

and huzzahed three times,

crying out loud, "Long live King James,

"Charles, Prince of Wales,

"prosperity to Scotland and no union!"

The Highlanders wanted a better deal. The Prince wanted the throne.

Everyone was looking out for their own interests.

Charles became known as Bonnie Prince Charlie

while he was in Scotland in 1745.

He was described as being a good-looking man

of about five feet ten inches,

with dark red hair and black eyes.

It was also noted that the Prince's features were regular,

his visage long, and his countenance thoughtful and melancholy.

Whether good-looking or not,

it strikes me that Charles must have been a very charismatic individual.

After all, if he was able to persuade wily clan chiefs

and 1,200 clansmen to come to his support,

just days after landing on a beach with absolutely nothing,

then that must be evidence that he was a very persuasive person.

In fact, it was said around these parts in 1745

that if this Prince once set eyes upon you,

he would make you do whatever he pleased.

'What I wouldn't give to see that face that inspired so many!

'But where to start looking?

If there is a lost portrait of Bonnie Prince Charlie

hidden somewhere in Scotland,

I think it could be with one of the ancient families

who stood with the Prince from the start of his campaign.

I've come to visit the current Chief of Clan Cameron,

Cameron of Lochiel,

who still lives in the ancestral home quite close to Glenfinnan.

Along with the MacDonalds,

the Camerons were the main clan

who turned up to pledge their support to Bonnie Prince Charlie

at Glenfinnan in 1745.

So, your ancestor, the 19th Cameron of Lochiel,

who I spy over your shoulder here,

was one of Bonnie Prince Charlie's first supporters?

That's true. He actually went to persuade him

-that he hadn't got a hope.

-Right.

-Having landed in Eriskay with seven men.

-Uh-huh.

But he was swung over, I think,

because Bonnie Prince Charlie was alone, aged 24,

in what was nearly Cameron country

and he felt he couldn't desert him just like that.

So, against his better judgment,

-he joined Glenfinnan with about 700 Camerons.

-Right.

And if they hadn't, some people say

there would never have been a Jacobite uprising that year.

I see. So do you...

With the benefit of hindsight, I suppose, it's easy to say,

but do you think he should have gone to help him or stayed out of it?

It was a mistake.

I think we let our heart rule our head.

"Cameron" is an anagram of romance,

and not a lot of clans can say that.

Assuming, if Cameron of Lochiel number 19

was one of Bonnie Prince Charlie's most fervent supporters,

perhaps he might have had a picture of him, of Charlie?

-Well, we've got this little miniature.

-A little miniature?

Which is supposedly given to the Gentle Lochiel,

as he was known, by Bonnie Prince Charlie.

Right.

So now this little label here says

"miniature of Prince Charles Edward Stuart,

"given by him to the Gentle Lochiel in 1745."

I suppose this would make perfect sense, actually,

because if anybody was going to be given a picture

of Bonnie Prince Charlie during the rebellion,

it would be your ancestor,

because we know Charles was interested in his own image

and gave it out quite freely.

And a miniature would be quite a good thing, I suppose,

to give out during a fast-paced rebellion.

However...

..my immediate instinct

is that this is probably not an 18th-century miniature.

It doesn't feel quite like an 18th-century image.

The technique and the application of the pigments

-is 19th-century, I think.

-Right.

I'm sorry to be the slight bearer of bad news.

No, no, it's all right.

But I think that's a good legend,

so let's just pretend this conversation never happened...

We'll put it all back

and you can bring it out at parties

and it'll be your Jacobite memento.

It's not worth getting a second opinion?

I'm slightly disappointed that Cameron of Lochiel's miniature

doesn't date from the 18th century.

But I suppose the danger of supporting the Prince

and the danger of possessing a portrait of Bonnie Prince Charlie

after the 1745 uprising

is something that could work against me finding anything original today.

Down the road at the West Highland Museum in Fort William,

I've arranged to meet Professor Hugh Cheape

to find out a little more

about how portraits of the Prince were ingeniously hidden.

So, Professor, this place is full of Jacobite treasures.

Well, it is remarkable.

It's a wonderful collection, and this is, one might dare say,

-the tip of the iceberg.

-So what have we got here, then?

Well, we've got a range of very fine portraits.

Particularly at the head of the pile, so to speak,

we've got this enamel portrait on copper

of Bonnie Prince Charlie,

beautifully detailed and taken from a French portrait,

where a lot of this material was generated in the first place.

In other words, on the continent of Europe.

And then this one down here is unmistakably him,

but it's really not the same level of quality, is it?

Not the same level of quality at all.

I suppose it's rather caricature-like, isn't it?

It's rather cartoon-like.

But, of course, in 18th-century terms, instantly recognisable.

There are certain signals in there, certain signs,

with the Garter star and the white cockade in his bonnet,

it must be Bonnie Prince Charlie.

It's always the Garter sash, isn't it, that blue,

-that ultimate symbol of royal authority?

-That's right.

And I see a kind of lid, the lid of... What is this?

A snuffbox or something?

I think we can say certainly that it's been a snuffbox.

It must have been a hidden portrait,

and perhaps the finesse of the portraiture

didn't matter so much in this miniature form

-and the fact that it's hidden.

-Right.

As long as it gave off that clear, unambiguous signal.

So if I was offering you some snuff from my snuffbox,

and I revealed my lid to see Bonnie Prince Charlie,

then you would go, "A-ha!

-"Fellow traveller Jacobite."

-Fellow traveller. That's right.

Or possibly, if I was unlucky,

you would dob me in to the Hanoverian security forces?

That's right. These were very dangerous times.

Both in England and Scotland, and even in France,

association with Bonnie Prince Charlie

was not necessarily politically safe.

And what have we got here on this rather curious painted image on...

What is this? A panel or a board?

This is a wonderful item

because of what it tells us

of the time, of association, loyalty to Bonnie Prince Charlie,

having to be a secret matter.

Right. How does it work?

The image is mysterious - this blob of paint.

And it springs into focus

-when you've got the cylinder in the right position.

-Right, OK.

So if I manoeuvre round... Oh, look. There he is. He's popping out at me.

I mean, he looks quite cheery.

I can see his Garter sash, so that's the blue here,

and then there's a star, which actually makes perfect sense.

I mean, it's just a splodge of paint on here,

but now in the mirror, is quite a nice star.

So the idea being that if you were having your Jacobite friends round

and all admiring Charlie's picture,

and suddenly, there was a knock on the door

and you weren't quite sure who it was, then, woomph!

-You take it all away and then you're safe?

-That's right.

The image, if you like, disappears,

and it's left with this ambiguous blob of paint.

And miniatures being small and easy to hide, I suppose,

fitted into the same tradition

of having secret images of your pin-up Prince about you?

-Well, imagery was a very, very important part of the 1745.

-Right.

I see.

The power of portraiture in the 18th century was immense.

Portraits were used as propaganda.

They provided a focus for political and religious hopes and beliefs.

And in royal portraiture, image was especially key.

A face had to look out of that canvas

showing all the qualities you would hope for in a leader and a monarch.

This is why I'm so keen

to find a portrait of Bonnie Prince Charlie from 1745.

When he was the leader of the Jacobite uprising,

his face and his image inspired unquestioning loyalty.

After landing in the northwest of Scotland,

Bonnie Prince Charlie swept through the Highlands and marched to Perth.

There he took lodgings at the Salutation Inn,

proclaimed his father King,

demanded £500 from the city to go towards his cause,

and was joined by many leading members of the Jacobite gentry.

The Salutation Inn is still here.

It's said to be the oldest hotel in Scotland

and it's recorded that the Prince stayed in room 20.

'I've arranged to meet historian and re-enactor Arran Johnston

'of the Battle Of Prestonpans Heritage Trust

'in the very room Bonnie Prince Charlie stayed in

'because Arran has a modern portrait of the Prince,

'which he thinks fits the bill

'as a replacement image of Charles Edward Stuart.'

Arran, thanks for bringing this picture to show me.

Can you tell me a bit about it?

Well, this portrait of Charles Edward

was commissioned by the Battle Of Prestonpans Heritage Trust

back in 2010 because, suddenly,

we found there was a hole in the market

after somebody had proven that the La Tour picture

was indeed Henry Benedict.

So we needed to find a replacement for that iconic image,

which we'd previously been using to present Prince Charlie to the world.

OK, so I am a little bit responsible for this painting?

Yes, but at least we can guarantee

that Henry Benedict didn't sit for this one.

Why is it important, then,

to have a portrait of the Prince as he would have looked

during the Jacobite Rebellion?

What we want to do is

to show what Charles represented when he was here.

But the idea we really wanted to get across was who Charles was.

It wasn't necessarily about the precise likeness,

it was about getting across

that sense of confidence and energy and ambition.

I see, he certainly does look like an ambitious man,

but when you mention the likeness,

it strikes me that there is still a little bit of Prince Henry in this.

Am I imagining things?

You're right, there is that feeling of the old La Tour still in there

because we do want something that was very identifiable

and, for better, for worse,

people still see that picture in their minds

-when they think of Charles Edward.

-Really? OK.

I have to say, Arran, I think this is a boldly painted image

and it certainly shows a man of some optimism and courage,

and perhaps even a touch of arrogance.

But, for me, I don't think it's really going to do

as a replacement image of Bonnie Prince Charlie

while he was here in Scotland.

I think a good historical portrait needs to have that sense

that it's done from life,

that it's capturing the likeness, the character, the personality

of someone sitting in front of the artist at the moment of creation.

I don't think this quite does it. What is it about Prince Charles

that we're still commissioning portraits of him

and you're dressing very convincingly as him

over 250 years after he was around?

Why is he so inspirational today?

I think what it comes down to is Charles' personality.

What we know from the accounts of the campaign

is that people could go into a room

with no intention of supporting Prince Charlie,

and walk out of it

committing not only themselves but their men as well.

If I was some humble Perthshire gent

come to this room to see if I should join your cause,

give me a bit of Bonnie Prince Charlie, how would you convince me?

Well, just as I have with everybody else who's joined the cause so far,

all I would do is point out that here I am,

having risked everything to come amongst you

and give you the opportunity for you yourselves to rise up,

to overthrow a government that is unlawful,

that doesn't have a true claim to the throne

and that has far more interest in its landholdings in Hanover

than it does in Scotland.

Now you have the opportunity to take your own destiny in your own hands.

Very convincing, I'm sold.

Do you want me to kiss your hand or something?

-No, we can be informal.

-OK, good. Thank you.

The Prince stayed in Perth for six days.

But he had little time to sit for a portrait while he was here.

He held councils of war at the Salutation Inn,

he attended a Protestant church service at St John's Kirk.

His army grew in number

and it's said he didn't sleep while he was in residence here

because he was too busy holding meetings with his commanders.

After leaving Perth,

Bonnie Prince Charlie was heading for Edinburgh, the Scottish capital.

And that's where I think his portrait

might have been painted in 1745.

It's almost hard to believe,

but Charles was able to seize Edinburgh

without any bloodshed at all.

He'd approached the city expecting some kind of battle or siege,

but when the gate here, the Nethergate was unexpectedly opened

to allow the exit of a single carriage,

Cameron of Lochiel swooped in with his troops

and overpowered the City Guard.

Just a few hours later, therefore,

Bonnie Prince Charlie was able to march in to Edinburgh,

completely unopposed, at the head of his army.

And he was greeted, we are told,

by tens of thousands of cheering citizens.

He was now effectively the master of all Scotland.

James was proclaimed King and Charles Prince Regent.

And Edinburgh went mad for Charlie and his image.

The Prince set up court at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh.

Balls were held in his honour.

Hand-painted fans were produced

which were distributed to the ladies attending all the Holyrood parties.

And every fan showed an image of the Prince.

Bonnie Prince Charlie stayed in Edinburgh for six weeks.

He held a council every day at Holyrood.

He would have had time to sit for a portrait.

I wonder, could a lost portrait of the Prince

still reside in the Palace?

I love these portraits of Bonnie Prince Charlie

and his brother Henry,

but they weren't painted during the Jacobite Rebellion

and they weren't painted in Scotland.

The portraits of Bonnie Prince Charlie

and his brother Prince Henry

which hang in the dining room at Holyrood,

were painted in Italy in 1738

by an artist named Blanchet.

Today, there are no portraits of Bonnie Prince Charlie from 1745

in the royal collection.

But what I am interested in is a little-known 18th-century document.

This is a copy of a letter in the royal archive

from Bonnie Prince Charlie's valet, John Stuart.

It's addressed to Mr Allan Ramsay, painter.

It says, "Sir, you are desired to come to the Palace of Holyrood House

"as soon as possible

"in order to take His Royal Highness' picture

"so I expect you'll wait no further call.

"I am, sir, your most humble servant, John Stuart.

"Holyrood House, 26th October 1745."

This proves that there was, at the very least,

the intention to paint Bonnie Prince Charlie's portrait here in Scotland.

The question is, did Ramsay get this letter

and did he paint the picture?

But who was Allan Ramsay and why would he, in particular,

be asked to paint the Prince's portrait?

In the 18th century, Ramsay was considered to be

one of the greatest portrait artists in Europe.

Born and brought up in Edinburgh,

his father's remarkable octagonal abode

known as the Goose-Pie House

still stands on the Royal Mile.

Now, we know that Allan Ramsay was certainly in Edinburgh

at the time Charles sent his letter,

because we have a record

of what happened to Ramsay's house during the uprising.

Because it overlooked Edinburgh Castle,

which is the one place that Charles never managed to control,

it was decided to use Ramsay's garden

to take a few pot-shots at the castle.

Now, in the event, the Jacobite guns

were no match for the Government guns

and the skirmish didn't last very long,

but if Ramsay did paint the Prince,

I don't think he'd have done it here in the middle of a barrage.

No matter where Ramsay painted,

if the brush was in his hand,

you would be guaranteed a brilliant portrait.

Ramsay painted lords and ladies.

Men of government.

And intellectuals.

And everyone was painted with great expression and character.

In fact, Ramsay revolutionised Scottish portraiture.

Before Ramsay, you could say

that Scottish portraiture was stuck in something of a rut.

Because artists were quite limited,

much of the essential biographical information you want from a portrait

didn't come from a good likeness,

a good characterisation of the face,

but from the accessories in the picture, the props,

the rich costume and the fancy background.

As a result, some pictures like this

feel a little bit stiff and, frankly, rather dull.

But when Ramsay comes along, everything changes.

In evolutionary terms,

it's the moment Scottish portraiture gets up and walks.

And in this portrait here of Ramsay's close friend,

the eminent Enlightenment Scottish thinker David Hume,

we have what I think is one of his finest works.

Because Ramsay was so good,

he could use a wholly convincing likeness

to tell us more information about someone like Hume

than you might find in any written biography.

And it feels to me you can instinctively see, in this portrait,

we're dealing with someone who has a great intellect.

It's as if the whole portrait, the way it's strongly lit,

is powered by the great man's giant brain.

Just imagine then, if someone like Ramsay

painted Bonnie Prince Charlie,

not only would we have a really good historical portrait,

but we could actually learn much more about the Prince himself.

But Ramsay was known as a loyal Hanoverian artist.

He became royal portrait painter to George III

and his wife Queen Charlotte.

Maybe Ramsay didn't paint Bonnie Prince Charlie at all.

Maybe he ignored the summons to take the Prince's picture

so as not to ruin his chances with the Hanoverian court.

Yet it seems that Ramsay did paint Jacobites as well as Hanoverians.

He was an interested commentator on all that was going on in the world.

So, I'm sure he would have found a way to paint the Prince

if he was asked.

But if Ramsay did paint the Prince, does the portrait still exist?

And if it exists, where could it be?

It does feel as if I'm looking for a needle in a haystack.

Got a website here called Your Paintings,

which is an illustrated database of over 200,000 paintings

in public ownership in the UK, so all the ones that we own.

And because over 80% of the public collection at any one time

is in storage, there is in fact quite a high chance

that there is a lost portrait of Bonnie Prince Charlie

somewhere out here

which hasn't been looked at before.

So I'm going to have a little search and a rummage

of Bonnie Prince Charlie portraits, see what comes up.

Bonnie Prince Charlie, Allan Ramsay...

Let's see. Let's try our luck with that.

Not much. In fact, nothing.

Let's try, um...

Let's call him by his official title.

Charles Edward Stuart...

Allan Ramsay.

More options.

A few options, in fact.

That's not, in fact, Bonnie Prince Charlie, that one.

Quite like the look of this one here.

Picture in Derby Museum. "Charles Edward Stuart".

So, catalogued as him in full, and attributed to Allan Ramsay.

I can't tell a great deal from this photograph,

but it looks like a mid-18th century picture.

And I can see in the same collection here,

which is rather interesting,

there's a portrait of Clementina Walkinshaw,

who was Bonnie Prince Charlie's mistress

during the Jacobite Rebellion.

So a quite interesting little cache of Jacobite material

has ended up in Derby.

I think I'm going to have to go to Derby and have a look.

In the winter of 1745,

Bonnie Prince Charlie decided to invade England and head for London.

His army besieged Carlisle, and marched through Manchester,

where a considerable number of English Jacobites joined them,

forming the Manchester Regiment.

And on the 4th of December, the Prince and his army reached Derby.

Government forces had been assembled

and were closing in on the Jacobites,

but the Prince was only 127 miles from London.

And if he did have a portrait painted in Edinburgh,

it's very likely that it would have travelled with him.

There are still a few reminders

of Charles Edward Stuart's time in Derby...

..a statue of the Prince looking south, towards London,

while his horse is turning back to the north.

A plaque in a cathedral

commemorating the fact that the Prince attended a service there.

And Hogarth even produced a painting of the panic in London,

when it was known that Charles and his Jacobite troops

had reached Derby.

'In search of our elusive Ramsay portrait of Bonnie Prince Charlie,

'I've arranged to meet Lucy Bamford,

'Keeper Of Art at Derby Museum And Art Gallery.'

So, Lucy, the Your Paintings website

tells me these are Bonnie Prince Charlie

and Clementina Walkinshaw by Allan Ramsay.

I'm sensing they might not be. Are they still?

I think you're sensing right.

They were thought for many years to be Bonnie Prince Charlie

and Clementina Walkinshaw,

but some recent research has shown that, in fact,

they're probably not by Allan Ramsay.

And they're certainly not

Bonnie Prince Charlie and Clementina Walkinshaw.

No, I have to say, standing in front of them,

I'm definitely not feeling any Allan Ramsay here,

and if this isn't Bonnie Prince Charlie, who is it?

Well, as far as we know now,

from some research that was conducted by some experts in military uniform,

we think he's Cornet Edward Walpole

of the 6th Inniskilling Dragoons.

Right. So all this matches up to the Inniskilling Dragoons.

Yes, absolutely.

So the lacing, the colour of his waistcoat,

and the tabs on his coat.

I guess we know that Bonnie Prince Charlie

was never in the 6th Inniskilling Dragoons, though.

As far as we know, no.

I think it's rather ironic

that he turned out to be a redcoat officer

in light of his previous identity.

So another famous Bonnie Prince Charlie portrait

has bitten the dust.

-Yes.

-Yeah.

-Oh, well.

I've drawn a bit of a blank.

This is not Bonnie Prince Charlie.

Nor is this his mistress, Clementina Walkinshaw.

Elsewhere in Derby museum, they have the very room

where Bonnie Prince Charlie held a council of war.

Today, it contains a plastic prince.

This is the room in which Charles faced his darkest hour.

For it was here on the 6th of December 1745

that he learnt, to his astonishment,

that his generals wanted to abandon the march on London

and retreat back to Scotland.

They'd been alarmed by reports - false, it turns out -

of two huge Government armies which were bearing down on Derby.

Charles was effectively faced by a mutiny,

and there was nothing he could do about it.

Of course, he didn't want to retreat at all,

and he railed against what he called "this betrayal".

It's hard not to feel some sympathy with him,

because I think he was right.

His strategy of speed and audacity had achieved so much, so fast,

he'd brought a Scottish army further into England

than anyone had ever managed before.

And just 120 miles away,

a poorly defended London lay waiting.

It's impossible to know now

whether Charles would have won, had he pressed on.

But ahead to London lay the chance of success -

death or glory.

Retreat to Scotland meant inevitable defeat.

Bonnie Prince Charlie had been set on reaching London,

but he had to give in to his generals

and agree to retreat back to Scotland.

Fortunately, I don't have a group of generals to consult,

so unlike Bonnie Prince Charlie, I'm not going to give up or turn back,

because I have one last place to try -

and that means going to London.

While Charles had been in England,

the support from English Jacobites had been poorer than expected.

But the French had promised to send troops if Charles took London.

Lord Elcho said that the Prince talked of

in what manner he should enter the capital -

on horseback or on foot, and in what dress?

Charles knew the power of portraits, imagery, and first impressions.

But he was never given the opportunity to impress London.

I might not get the chance to impress London either.

Because I'm beginning to wonder

if this lost portrait can be found, or even still exists.

If it was painted, it could have been destroyed,

or it might just have disappeared.

At the National Portrait Gallery in London,

there are portraits of Bonnie Prince Charlie,

and even Flora MacDonald,

who helped the Prince in his escape from Government troops.

And there are also the National Portrait Gallery archives,

where records of every known portrait

painted of great figures through the ages are held.

Now that I know I'm looking for

a Ramsay portrait of Bonnie Prince Charlie,

I can search the archives with a view to spotting

any picture of the Prince that looks like a Ramsay,

but might not have been attributed to him.

This is my last hope of finding any trace

of a Bonnie Prince Charlie portrait by Ramsay,

if such a painting exists.

There are hundreds of portrait records

of Bonnie Prince Charlie in these boxes.

'But, so far, nothing painted in Ramsay's distinctive style.'

Next.

'I'm slightly running out of hope.'

'Because if I can't find anything here,

'my search will be over.'

This is the final box.

"Prince Charles Edward.

"Doubtful and wrongly named".

Called Charles Edward, but not.

Well, that is him.

That's definitely not him.

Oh, that's him.

Not by Ramsay.

That's Prince Henry.

Don't know who that is.

'This looks promising.

'It looks good enough to be by Ramsay.'

Now, it says on the back of the photograph here,

"Prince Charles Edward Stuart,

"after an engraving by Robert Strange,"

but this is clearly not after an engraving.

It doesn't feel like it's copying something else,

it feels like it's a portrait done from life, in fact.

And it also says

that it's in the collection of the Earl of Wemyss in Gosford House.

Gosford House is in Scotland.

So, going to have to go back to Scotland.

When Bonnie Prince Charlie was heading back to Scotland,

he knew that his chance

to regain the throne for his father had been lost,

and he was filled with despair.

Unlike Charles, I'm going back to Scotland

with what I think is a good chance of success.

If the painting is at Gosford,

we won't be restoring the Stuarts to the throne,

but it will be a chance to restore an image

of the real Bonnie Prince Charlie to the world.

Gosford House isn't that far from Edinburgh or Holyrood Palace,

where Ramsay was summoned to paint the Prince's portrait.

It's just east of Edinburgh,

set amongst beautiful parkland and right next to the coast,

and it's still the family seat

of the Earls of Wemyss and March today.

I've arranged to meet

the Dowager Countess of Wemyss and March at Gosford

to try and track down the portrait.

The Wemyss family did have strong Jacobite connections back in 1745.

The eldest son of the family, Lord Elcho,

commanded the Jacobite Lifeguards,

and fought for Bonnie Prince Charlie at Prestonpans and Culloden.

And in the picture gallery in the marble hall,

I think I spy a double Ramsay portrait.

That has to be a good sign.

Who is this here?

This is Francis Charteris, who's the younger brother of Lord Elcho.

-And this is by...?

-Ramsay.

This is an epic Ramsay, in fact. Beautiful.

-How many Ramsays have you got here?

-Oh, four or five.

-Four or five.

-Yes.

-Splendid.

I was hoping you might have another one.

-Can I show you a photo?

-Oh, yes, I'd be very interested.

This is...

-Oh, we've got that.

-This is Prince Charles. You've got that one?

-Yes.

-Can we see him?

-Yes, of course. It's downstairs.

Marvellous. Thank you.

Exciting!

'So could the real Ramsay portrait of Bonnie Prince Charlie

'have been here, just a few miles from Edinburgh, for all this time?'

We're getting there.

'I can hardly dare to believe it.'

Now, he's down here.

Here he is.

My God. There he is. Oh, it's lovely.

Can't believe I've finally seen it. And in colour, as well.

I've stared at it for so long in black and white.

-I've got a little torch here. Do you mind if I...

-Of course.

-Go ahead and use it.

-..turn that on, then?

Wow.

God, it's really good, isn't it?

Can't believe he's there,

and he looks as good as I'd hoped he did.

It's really, really good.

-You can take him off the wall and bring him...

-Do you mind?

-Is that all right if I take it?

-No, come along.

Find a window to stick him in and have a closer look.

I can't believe I'm even picking him up now.

Oh, this is tremendous.

Behold, the Prince. I'm holding him like a religious icon.

We can make a procession.

There, that's better.

Lots of daylight. That's what we like.

Oh, gosh, it's really nice.

I can't tell you how many bad pictures of Bonnie Prince Charlie

I've been looking at, Lady Wemyss,

but this one is one of the best, and it's just amazingly good.

It just seems to have

the immediate presence of a human being and, in this case,

-a really quite important and charismatic human being.

-Mmm.

It's painted in just the technique

I would expect to see Ramsay paint in the mid-1740s.

He's got already that trademark very feathery style -

little, short brushstrokes.

And for me, that partly explains

why the face is so well illuminated here.

I mean, I love the way the light falls across him

and the way the shadows come on the edge of the hair.

It's got everything you'd expect to see in a Ramsay, this.

-This is by one of Scotland's best artists.

-I know that, yes.

And one of Scotland's most iconic figures.

And who didn't paint the Prince, we're told.

We're told he didn't paint the Prince, but he did. And this here...

-Yes, yes.

-..I'm holding it.

In your window!

Well, the next question is,

it's one thing for me, in my eye,

however good I think it is, to say this is by Ramsay.

We need to join up all the dots.

Have you got any paperwork that we can go and look at?

Well, we'll go in the other room and have a look.

It'd be quite helpful to see if it's been called Ramsay before

-and how long you've had it for.

-OK.

Now, we're down here.

'If we can find any early written record

'of this portrait being attributed to Ramsay,

'it would certainly strengthen our case.'

This is what I call an archive.

Catalogue of pictures at Wemyss House, Gosford.

Come on, Charlie. Where are you?

Painters' names.

Let's see if we find a Ramsay.

Ortner, Carracci, Rubens.

Ramsay.

-Good.

-Portrait of Prince Charles Stuart. There it is.

Misspelled. With an E. "Ramsey".

10 by 8 inches. 10 by 8 inches.

-That's it.

-That's it.

I mean, it's really heartening

to see that this picture was called a Ramsay then.

I mean, that's encouraging, isn't it?

Straight from the horse's mouth.

In my day job, Lady Wemyss,

as an art dealer trying to find lost pictures,

I've seen cases where you would never get this much

to back up your conversarial instincts.

-So I'm pretty pleased.

-Good.

However, I don't think it's for me

to give the verdict on this painting,

and I was wondering if you would let me

take it to the Allan Ramsay expert, Duncan Thomson,

who I think you know.

I do know him. I have great faith in him. Yes, of course you may take it.

Would you allow me to present all the evidence to him

and show him the picture

and see if I'm either making a complete fool of myself...

You're not, I assure you.

..or if we've found Allan Ramsay's portrait of Bonnie Prince Charlie?

I'd be happy and delighted and honoured

to have you take it to Edinburgh.

-I promise I'll look after it.

-Thank you.

I'm very pleased that Lady Wemyss

has allowed Bonnie Prince Charlie to visit Edinburgh again.

I hope he'll enjoy being back.

Admittedly, he's not staying in Holyrood Palace this time.

But I'd like to think he might have enjoyed entering the city

with a motorbike escort.

That might have appealed to his sense of style.

Now, I may think we've found a portrait

of Bonnie Prince Charlie by Allan Ramsay,

but to have the portrait authenticated,

I need to show it to THE Ramsay expert,

Dr Duncan Thomson.

For me, this is the nerve-racking bit.

If Duncan doesn't think this is a Ramsay, I'll be sunk.

Now, there's not many things that make me anxious, Duncan,

but I do very much hope you like this painting.

Well, it's potentially

such an important painting.

-I'm desperate to see it.

-Are you ready?

Oh, there we go.

My goodness.

This is quite amazing.

This is quite amazing. Gosh.

This is quite extraordinary.

This is wonderful.

This is wonderful.

Shall I put it on an easel so we can have a closer look?

-Yes, let's do that.

-Splendid.

For me, that has all the grace and naturalness

of Allan Ramsay at his best.

Oh, at his best!

Well, that's great. Already you like it.

-Wonderfully elegant.

-That was quick.

-Gosh.

I suppose a good portrait does immediately tell you

-that it's a good portrait, doesn't it?

-Immediate impression, yeah.

It strikes me right away this is Ramsay.

This is Ramsay without a doubt.

The contrast between the front part of the wig

and the dark part at the back, that's pure Ramsay.

That occurs in a number of portraits of this period, in fact.

The thing that's so wonderful is the delicacy of the handling.

The "handwriting", what I call the handwriting,

this is the real autograph aspect of Ramsay,

that we can follow him in this wig-painting.

You can almost count the number of hairs in his brush.

I can actually produce a sable brush from my pocket,

it must be very similar to the one Ramsay used

to make these wonderfully delicate little hairs in the wig.

But the sheer delicacy of the way that the pink of the cheek

blends into slightly grey,

which presumably is in fact a record

of the growth on the Prince's face.

But it's very, very beautifully suffused into the pink.

Touches of vermilion

around the corner of the eye.

Just little touches of vermilion on the upper eyelid. Wonderful.

Was Ramsay a quick painter?

As far as we know, he painted pretty quickly.

I don't think he would draw on the canvas first -

I think this is direct painting.

One has this feeling that most of it is done from life.

Tremendous sense of immediacy.

The wonderful way that white on the sleeve

is actually quite casually taken across the edge of the star,

which you can still in fact see through.

Just a glaze of white

just to give us the shape of that sleeve.

Yes.

It is quite a good sign, because it's a sign of spontaneity.

It's spontaneous. It's not something being copied.

It's a reworking of a passage.

I presume made for engraving.

Could be produced for propaganda.

My assumption is that that explains the size -

is that it was intended to be taken into England.

Because it's done on the eve of the invasion

and it's quite interesting that he's not wearing tartan

or the Order Of The Thistle.

So this is for an English audience.

It certainly looks like that. Absolutely.

And I think the size means

that it was done to take down to London.

And then immediately they seized power or whatever,

started distributing images,

today's images of the new Prince Regent.

Propaganda is not a word that immediately comes to mind

when looking at something that is basically so beautiful,

and so, in a sense, emotional.

This is the prince as he was in Scotland

at the beginning of his great escapade,

or whatever you like to call it.

Painted in Scotland at such a crucial moment

by one of Scotland's greatest ever artists.

So important. So important.

Never in my wildest dreams, Duncan,

did I think you would like it this much. I'm highly delighted.

I'm enthusing. I can't stop enthusing, I'm afraid.

We've brought the Prince back to life, which I find wonderful.

I find that quite wonderful.

Do you think this will become the iconic portrait

of Bonnie Prince Charlie?

I think there is every likelihood of that, don't you?

The portrait that we used to think was Bonnie Prince Charlie,

by La Tour - the big pastel.

In a way a more overwhelming image,

but sadly, of course, his brother, Prince Henry -

as you have proved.

and this is such a wonderful image to take its place.

-Good.

-It certainly makes up for the relegation of the La Tour.

-My artist oracle sins have been atoned.

-Absolutely.

Yes, you're forgiven.

So we've found the lost portrait.

And I hope this won't be the last time

we see the true face of Charles Edward Stuart.

The world should become acquainted

with Ramsay's fast, determined portrait

of this much misunderstood, loved, and hated young man.

And I'm pleased to say

that Bonnie Prince Charlie is still quite bonnie.

We haven't completely shattered the myth,

and I'm quite relieved about that.

Leaving the portrait in Edinburgh,

I'm tracing Charles' retreat north, back to the Highlands.

I want to say a last goodbye.

After turning back from Derby,

with the Government army in hot pursuit,

Charles and his army went to Glasgow.

They attacked and beat Government troops at Falkirk

in January 1746,

killing 350 and taking a further 300 prisoner.

But Charles became ill,

and his army did not pursue their advantage.

Retreating north, back to the Highlands,

Charles and his Jacobites faced the Duke of Cumberland's forces

at Culloden, on the 16th of April 1746.

They were beaten,

and Charles decided to return to France.

As he rode off the battlefield at Culloden,

it's said that Lord Elcho called after him,

"There you go for a damned cowardly Italian!"

All was lost.

So Charles now had no choice but to go back into exile,

and he spent the next five months trying to leave Scotland

as he was chased everywhere by Government troops.

With the help of his Highland supporters,

he slept in the hills and travelled everywhere in disguise,

even once dressing up as a woman.

But despite the presence of a £30,000 bounty on his head,

some £15 million today,

nobody turned him in.

His supporters were loyal to the end.

Charles did eventually reach France,

and lived the rest of his life in exile.

More propaganda images were painted,

but none have the youth and hope of the Ramsay portrait.

Although Charles failed in his attempt to regain the throne,

I think he was fighting for and won something far greater -

a kind of historical immortality.

He's still inspiring people across the world today,

and you can't really say that about George I.

But perhaps best of all,

we now have the perfect reminder of Charles' glorious adventure,

because we've now found the true face of Bonnie Prince Charlie.