Our Prince is captured - by Kate Hunter. Does she win the £30,000?

Can you recognise this man?

Well, we certainly hope you can.



The Prestonpans 1745 Battle Trust despaired in late 2009 when the Scottish National Portrait Gallery reluctantly accepted that there was reason to suppose the portrait it had earlier identified as Bonnie Prince Charlie was probably his younger brother Prince Henry, later the last of the Stuart Kings - Henry IX.

We evaluated as many 'other' putative portraits of Bonnie Prince Charlie as we could locate but frankly none of them provided the image we felt most appropriate for our campaign hereabouts.

So the conclusion was obvious. Don't blame Sue; ask Kate Hunter to paint our very own.

... and the painting above which will be used extensively in the coming years by the Trust is the result. Kate Hunter is a familiar artist in Prestonpans with several murals including the town's first on the sea wall just north of the Prestoungrange Gothenburg and the Tam O'Shanter in the Burns' Shelter which is illuminated at nightime.

In the coming weeks the portrait, which was officially unveiled on June 4th at the 2nd Biennial Scottish Battlefields Conference in the Town Hall, will appear most frequently on the £10 and £5 bank notes the Trust is issuing to Sir Robert Strange's original 1745 designs for the Prince.

Nicola Kalinsky, Chief Curator and Deputy Director of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, who was at the 2nd Biennial, commented: “Kate Hunter has produced a contemporary and imaginative portrait of Charles which convincingly conveys the dignity of the Stuart face. It’s a real success, and will work as a very powerful and recognisable image.”

What the papers said?



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P.S. Some say the Prince Kate Hunter captures has an almost uncanny resemblance to his brother Henry - but that's hardly surprising really since they were brothers. Let's not forget, Charles was the older of the two and the one who frankly made 'waves'. What we can assure one and all is that such was the acceptance of the La Tour portrait as being of the Prince that Kate Hunter's image immediately triggers the comment: "That's Bonnie Prince Charlie!" Furthermore, the Trust can reassure all that think it 'might' be Prince Henry that Henry definitely did not sit for Kate Hunter!

Certainly our own Prestonpans re-enactor Prince is content - seen here with Kate Hunter's new portrait as captured by Tony Marsh for the Trust!