Flora MacDonald (1722-1790) helped Prince Charles Edward Stuart ('Bonnie Prince Charlie') to escape from Scotland after his defeat by the English army at the Battle of Culloden in 1746. She was captured by HMS Furnace on the island of Skye, 12 July 1746; She was transferred to HMS Eltham on 7 August 1746, to HMS Bridgewater on 21 September 1746 and to HMS Royal Sovereign at the Nore in December 1746. The Captain of HMS Bridgewater was Commodore Thomas Smith, a friend and patron of Wilson. Having been imprisoned in the Tower of London she was liberated by the Act of Indemnity on 4 July 1747 and became something of a celebrity in London society, enjoying the company, for example, of Frederick, Prince of Wales. She was painted by Wilson shortly afterwards. It is tempting to interpret her tartan costume as a political statement of some kind in view of her role in the 1745 uprising and the banning of tartan in 1745, though her family were Hanoverian supporters.