BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE40 discoverbritainmag.comThe Young
Pretender
Three centuries on from the birth of “Bonnie Prince Charlie”, Diana Wright asks
whether this Scottish legend was a romantic hero or a self-seeking royal rogue?A
visitor to the 18th-century Stuart
court in exile in Rome, Italy, gave a
glowing report of Charles Edward
Stuart as tall, handsome and with the
finest eyes ever seen. “But that which shines
most in him... is the dignity that accompanies
his every gesture; there is such an unspeakable
majesty diffused through his whole mien.”
To this day the popular image prevails of
“Bonnie Prince Charlie” as the dashing hero
who sought to reclaim the Stuart Crown;
“the lad that’s born to be king” who,
immortalised in traditional Scottish folk song
The Skye Boat Song, escaped “over the sea”
after his dreams were shattered at Culloden
in 1746. But how did a
half-Polish prince born in
Rome who spoke English
with an Italian accent win
such an enduring place
in Scottish hearts and
British history? And was
he really a romantic hero
or a self-seeking royal
rogue? It’s a dramatic tale
to revisit in the 300th anniversary year
of his birth on 31 December 1720.
After Charles’ grandfather, the Roman
Catholic King James II, was toppled from
the British throne by Protestant factions
during the Glorious Revolution of 1688-’89,
his father, proclaimed in France at least as
James III of England and VIII of Scotland,
tried in vain to win back the Crown, notably
in the Jacobite Rebellion of 1715. Soon Jacobite
(the name given to his followers, from Jacobus,
the Latin for James) hopes re-focused on the
third generation. Could Charles, “the Young
Pretender” as he became known, succeed where
his father, “the Old Pretender”, had failed?
Life in Rome was unsettled for Charles and
his younger brother Henry. Their mother, the ➤Polish Princess Maria Clementina Sobieska,
was neurotic, reclusive and a religious zealot;
their father was frequently away on business.
“Whether absent or present I hope you will
always continue to love me,” a needy-sounding
eight-year-old Charles wrote to him.
Yet Charles developed into a lively, athletic
yet headstrong young man convinced of his
royal birthright. Restless for action, he cut his
military teeth in mainland Europe and, when
Louis XV of France sought to use the Jacobite
resistance in a planned 1744 invasion of England
during the War of the Austrian Succession,
Charles was eager to get involved. However
bad weather and Louis’ loss of interest left an
expedition high and dry,
and a frustrated Charles
decided to go it alone.
He set sail for Scotland
in a bid to rally the
Highlanders. “I would
rather die at the head
of these brave men
than languish in exile
and dependence.”
Unfortunately for Charles, British naval
intervention resulted in most of his troops
and stores turning back and he landed on the
island of Eriskay in the Outer Hebrides on
23 July 1745 with a small but devoted band
of followers. They became known as the
“Seven Men of Moidart” after he sailed to the
mainland with them at Loch Moidart, a journey
now commemorated by storyboards installed
on the sea loch’s shores.
It was an unpromising start to the so-called
Forty-five Rebellion but at Glenfinnan in the
Highlands the charismatic Young Pretender,
“so sweet a prince, that flesh and blood
could not resist following him”, began to
gather followers. On 12 August, Charles was
proclaimed Prince Regent and a week later,Bonnie Prince Charlie
was a lively, athletic
yet headstrong youngman convinced of his
royal birthrightBONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE
40 discoverbritainmag.com
The Young
Pretender
Three centuries on from the birth of “Bonnie Prince Charlie”, Diana Wright asks
whether this Scottish legend was a romantic hero or a self-seeking royal rogue?A
visitor to the 18th-century Stuart
court in exile in Rome, Italy, gave a
glowing report of Charles Edward
Stuart as tall, handsome and with the
finest eyes ever seen. “But that which shines
most in him... is the dignity that accompanies
his every gesture; there is such an unspeakable
majesty diffused through his whole mien.”
To this day the popular image prevails of
“Bonnie Prince Charlie” as the dashing hero
who sought to reclaim the Stuart Crown;
“the lad that’s born to be king” who,
immortalised in traditional Scottish folk song
The Skye Boat Song, escaped “over the sea”
after his dreams were shattered at Culloden
in 1746. But how did a
half-Polish prince born in
Rome who spoke English
with an Italian accent win
such an enduring place
in Scottish hearts and
British history? And was
he really a romantic hero
or a self-seeking royal
rogue? It’s a dramatic tale
to revisit in the 300th anniversary year
of his birth on 31 December 1720.
After Charles’ grandfather, the Roman
Catholic King James II, was toppled from
the British throne by Protestant factions
during the Glorious Revolution of 1688-’89,
his father, proclaimed in France at least as
James III of England and VIII of Scotland,
tried in vain to win back the Crown, notably
in the Jacobite Rebellion of 1715. Soon Jacobite
(the name given to his followers, from Jacobus,
the Latin for James) hopes re-focused on the
third generation. Could Charles, “the Young
Pretender” as he became known, succeed where
his father, “the Old Pretender”, had failed?
Life in Rome was unsettled for Charles and
his younger brother Henry. Their mother, the ➤Polish Princess Maria Clementina Sobieska,
was neurotic, reclusive and a religious zealot;
their father was frequently away on business.
“Whether absent or present I hope you will
always continue to love me,” a needy-sounding
eight-year-old Charles wrote to him.
Yet Charles developed into a lively, athletic
yet headstrong young man convinced of his
royal birthright. Restless for action, he cut his
military teeth in mainland Europe and, when
Louis XV of France sought to use the Jacobite
resistance in a planned 1744 invasion of England
during the War of the Austrian Succession,
Charles was eager to get involved. However
bad weather and Louis’ loss of interest left an
expedition high and dry,
and a frustrated Charles
decided to go it alone.
He set sail for Scotland
in a bid to rally the
Highlanders. “I would
rather die at the head
of these brave men
than languish in exile
and dependence.”
Unfortunately for Charles, British naval
intervention resulted in most of his troops
and stores turning back and he landed on the
island of Eriskay in the Outer Hebrides on
23 July 1745 with a small but devoted band
of followers. They became known as the
“Seven Men of Moidart” after he sailed to the
mainland with them at Loch Moidart, a journey
now commemorated by storyboards installed
on the sea loch’s shores.
It was an unpromising start to the so-called
Forty-five Rebellion but at Glenfinnan in the
Highlands the charismatic Young Pretender,
“so sweet a prince, that flesh and blood
could not resist following him”, began to
gather followers. On 12 August, Charles was
proclaimed Prince Regent and a week later,Bonnie Prince Charlie
was a lively, athletic
yet headstrong youngman convinced of his
royal birthright