The Three Eldest Princesses: Charlotte, Princess Royal (1766-1828), Augusta (1768-1840) and Elizabeth (1770-1840)

The Three Eldest Princesses from 1784 in the Royal Collection is among Gainsborough's most ambitious royal commissions, depicting Charlotte (Princess Royal), Augusta, and Elizabeth in an informal group that balances the requirements of official portraiture with the warmth and naturalness that distinguished his approach to royal subjects. The commission represented a direct challenge to Reynolds, who had also painted the royal children in his more classical, formally staged manner, and the contrast between the two painters' approaches to the same sitters was a subject of contemporary discussion. Gainsborough's informal treatment — the three sisters arranged in relaxed proximity, their expressions natural and their poses unforced — made his royal portraits enduringly appealing while Reynolds's more theatrical versions have sometimes seemed stiff to later eyes. The Royal Collection holds the painting at Windsor alongside the individual portraits Gainsborough painted of each of the royal children.

Gainsborough renders the three princesses with his characteristic atmospheric softness, using a silvery palette and fluid brushwork. The intimate grouping and natural poses create an image of familial warmth that transcends the conventions of royal portraiture.