The Lost Prince: The Life and Death of Henry Stuart

Brave, handsome, clever, athletic, noble and cultured, Henry Stuart (1594-1612) embodied all the princely virtues. As the future King Henry IX he was the focus of great hope and expectation and his court was the centre of a revival of chivalry and a renaissance in the arts. Henry’s early death caused widespread national grief, and led eventually to the accession to the throne of his younger brother, the doomed King Charles I.

Marking the 400th anniversary of Henry’s death, The Lost Prince will include some of the most important works of art and culture produced and collected in the Jacobean period, including portraits by Holbein, Nicholas Hilliard and Isaac Oliver, designs by Inigo Jones and poetry by Ben Jonson in his own hand. These will be shown together with a large selection of paintings, drawings, books, armour and other artefacts, gathered from museums and private collections in Britain and abroad, some of which have never previously been on public display.

The exhibition, which explores Henry’s life and image, and the extraordinary reaction to his death, will transform our understanding of this exceptional prince and the time in which he lived.