Prince James Francis Edward (1688-1766) was the only legitimate son of James II and VII by his second wife, Mary of Modena. His birth was a deciding factor in triggering off the Glorious Revolution that overthrew his father in 1688, as it seemed to herald the permanence of King James's political and religious changes. When his father died in 1701, Louis XIV recognised the Prince as King and allowed him to continue living at the royal chateau of St. Germain. However, James was always a pawn in the political chess-game. After the failure of the Fifteen, the rebellion of 1715-1716, during which he spent the night of 7th January 1716 in the State Room at Fingask, the Treaty of Utrecht required him to leave French territory. He passed under the care of the Pope, settling eventually in Rome, where the Pope gave him the use of the Palazzo Muti.

Most of the rest of his life was spent there, devoted to affairs of State, insofar as there are such affairs for a 'King-in-exile'. Numerous conspiracies were planned, involving the Governments of France, Spain, Sweden and even Prussia at different times. James subsidised his supporters and tried to mediate in their never-ending disputes. What we would now call a government-in-exile surrounded him and involved him in a huge amount of work. Taking examples from the 1720's, we find him appointing John Graeme and James Murray to be Secretaries of State in 1727, appointing the Duke of Warton to be his Ambassador in Vienna in 1725 and Sir Henry Goring to be Governor of Bristol in 1722.

Domestic problems plagued his life. Maria Clementina, his wife, retreated to a convent after quarrels over the up-bringing of their children. His elder son, after the fiasco of the Forty-Five, caused consternation by heavy drinking, frequent disappearances, refusing to communicate with his brother and by religious heterodoxy. James became seriously ill in 1764, which effected a reconciliation between his sons. He sank throughout 1765 and died on 1 January 1766.