Portsmouth, principal home to the Royal Navy for many centuries, was the largest naval station in the world for much of the period of British supremacy at sea. Site of the first naval dock in Britain in 1540, although an important fleet anchorage long before then, the main dockyard was expanded many times during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. Countless famous ships were built there and, in both peace and war, its size and scale dominated the naval establishment for generations.

Although it is not known how long this painting has been in the possession of Lady Pamela's forebears, it is hardly surprising to find such a work there given the fact that her family has contained two of the most eminent sailors of the twentieth century. The naval career of her father, the late Earl Mountbatten of Burma, needs no further comment here although that of her grandfather, Prince Louis of Battenburg, is less well-known. Both men rose through the Royal Navy to become Admirals of the Fleet and it was Prince Louis who, as First Sea Lord, mobilized the fleet on the outbreak of war in 1918. Despite undoubted loyalty to his adopted country, his German name and accent fell victim to the anti-German hysteria of the day and he was forced to resign his post. In 1917 he renounced his princely title and anglicised his name to emerge as Sir Louis Mountbatten, First Marquess of Milford Haven, but never regained office and died in 1921.