The identities of the sitters in the present portrait remains uncertain; the ages of the children suggest that they are not as titled Prince Charles and Princess Mary - Princess Mary was younger than Prince Charles and in the current picture, the female sitter appears older than her male sibling. The style of the dress with its dropped sleeves suggests a date somewhere in the early 1650s. It has been suggested that the sitters may be members of the Carnarvon family. There is a known portrait of the children of Sir Charles Dormer, 2nd Earl of Carnarvon (1632-1709), painted by Sir Peter Lely circa 1644.