James Francis Stuart – ‘James III’ – the ‘Old Pretender’ interesting letter (probably a contemporary copy) dated Luneville November 26th 1713 addressed to Queen Anne, regarding the fate of James Francis Stuart, the ‘Old Pretender’(here referred to as ‘Le Chevalier St George), following the Treaty of Utrecht. The letter refuses to give have him removed from the Dominions of Lorraine : ‘...we could no longer refrain opening our arms to receive a Prince the most accomplished the most virtuous & most amiable of human race, who only wants to be seen to be admired and known to be almost adored...’ An interesting insight into the intrigues which were continuing at this time between the Queen’s First Minister, Edward Harley and the French King to conspire to keep the Old Pretender away from any position of power – yet secretly Harley was in correspondence with the Pretender, and even suggesting that if he renounced his Catholic faith and became a Protestant, there was every chance that he could be restored as King. The Pretender’s somewhat inexplicable refusal led to him living out his life in exile, and the eventual bloodshed on the field of Culloden in 1746.