British prince, grandson of James II and son of James, the Old Pretender. In the
Jacobite rebellion of 1745 (the
Forty-Five) Charles won the support of the Scottish Highlanders; his army invaded England to claim the throne but was beaten back by the Duke of
Cumberland and routed at
Culloden on 16 April 1746. Charles fled; for five months he wandered through the Highlands with a price of £30,000 on his head before escaping to France. He visited England secretly in 1750, and may have made other visits. In later life he degenerated into a friendless drunkard. He settled in Italy in 1766.
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