BONNIE Prince Charlie, 18th-century Scottish folk hero, inspiration for a host of nationalist ballads and Young Pretender to the British throne, scored a belated but sweet victory yesterday, writes Mary Braid.

This portrait of the prince, recently acquired by the Scottish National Portrait Gallery for pounds 22,000, was unveiled in Edinburgh. A portrait of the Queen was moved to a side wall to make room for the Jacobite leader. The pastel, created by the French painter Maurice-Quentin de la Tour in Paris in 1748, is believed to have belonged to the Young Pretender. It 'came home' 249 years after Prince Charlie landed in Scotland and launched his abortive attempt to reclaim the British crown for the Stuarts.