Thomas Erskine (1750-1823) had been employed as Attorney General to the Prince of Wales and Sir Arthur Leary Pigott (1749-1819) as his Solicitor General, and both were perceived to have clear Foxite links. The St. James's Chronicle or the British Evening Post for 26 January 1793 reports that ‘Messrs Erskine and Pigot … received an intimation from the Prince [of Wales], that their services would in future be dispensed with’. This reflects the Prince’s efforts to distance himself from the Foxite Whigs in the wake of Louis XVI’s execution; the newspaper also reports that he tore up a picture of his former friend Philippe Égalité (formerly the Duke of Orleans) and addressed a letter to the Duke of Portland, informing him that he was no longer able to support his party.