At the time of the French Revolution, he lost the land and income he was given by the French king, and spent a lot of his money helping Pope Pius VI. This, in addition to the seizure of his Frascati property by the French, caused him to descend into poverty. The British Minister in Venice arranged for Henry to receive an annuity of £4,000 from King George III of Great Britain. Although the British government said this as an act of charity, Henry and the Jacobites called it to be a first installment on the money which was legally owed to him. (For many years the British government had promised to return the English dowry of his grandmother, Mary of Modena, but had never done so.)