Wright may have used this unconventional public persona as a way to drive business to her waxworks, making savvy use of newspaper coverage to get publicity for her artwork. Wright is said to have worked as a spy during the American Revolution, sending information back to the colonies inside her wax figures. The accuracy of this legend has been contested. She is known to have corresponded with Benjamin Franklin during the war, sending letters reporting on the health of his illegitimate son, William, and advocating on behalf of prisoners of war. She also wrote letters to John Dickinson describing the British Army's preparations in England. Wright eventually fell from royal favor as a result of her open support for the colonial cause, especially after she reportedly scolded the king and queen after the battles of Lexington and Concord. She was an outspoken patriot, and started a fund to support American prisoners of war held in Britain. A group of pro-American activists, including Lord George Gordon, Benjamin West, and Anthony Pasquin, would meet at her London workshop to discuss their cause. Wright moved to Paris in 1780, where she modeled a portrait of Benjamin Franklin. Wright returned to England in 1782 and settled with her daughter Phoebe and her son-in-law, painter John Hoppner at their home on Charles Street at St. James's Square. By 1785 she had decided to return to New Jersey. However, as she was making preparations to travel, she suffered a bad fall and broke her leg. Patience Wright died a week later, on March 23, 1786. Her sister Rachel attempted to get financial assistance for her burial expenses, both from prominent American citizens and then from the Continental Congress, but was not successful. Wright was buried in London. Her burial place is unknown. Although Wright had obtained George Washington's agreement to sit for a portrait with her, she died before she could sculpt him. A similar request sent to Thomas Jefferson would go unanswered. The fragility of her medium means that few of Wright's works survive today. A full-length figure of William Pitt, produced after the Earl’s death, still stands in Westminster Abbey Museum. A bas-relief profile of Admiral Richard Howe in the collection of the Newark Museum is attributed to her. Wright's also made sculptures of Prime Minister William Pitt, Lord Lyttelton, Thomas Penn,and Charles James Fox. Wright's patrons included Benjamin Franklin, Deborah Sampson, the King and Queen of England, and William Pitt. Patience Wright's son Joseph Wright (1756–1793) was a well-known portrait painter who designed Liberty Cap Cent.