This year’s summer opening of Buckingham Palace will see a number of Royal Family portraits displayed at the ‘Prince & Patron’ exhibition.
This year marks the 70th birthday of the Prince of Wales and to celebrate, the exhibition will bring together over 100 pieces of work that he has personally selected from either his own collection or the Royal Collection.
The collection will also include works of art that have been created by artists who have been supported by Prince Charles’s three charities, the Royal Drawing School, The Prince’s Foundation School of Traditional Arts and Turquoise Mountain.
Throughout the years, the Royal Family have had many famous pieces of art created to mark special occasions.
In 1972, the silver wedding anniversary of The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh was celebrated with an oil sketch of The Queen Mother created by Michael Noakes.
In the picture, The Queen Mother is seen wearing Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee brooch.
The first official double portrait of Prince William and Prince Harry was commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery, with artist Nicky Philipps being given the honour of creating it.
The two princes can be seen wearing regimental dress uniform of the Household Cavalry (the ‘Blues and Royals’) in two preparatory oil sketches from The Prince of Wales’s collection.
The pieces will make their first public appearance at the ‘Prince & Patron’ exhibition. However, their more permanent home is at Highgrove, the private residence of the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall.
Brian Organ’s previously unseen pencil sketch of the Duke of Edinburgh from 1983 will also be on display at the palace.
The Prince of Wales has a life-long passion for art and the Royal Collection which is evident through his roles as Chairman of The Royal Collection Trust and Patron of many arts charities.
The ‘Prince & Patron’ exhibition will be on display from July 21st to September 30th 2018 as part of a visit to the Summer Opening of the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace.
