Meet The King's Tour Artists, 40 Years of Royal Art, Behind the Scenes Look at Life on Royal Tours
Posted by Karen on July 18, 2025, 11:25 am
This summer, visitors to the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace will see a special exhibition, The King’s Tour Artists, featuring over 70 works of art from His Majesty’s own collection, many on public display for the first time. In the spring of 1985, the then Prince of Wales invited, at his own expense, John Ward to join a royal visit to Italy as the official tour artist, with the brief to draw or paint whatever inspired him. For the past 40 years, official tour artists have been personally selected by The King to accompany him on royal overseas tours with the brief remaining largely unchanged throughout. Forty-three artists to have undertaken this role, who collectively have visited 95 countries during 70 tours, will be represented in the exhibition.