The Royal Collection in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth II

Caroline de Guitaut, Deputy Surveyor of The King’s Works of Art

The Royal Collection, one of the greatest European dynastic art collections still in royal ownership, represents over 500 hundred years of collecting by successive monarchs. Through the twentieth century and into the twenty-first, the Royal Collection has become more publicly accessible than ever before. Focussing primarily on decorative art, this paper will reflect upon how change and innovation in the reign of Queen Elizabeth II has shaped the collection now and for the future.