Queen Elizabeth II may have been an avid horse breeder and corgi enthusiast, but her eldest son, the recently-crowned King Charles III, prefers to spend his time painting.
The King’s passion for visual art was cultivated from a young age. He learned to paint under the influence of Robert Waddell, a teacher at Scottish boarding school Gordonstoun, which was his father Prince Philip’s and his alma matter. He was later taught by British artists Edward Seago and John Napper. Additionally, he had access to artworks among the family’s Royal Collection Trust.
At 73 years of age, Charles has been painting—primarily landscapes—for nearly 50 years. Here are six paintings of some of his most memorable moments as Prince of Wales.
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Image Credit: A watercolor of Castle Mey, the former home of Queen Elizabeth II, 1986. Photo Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images Castle Mey in northern Scotland, the former home of Queen Elizabeth, was one of King Charles’ most common subjects in his early work.
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Image Credit: Curator Lauren Porter adjusts the watercolor Lochnagar from the Gelder Cottage, 2012; in the exhibition "Royal Paintbox: Royal Artists Past and Present," 2013–14, at Windsor Castle, Berkshire. Photo Andrew Matthews/PA Images via Getty Images King Charles works exclusively with watercolor “to convey that almost ‘inner’ sense of texture,” as he wrote for an exhibition at London’s Garrison Chapel, where 79 of his works were shown.
King Charles is one of the UK’s bestselling living artists, having made an estimated £2 million ($2.14 million) from selling copies of his art between 1997 and 2016.
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Image Credit: One of King Charles's watercolor paintings of Klosters, 1992, on a ski pass for the 1997 season. Photo Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images An avid skier, King Charles visited Klosters in 1988, where he narrowly escaped an avalanche. In 1997, the Swiss city used his painting of the area on its seasonal ski pass.
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Image Credit: A llithograph of a 1989 painting by King Charles in the exhibition "Double Haven Bay," Hong Kong. Photo K. Y. Cheng/South China Morning Post via Getty Images In 1989, the king and his ex-wife Princess Diana visited Hong Kong to officiate the opening of the city’s Cultural Center.
This painting is now part of a marine park in northeast New Territories.
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Image Credit: Watercolor of Balmoral, in the 1990s book "The Prince Of Wales Watercolours." Photo Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire, Scotland was home to the late Queen Elizabeth II until her death on September 8, 2022.
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Image Credit: Watercolor of the Spittal of Glen Muick near Balmoral, in the 1990s book "The Prince Of Wales Watercolours." Photo Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images The landscape surrounding Balmoral Castle is one of King Charles’s favorite subjects to paint.