In December 2023 and January 2024 members of the Society “met” 500 years of the British Royal Family at the National Portrait Gallery, in 3 tours led by Blue Badge Tourist Guide Caroline Piper. The gallery has recently reopened and is well worth a visit, with the Tudor rooms less cramped and with a wide variety of portraits of Elizabeth I hanging in the same room for contrast. There’s a good juxtaposition of favourites, with Sarah Churchill (favourite of Queen Anne) now hanging next to the Duke of Buckingham (favourite of James I and Charles I). If the king is looking for advice, it was generally agreed that avoiding the personality traits of Charles I, Charles II and Edward VIII would be a good idea! Not emulating the personal lives of the later Hanoverians would also probably be wise. For those with affection for the Windsors, the intimate portrait of George VI, the Queen Mum, Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret “Conversation Piece at Royal Lodge Windsor” by Sir Herbert James Gunn is well worth hunting out, for its warm and friendly portrayal of our wartime royal family.
Organised by Caroline Piper