Written question asked by Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative) on Monday, 9 March 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 11 March 2026. It was answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds (Labour) on Tuesday, 17 March 2026 on behalf of the Cabinet Office.
King Charles III: Artworks
- Question
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To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 1 July 2025, to Question 62993, on King Charles III: Artworks, whether (a) Royal Armouries Museum, (b) Royal Museums Greenwich, (c) Historic Royal Palaces, (d) Royal Parks and (e) Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, took up the offer from the Cabinet Office of a free portrait of the King to place in their offices.
- Answer
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Public authorities throughout the United Kingdom were given an opportunity to apply for a free portrait of His Majesty The King if they wanted to display it in their building. This was a voluntary scheme to mark the accession of His Majesty The King. The announcement was originally made on 1 April 2023 and the scheme was launched in November that year and closed for applications in August 2024.
As it was a voluntary scheme, there was no obligation for public authorities to apply for a portrait. There may also be a variety of reasons as to why an institution did not order a portrait, such as suitable location or whether they had an existing portrait. It would therefore be inappropriate to release a simple list of individual authorities and institutions which did or did not order a free portrait.
I refer the Honourable Member to the information published on GOV.UK on 28 November 2024 which provided a summary of the His Majesty The King Official Portrait Scheme, including the number of portraits provided and the total cost of the scheme: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/conclusion-of-his-majesty-the-kings-free-portrait-scheme
The HMK Portrait scheme was launched on 14th November 2023 and, including two extensions of scope, ran until 15th August 2024. A total of 20,565 orders were received, the cost of which, including delivery, was £2,710,705.50 with an average price of £131.81 per portrait.
Secondary information
- Type
- Written question
- Reference
- 119061
- Session
- 2024-26
- Related items
- Transferred
- Yes
- Subjects
- Artworks Charles III, King
- Link
- View this Written question on www.parliament.uk
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- 2026-03-17 18:02:42 +0000
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