Royal Paintbox (2013) - full transcript

When I first saw
Queen Victoria's painting kit,

as a filmmaker and water
color painter myself,

I was really surprised to find
out that a 150 years ago, she

was an artist.

Her great-great-great-grandson,
his Royal Highness the Prince

of Wales, also enjoys painting.

And for the first time on film, he

agreed to tell me the extraordinary story

of the traditional of art in
his family through the ages.

She was doing it in those
days on her writing paper,

more like I started.



And in the search for
the earliest evidence of art

in the royal family,
we'd discover literally

dozens of talented artists.

This is a series of
wonderfully used water colors.

Revealing an extraordinary treasure trove,

creativity by royal hands.

There you see, not quite
spelled right-- "Napolean."

We'll be finding out more about their art

and what their art means to them.

I think, you know, drawing from nature,

observing nature is absolutely crucial.

And I've obviously been
inspired by just looking.

It is usually the light is
what captures my attention.

You can look at the same
view over and over again.



Then suddenly, one moment
there's the most magical light.

And I sometimes paint in the evenings.

And every now and then,
it's-- when it dries suddenly,

it is exactly what I was looking for.

You think, how--how do you do those?

Which part of me does it come from?

And I was lucky enough

to be brought up, you know, at
Windsor Castle and Buckingham

Palace and Balmoral.

And of course, you imagine at Windsor,

you're surrounded by the
most marvelous things.

Of course, when you were
small, you rush about.

You know, pedaling or something up and down

the corridors along.

And you notice nothing.

It's just a background.

Suddenly, literally, and I
must have been 14 or something,

suddenly all the pictures on the walls,

I found just came into focus.

Like, do you know what I mean?

And they've just been a blurred sort

of background so you just-- just that.

Then suddenly, I started looking.

Amongst this incredible collection

of masterpieces, by artists
like Canaletto and Rembrandt,

we found art actually done by members

of the royal family themselves.

And we were given a very
special guided tour.

This old painting

was done by my father,
the Duke of Edinburgh

when I was a child.

It's of the Queen having
breakfast in the private dining

room here at-- at Windsor Castle.

His father passed on this interest

by showing the Prince of Wales
how to paint when he was young.

My father's paintings,

like many by my forebears, were done

for pleasure on public and private trips.

This rarely seen
liner cut of the circus horse

was done by the queen when she was young.

So the cut of the horse.

Yes, she must have been sort
of eight or nine, I suppose,

or younger.

But was done for-- for
the-- for the parents.

Like many of these things were done,

you know, given to the parents
at Christmas time or birthdays,

those things.

You know, like one does as a child.

I remember doing it to my
grandmother and others.

Then we walk away and shuffle
off our mortal code.

But these-- these things live on.

That's what's so riveting, I think,

about looking at other members
of my family in the past.

There's this feeling that, you know,

there they were, even sense
them sitting doing the painting

and everything else.

And then that stays behind.

It's still you.

It's a part of you that's still there

even though the rest of you is gone.

We'll be looking
through the Prince of Wales'

family tree to see if there's evidence

of an artistic inheritance.

We'll start with the earliest remaining

art you can find today.

In the fight for the throne of
England, Mary Queen of Scots

was imprisoned by Elizabeth
I for nearly 20 years

before being executed.

With time on hands, it was in prison

that her art was to flourish.

I have the impression that Mary Queen

of Scots' embroidery, which was an art.

It-- fascinating the intricate
and very uh-- thought out,

you know, with these images.

It was the first serious
art in the royal family.

The vine indicates that if you cut me down,

further shoots will
spring up, other branches,

of other leaves.

Because I have a son.

I have a family, which will
go and increase and multiply,

and of course did go on, and sits

on the throne of England today.

So she got that one right.

Another royal artistic did

perfect their craft in prison,
this time during the English

Civil War, was the great grandson of Mary

Queen of Scots, Prince Rupert of The Rhine.

He lives at Windsor Castle
nearly 400 years ago

and was known for the special engraving

method he pioneered called mezzotint.

His inventive artistry
survives here to this day

and is much admired by the Prince of Wales.

He was obviously incredibly
skilled, don't you think?

And you wonder whether he didn't do this

as a result of what happened to his uncle.

King Charles I. It's wonderful
that these exist here and show,

you know, what talent he had.

If you imagine the scale
of it is quite a-- a job

doing a mezzotint like that.

Coming from a long line of artists

has inspired the Prince of
Wales himself to draw and paint

as a hobby whenever he,
too, has time to spare.

Although he's never had formal lessons,

we were fortunate to be
invited to accompany him

to one of his most favorite haunts,

a remote spot on the
Balmoral Estate in Scotland.

I think it was grandmother probably

who inspired me to-- who encouraged

me to look and observe.

I think I must have been quite
a-- a willing part of that um--

suggestion that I observe things.

I wanted to-- to do more
than just take photographs.

To me, it didn't give me the
same sense of-- of satisfaction

somehow as actually
trying to do it, you know,

with-- with eye to hand to paper.

I used to sit myself out on the hill.

And then I'd try and sit and mix things.

And it would rain.

And everything went spotty.

Then I thought, oh God.

So them I eventually decided, years later

that I'd do it all inside.

So, I'd then do a sketch and put notes

in, what the colors were and
what-- where the sun was,

all that stuff, which is actually

incredibly good training.

Because it makes you look
much more carefully, I think,

And try to train yourself to
retain the thing in your mind.

I love painting snowscapes.

There's something awfully
satisfying about trying

to bring-- you know, make
the white paper become snow.

So you're doing everything in reverse.

You know, putting in the-- the darker bits

to try and create that-- that--
that same sort of feeling.

And that one I did a-- I
thought I did sketch for that.

There we are.

I found a sketch.

Trying to make sense of
that is always interesting

when you come back.

Now put a lot of color to so on that side.

What I love about doing the snow scenes,

and I always found that the--
the sky can be quite hard.

But sometimes ah-- you get that a bit.

It is rather wonderful at
this time of year, I think,

or January.

Although the light on the
snow, the shadows is--

is so exciting to do, I think.

Over the years, a talent for art

has surfaced again and
again in the royal family.

But is this genetic or
do they traditionally

choose to spend their time developing

their artistic skills?

The Prince of Wales is especially

interested in the next
artist he's going to show us.

Arguably the most cultured monarch ever

to sit on the throne of Great Britain.

Four generations

on from Prince Rupert of
The Rhine, everybody's

taught that King George
III was the Mad King.

But in the library at Windsor Castle

are some of the most remarkable
and beautiful treasures, which,

I hope, will redress this
simplistic view of him.

King George III had instruction
in drawing and particularly

looking at architectural
drawing as that was considered

an important uh-- part of his education.

I suppose all-- there are all these things

he did were exercises in ah--
observation, perspective.

He'd clearly developed
his eye for buildings

and you know, the whole
issue of scale and proportion

and everything.

So clearly it was an interest that

remained with him for the rest of his life.

His interest in art and architecture

led him to give his active
support, and a very generous

benefaction, to the Royal Academy of Arts.

He was very much of his time, in fact,

in the mid 18th century many
more people of his ilk learned

to draw, were encouraged to draw,

were expect to draw as a recreation.

I do think it's plausible
that somebody who's

very busy and exercised with issues

of constitutional government,
anxious about the French

Revolution, might have decided
that drawing a classical temple

was a way of taking his mind
off the rest of his life.

He used this illustration of
a-- a--a temple at Palmyra now

in Syria.

God knows what will happen.

I pray, you know, they won't destroy this.

Can you imagine if this wonderful thing

of transposing that into a
wonderful Sylvan landscape, you

know, with the water and the boat on it.

It's very interesting

the way he's tamed the landscape.

And also, it's very
interested about the trees,

the way he'd done them.

Mm-hmm.

And the work on the trees is remarkable.

But they all-- I mean at that
time, in the 18th century,

there was a particular way of doing things.

But it--it--it took an awful lot of effort.

Because you had to use the
pencil, little-- little

sort of circles you see.

And then smudge presumably.

But very effective.

The end of 1788 saw the onset
of the first serious bout

of the King's illness, now
recognized as porphyria,

which was extremely severe.

I mean he's one of these people, I always

felt anyway, had been
much maligned by history.

Now I was-- I discovered the other day

that he was using products
of his hair and things

like that, which may
have had arsenic in them.

Because they've taken hairs from him,

these hairs and-- and sent
them to the-- to a laboratory

and discovered the hair
had extraordinary levels

of arsenic.

So it could be that the use
of arsenic in some of these,

I don't know, medications
or something had, you know,

made it even worse his
delusions and his awful delirium

and everything else that this poor man had

to-- to go through.

So, I mean, obviously the disease,

the problem cause the most
appalling pain and everything

else.

Of course it drives him mad.

There are very few drawings
by him after this date.

The effect of the
King's illness on the Queen

and their much loved 15
children was cataclysmic.

The normal process of marriage
for the daughters was halted.

Effectively leaving them in
limbo with unlimited leisure

time.

They spent their hours botonizing

studying flowers and plants at
the family's artistic retreat,

Frogmore House not far from Windsor.

Princess Elizabeth was, I think,

the most artistic, the
most fun of the daughters

who had a real spark for life.

She learned how to do oils and watercolors.

That's really good,
the-- you know, the drops

of water, leaves and things.

And the bird's nest you see.

Brilliant, the moss.

When Elizabeth was finally married,

she moved to Germany.

And her art took another turn.

She filled her time
cutting out silhouettes,

which she sent back to her sisters.

These are-- I mean, they're beautifully

cut out by Elizabeth using her scissors.

And they could be used in all sorts

of different decorative ways.

So here, in these baluster strips,

you have brown cut outs against black.

Here you have a black cut out, which

could be laid against white.

As though I was just

about to drop a child into a bucket,

give it a wash or something.

A lot of fun isn't it?

This room is called the Charlotte Closet.

And hanging in the room
now are a wonderful series

of drawing in the style of etchings

done by Charlotte, a princess royal.

The girls weren't the only creative members

of the family.

Their little brothers
were taught art as well.

These ones are by the Duke of Sussex

and the Duke of Cumberland
and they were small.

Can you imagine, these were
done at the age of nine or seven

or something.

Obviously it was a combined approach

with the-- the teacher.

Because, I mean, to achieve
this sort of level of competence

at that age would be
very difficult, I think.

But it's very good use of gouache isn't it?

Isn't it?

You get a lovely picture of them all

being taught art.

Yes.

It's actually good.

In the tradition of handing down.

Well, exactly that, yeah.

Yeah.

In our search through the dozens of artists

in the royal family tree, we came

across an era bursting with creativity.

Another very creative member of my family

was my great-great-great-grandmother,

Queen Victoria.

She and her husband, Prince Albert,

spent much of their private
time at Osborn House

on the Isle of White
drawing and painting out

of the public gaze.

And many of the oil
paintings by Queen Victoria

are members of her family,
still hang at Osborn House.

They both are terribly aware
of the importance of art.

But for Victoria, I think it's more

an emotional thing, an
outlet for her emotion.

And for Albert, it's much more
of a sort of a duty thing.

Like many of my forebears,

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert had both

been encouraged to draw as children.

And they were very well taught.

This intriguing sketch book was done

by my great-great-great-grandfather,

Prince Albert, age 12.

It probably came over in
his luggage from Germany.

It's rather interesting.

You see that he has a great eye
in those sketches for soldiers.

He's always looking, perhaps what

princes are trained to look at, which

is, you know, what medals you
put on, what uniform you're

wearing, and what ribbons and stripes.

The just-- they're riveting.

They're full of energy aren't they?

They full of endless sort

of disasters and military subjects.

Marvellous idea is galloping that way

and shooting somebody coming from behind.

Gracious look at this.

These horses are very good aren't they?

Albert was a rather poetic,

unusual character.

And above all, he was interesting

because he was a modernizer.

And one of his passions was the
idea of the reformed family.

And I think he brought one
of the most significant

pedagogical ideas of the 19th
century with him from Germany.

And that is the idea of the kindergarten.

Queen Victoria was very, very
fortunate and quite actually,

in some ways, unusual in
having nine children within 17

years without losing any.

She spent hours sketching them.

This album, treasured by the royal family,

gives us a unique insight into
her as both artist and mother.

Well, since you didn't have cameras,

it was crucial to do this.

Otherwise you had no records at all.

The amazing thing is
the time that they had.

She was doing it those
days on her writing paper,

more like I started.

I think those early sketch

books are extremely interesting.

The--the-- the pictures of the children.

Um-- She-- she she-- she
had a great-- great powers

of observation.

She was fascinated by people.

She's drawing tender
pictures of her own children.

She scribbling portraits
of the prime minister

on her blotter, whatever it might be.

But she obviously had a--
felt sort of tenderness

for her children.

I think these
are so-- could have been those.

It must have been at--
looks like Windsor to me.

Adorable.

Back views.

Dressing up again.

Here she was.

That's Alfred.

And they are such a-- a
wonderful record this, I think.

That's the um-Kaiser.

Marvellous back room.

Both Victoria and Albert

insist that their children
should have drawing

and um-- painting um-- and handwriting too,

sort of factored into their
timetables, which is set up

from a very early age,
from the age of four.

That was part of the accepted ah-- approach

to bringing up children,
making sure they had, you know,

an adequate understanding of the arts.

You're going to begin by using a wash,

using a brush, um-- and then later on,

you'll have a chance to use a line.

So It might mean

you've got layers of-- of wash and figures

or layers of drawing and not just

give it a sense of movement.

Because it is a quick, amazing class.

The Prince of Wales
set up his drawing school

in London with the idea of passing

on the tradition of drawing
just like Victorian's

and the Georgian's have before him.

Today, the school runs
classes for all ages.

I think what his Royal Highness

is absolutely passionate
about it is helping students

see that art is something that
is the most wonderful resource

to feed off and to inspire
them and to help them exercise

their imaginative muscles.

Because if you don't have that training,

I suppose if you don't have
the business of encouraging

somebody to use their eye, then you

miss an awful lot of the world around us.

Queen Victoria's eldest son,
my great, great grandfather,

Lazy King Edward VII, was known as Bertie.

His teacher did this thing
of getting him to copy his--

and it is a funny way because you

did a lot by-- by having to copy.

So that's what happened,
I think, in this case

here with um-- Edward called, though,

doing-- doing one and then my
great, great grandfather doing

the other.

That didn't quite work.

Obviously a bad day.

It's quite difficult to be able to do that.

Otherwise he gets quite good.

There you see, not quite
spelled right the "Napolean."

Queen Victoria spent
a lot of time in Scotland

at her other retreat, Balmoral
when nature and the elements

were to further inspire her art.

"At every turn, you have a picture.

These Scotch streams, full
of stones and clear as glass.

They're most beautiful.

The peeps between the trees.

The depth of a shadow.

The mossy stones mixed with slate.

This mixture of wilderness
and art is perfection."

I mean, some of them are really remarkable,

I think.

Her-- her little water colors.

And looking out of her window at Balmoral.

That view, I know it so
well, and it's so intriguing.

And what I find so fascinating is

how I have ended up doing
the same sort of views.

I've known it all my life, you know.

I-- uh-- And I've been here since I--

before I could remember really.

You know, inevitably it's-- it's home.

And I have tramped across the hills

endlessly for the last 60, well, 60 years.

They become indelibly part of
your life and your soul really.

It's the lights on the
landscape on the mountains

and the shadows.

That's the thing that really
catches the-- the attention

And it doesn't happen
very often further off.

You just suddenly get
the right combination.

And suddenly it's the dark and
the light and the-- and the--

and the shapes, which are really
what I think it's so important.

It's obvious if I-- if I see something,

I suddenly have to stop and
try to remember, you know,

as much as I can.

Because it's a very good, I think,

it's a very good exercise in observation.

You have to try and imprint.

And what about color?

What-- what are you seeing in the colors?

I can look.

But everybody sees it slightly differently.

Depends on the way you look at the world.

But um-- yes, I mean, it's
the-- it's then of course,

I have-- the fun is thinking
while you're looking at it.

Now what paint colors am I going to use

to create-- try to create that feeling?

But I find that one of the most, I think,

sometimes difficult colors to get

is the color of the birch
trees in the winter.

And that's a January period.

When they go-- they go purple.

It's the most extraordinary things.

The-- the bare branches.

In the autumn, in October,
a lot of the grass goes--

is orange color.

It's quite extraordinary with the frost.

And it is an amazing color.

That gets quite exciting
too, to try and make

the-- the yellows and the oranges

and the reds look-- look--
look believable in them.

In 1861, Queen Victoria's husband, Albert,

died.

We discovered this had a
dramatic effect on her arts.

She retreated into widowhood for 40 years.

And her paintbox became
her solace in his absence.

Literally thousands of her paintings

remain as testament to
this period or mourning.

The tragic thing about all this, I think,

is that these ones were all done
after Prince Albert's death.

And they'd always have
things like the third year

of my desolation in 1864.

Each one says that first,
second, third, fourth.

Portraits of the children all but vanished.

And instead, she painted empty landscapes.

In the spirit of a real artist,
Queen Victoria expressed

her emotions through her art.

Here's a--another one, October 1.

Looking out of her window,
up, up the Dee Valley.

Wonderful stuff.

What she used there are
lots of burnt umber,

do you think, and things like that.

Prince Albert's death
was to affect the art of Queen

Victoria's sixth child, Princess Louise,

as it had done her mother's.

I spose she was only 12 or 13 or something.

And so they were all
encouraged to-- to do something

like this, a drawing or a painting.

So that's her with presumed dreaming

of her parents reunited in heaven.

I mean, she was quite young, you
see, and these are remarkable,

I think.

I mean, she--she-- Princess
Louise was, I mean,

a seriously good artist.

She had learned to draw and sketch

as any um-- young Victorian lady would do.

But Princess Louise found it very difficult

trying to escape from the stifling attitude

of her mother's that nothing should

be done to interfere with
Victoria's own mourning.

Louise found an escape
and found her own identity

through following sculpture.

There was less opposition

to the idea of a woman
becoming a sculptor then-- then

there was to a woman
doing other kinds of art.

And that's possibly because sculpture

is connected to monuments and to memorials.

And so, this was an extension,
if-- if you like, of the family

respect that, you know, the
descendant, the daughter,

was showing to her line.

Because Louise made a number
of sculptures of her family.

In 1893, she produced what properly is now

her most well-known work, which is

a statue of her mother seated as she

was at the time of her
coronation, which is today

to be found in Kensington Gardens.

She believed very strongly, also,

in supporting women's work,
their--their opportunities

and opportunities to become professionals.

She was a modern princess.

What you get a picture of here is

how the Vi-- the Victorian society as

reflected by the ideals of the
royal family, the ambitions

of the royal family.

Actually it made amateurishness
quite professional.

I mean, they didn't earn money from it.

And of course, by-- heaven
forbid, that an aristocratic

should think of selling a picture.

But if they did actually pursue it

to a point in which they, you know,

wanted to be as good, if
you like, as a professional.

These ones here are--
are by Queen Alexandra who

was my great, great grandmother, and

married my great, great grandfather,

King Edward VII when
he was Prince of Wales.

And um-- clearly, while she
was in Denmark as a child,

she had some very good instruction.

Incredibly competent.

Look at that.

She got the rocks.

Really lovely.

And to think she did it with
this tiny little, do you see?

That's all it was.

Little tiny paintbox, a tiny brush.

But she clearly had a very
natural talent anyway.

But They're fantastic.

Well, there's this wonderful
one of her mother-in-law,

Queen Victoria.

This is a marvellous figure isn't it?

Must have been at Balmoral somewhere.

It gives you a wonderful snapshot of life

at Balmoral, doesn't it?

Mm-hmm.

This is a marvellous view of
the River Dee near Aberdeen,

which I know so well,
painted by Queen Alexandra.

Extraordinary.

So that must be Loch Muick where we were.

Exactly.

Mm-hmm.

That's it.

The Prince of Wales' artistic roots

are not just on the maternal side.

He was really keen to trace
back his father's family line.

And in our journey, we discovered

an astonishing revelation.

A Naval commander who could easily

have been a professional artist.

My father's grandfather,

my great grandfather,
Prince Louis of Battenberg

was remarkable in what he could do.

I - hadn't really fully appreciated

what a great artist my grandfather was.

He actually had his uh-- work,
his-- his sketches of the moon.

Sketches ah-- done while he was
a accompanying my great, great

grandfather, King Louis VII
on his-- his tour of India

in the-- in 1875 I think it was.

And the things he did of-- of that tour

were accepted by the
Illustrated London News.

And you had to be unbelievably
good and competent to get

into that.

So he was a-- he was again extraordinary.

COUNTESS MOUNTBATTEN OF
BURMA: My grandfather

probably inherited quite a bit of it too.

Because I gather his father
also, Prince Alexander.

uh-- had been an artist as well.

And of course, one has to
remember in those days,

either you drew everything or there

was nothing to show people
what the experiences were

that you'd been through.

All these wonderful drawings that he did

on that tour, which he took over
from the artist who became ill.

"His Royal Highness often

received jewels and pearls
for his wife of fabulous value

and on which some maharajah's
spent a whole years' income.

Live animals were often included.

On one occasion, a full-grown tiger

was led in by four
powerful men, two holding

the collar around the animal's neck

and the others around the loins.

The beast nearly trod on my toes.

Gave me rather a start.

On the way home, I made
a number of sketches

of the different animals
and incidents in connection

with them.

Most comical.

I sent them to the Illustrated London News.

And in due course, they nearly
filled a copy of the paper.

I made quite a lot of money.

And I was elected honorary member

of the Institute of
Painters in Watercolor."

Ah, that was it.

The ostrich.

But he's brilliantly done.

He must have had hysterics trying

to get ostrich up the steps.

His feathers coming out.

They're having a terrible time.

I do hope the poor bird didn't suffer.

Poor creature.

And I believe these were
destined for the zoo.

I wonder how long they survived in the zoo.

Sometimes you do tend to be given

very extraordinary things.

I was given a Russian bear
by Khrushchev and Bulgarnin

in 1955 when they came on a visit.

That had to go straight to the zoo.

And the other, when was it?

A few years ago, we were in Pakistan,

right up in the north of Pakistan.

I was given the most beautiful shampooed,

male yak, which was led
up looking fantastic.

It was sad I couldn't take it back.

Because I didn't think it would
fit in the crate of something.

Anyway, I had to leave it behind.

It would have been rather fun
to have brought a yak back

and kept it at Highgrove.

That's extraordinary.

What was he doing being
carried on a sort of what

is a palanquin or something.

Like his forebears, the artist Prince Louis

and the Prince of Wales 150 years ago,

the busy life of the heir
to the throne involves a lot

of travelling around the world
in the glare of the public eye.

Although is more than 15 and 1/2

thousand kilometers from
London and I'm so jet

lagged that I feel a few
sausages short of a bar-b.

It is a great joy to be back
here in Australia again.

And we are incredibly
touched by the warm welcome

you've given us both.

For keen artists like the Prince of Wales,

these hot and exotic destinations

provide much artistic inspiration.

But increasingly his busy schedule

doesn't include painting.

So he invites an unpaid
artist to accompany him.

I - decided back in 1985,

I think it was, I'd take an artist with me

on every official visit overseas.

So I've been doing this
for quite a long time.

It going to be amusing, I
hope, for one or two people

in years to come possibly.

Ah--the results of that.

The fact that an artist is
around I find very enjoyable.

I enjoy artists.

It-- it really was

a surprise, a pleasant surprise, when

I was asked to go along on this
tour of Australia with him.

I think a painting is actually

so much more fascinating in posterity terms

than sometimes photographs.

And so that's why I take
them and also because he

keeps the tradition of the
royal collection going.

Well done, Warwick.

Thank you Sir.

You could do anything.

Thank you, yes.

Don't want to have a paint?

No.

No.

I'll leave you to that one.

You found a very good spot.

It's beautiful, in the shade, grand view.

What more could you want?

And you've got the expert
looking over your shoulder.

We've got all that food to pick up too.

Oh.

I'm dying for that.

That's terrific.

Yeah, it's a start.

Thank you though.

Well done.

Although prints do take an artist,

he may not get as complete a
record of the places he's been,

he'll get more meaningful
work from the--from an artist,

one would hope.

My problem, as you can imagine,

on these overseas expeditions,
on the official ones,

I haven't got time.

So I do little sketches.

And then I will do them when I get back.

In Oman, we're-- we're-- we're put

in the desert and just given
an hour, let's say, to paint.

So I painted him painting the desert.

So much the time he's on duty.

And paining allows him a little
time for quiet reflection

and also a bit of an investigation

of things at a-- at a deeper level

than his whirlwind
existence normally allows.

Painting like this is--is is
almost meditative in the sense

that you-- you enter another world.

It's most extraordinary.

Everything else is excluded.

And you become so absorbed, I suppose

the meditation is concentration really.

And then coming out of it
is like coming out from,

you know, like drawing a
curtain and being dragged back

into the real world.

I think it's very important

to--to-- to realize that people
however much they have to spend

their life in the public eye,
do have a bit of private time

and the sort of things that interest them.

I think Prince Charles has--
has developed enormously,

of course, as an artist.

And it's always nice to discover
the you, ah-- perhaps inherited

something from earlier generations, which

ah-- I've no doubt he has.

This is um-- Huna Mill near John O'Groats.

It's the most wonderful place.

You develop a-- a system after a bit

and the same thing with the colors.

I tend to have the, you know, the same sort

of colors I've learned and
the whole bit how you mix them

and what produces what.

The great thing, you know, after a bit is

you begin to realize
that something like this

will look much better further away.

So as you come away from it.

Actually at about 100
yards, it'd look quite good.

It's a quality of soulfulness, I think,

that you bring to it.

And that's, I think, what the Prince has

as well as a sense of discipline.

He has in all aspects
of his life, it seems.

He's interested in things
beyond the surface.

He's interested in the
enduring qualities of things.

That is Morocco.

I think I did that.

I nearly missed the aeroplane as a result.

Because I was-- I could--
I wanted to finish.

Um-- And, of course, the
problem with sitting outside

in those hot countries
is your water evaporates

if you're not careful.

Mm-hmm.

Those two are the Selous Game

Reserve in Tanzania.

Well, there was a terrific amount of rain.

Everything had flooded.

But, again, I was quite please with it.

Because it-- it has this
incredibly humid hot feel

to it, I think.

That's the Serengeti.

um-- But the best time of day really is--

is 6 o'clock on, good two hours.

And, I don't know, if you get
up early enough in the morning,

6 o'clock in the morning,
at this time of the year

is fantastic.

Mm-hmm.

But I'm not-- I can't-- I don't
want to paint in the middle

of the day.

It just hopeless.

Doesn't inspire you, does it?

Well, it's got no shadow, no contrast.

It's-- it's a funny way.

Well, the cypress trees are --

Tuscanny I think.

Inspiring aren't they?

Yeah.

And the fun was, just you know,
outline, highlighting, just

the light on the-- on the-- on
the edge of the cypress trees.

Again, in the evening, because again it

was the shadows coming
down from that wooded hill,

which I thought was so special.

By looking at his art, we've

been shown another side
to the Prince of Wales.

Inspired by his forebears, he
enjoys spending his spare time

painting for pleasure.

But he's not the only member
of the present generation

of the royal family who produces art.

Our journey has brought
us to the Queen's niece,

Sarah Armstrong Jones, a
professional artist whose

also been inspired by her family.

My mother was very creative and artistic,

had a-- an amazing brain.

And my father is a photographer so I

think I was in a very
creative family background.

When she was little, she was surrounded

by all these beautiful
paintings and things.

And I think she wanted to pass it

on down to my brother and me.

Sarah now jostles for her position

in today's busy contemporary art world.

I - think it's very important

to set up with a gallery and to
have somebody to represent you.

And I'm very lucky to have that
in a position that I am now.

Hello.

Hello Sarah.

Hi.

How are you?

Not bad.

Hi Richard.

Hi Paul.

Everything arrive OK?

Yeah.

Just getting there.

We're just moving and placing things.

We don't-- don't show them
anonymously at art fairs.

So her name's on there.

And people sometimes make the connection.

And they'll say, oh is that
Princess Margaret's daughter.

And we say, yeah.

Yeah.

We thought the gouaches
probably in the corridor.

Good idea.

Would you hang them in one long line.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Just as you come down.

We don't make any special concession

for-- for her background at all.

So our main criteria is
the strength of the work

and how they exhibitions work.

Turned out very well, isn't it?

Yeah.

It's a good one.

She's more experimental than
some of the other artists

that we show.

She's really pushing herself.

So she's very much a professional artist

and totally dedicated the that activity.

The drawings are based from nature.

But it's just on a larger scale.

Because I'm interested to see the pencil

line on a larger scale.

And sometimes those fit
into the oil paintings.

One day, um-- I liked what was happening.

I think I was trying to experiment a bit

using my drawings much
more and my water colors,

trying to combine the two.

Quite liked what was going on.

So I'm developing on those paintings now.

I'm try and remember all
the colors as much as I can.

But I use my reference from the things

that I've picked out in the landscape.

When we set out on this journey,

we didn't know what we would uncover.

But looking behind the public
face at the British Monarchy,

we found, in the royal
family, a real commitment

to art generation after generation.

Each inheriting an appreciation
of what practicing art

can bring.

And also the importance of handing it down.

I think there's an artistic
gene running through your family

that you've inherited.

It must come down.

You know, I hope it-- I
hope we can pass it down

to the next generation.

We'll see what comes out of it.

My guess is that most families, you know,

have people who could do it
if they really wanted to.

But like all these things, you see,

it demonstrates the
importance of being introduced

at a young age to appreciate
things and to look and observe.

With such a strong creative
tradition, who knows who

the next royal artist will be.