King Charles III and the arts

Charles III's succession at the age of 73 follows a lifetime of involvement with arts and culture during which he has personally practiced the arts and established charities to get people involved with the sector.

His website states that he is "very conscious of the potential of the arts to create opportunity and to transform lives". 

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He founded The Prince's Foundation School of Traditional Arts in 2004, to teach the principles and techniques of the traditional arts of the world’s great civilisations. And in 2000, he founded The Royal Drawing School to raise the standard and profile of drawing through teaching and practice.

He also has a background in utilising arts for social change. Children & the Arts, which he established in 2006, was a national educational charity that helps all children experience the arts in a high quality and sustained way regardless of circumstance or background. It provided access for children and young people who would otherwise grow up having had no, or very limited opportunity to engage with the arts.

Up to 2019, the charity supported more than half a million children to have unique experiences across a wide range of art forms – visual arts, heritage, performing arts and theatre, including more than 1,000 children affected by life-limiting illnesses.

"Every child, whatever his or her circumstances, should have the chance to experience the artistic excellence of our cultural heritage, the very best of dance, theatre, opera and music, our museums and galleries art and literature," he has said.

The charity's annual report for the year ending June 2021 reveals that the decision to cease the charity's programmes was taken following a strategic review of the charity’s operating model and activities conducted in 2018/19. 

"The review determined that the environment in which arts education was delivered across the UK evolved significantly since the charity was first established. 

"Coupled with changes to the education landscape and an increase in the direct delivery of arts activities for young people by cultural organisations, the trustees made the strategic decision to conclude the charity’s operations and programmes in this entity."

However Prince Charles retained concerns about the about art in schools, convening a gathering of artists, actors, teachers and arts leaders in 2018 to discuss the issue.

Alongside his wife Camilla he regularly attends theatre, opera performances and symphony concerts, both at fundraising events and in a private capacity. 

King Charles is President or Patron of more than 70 arts organisations, including: the Royal College of Music; the Royal Opera; the Royal Shakespeare Company; the Royal Ballet, the Royal Television Society; the Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus; Welsh National Opera; the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama; The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and The Royal Academy Trust.

Charles the painter

The Prince is himself a keen watercolourist and, according to his website "paints whenever his schedule allows". Lithographs of his paintings have been sold with proceeds going to The Prince of Wales's Charitable Foundation.

In a display panel for an exhibition of his work, he wrote: “I took up painting entirely because I found photography less than satisfying. Quite simply, I experienced an overwhelming urge to express what I saw through the medium of watercolour and to convey that almost ‘inner’ sense of texture which is impossible to achieve via photography. 

"I very quickly discovered how incredibly difficult it is to paint well in such a spontaneous medium, and the feeling of frustration at not being able to achieve on paper the image that your eye has presented you with is intense.

“Looking back now at those first sketches I did, I am appalled by how bad they are. But, nevertheless, the great thing about painting is that you are making your own individual interpretation of whatever view you have chosen."

He added that painting transports him "into another dimension which, quite literally, refreshes parts of the soul which other activities can’t reach".