Shaped by the personal tastes of kings and queens over more than 500 years, the Royal Collection includes paintings, drawings and watercolours, furniture, ceramics, clocks, silver, sculpture, jewellery, books, manuscripts, prints and maps, arms and armour, fans, and textiles.

It is held in trust by The Queen as Sovereign for her successors and the Nation, and is not owned by her as a private individual. Curatorial and administrative responsibility for the Collection is held by the Royal Collection Department, part of the Royal Household.

The Collection has largely been formed since the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660. Some items belonging to earlier monarchs, for  example Henry VIII, also survive. 

The greater part of the magnificent collection inherited and added to by Charles I was dispersed on Cromwell's orders during the Interregnum.

The Royal patrons now chiefly associated with notable additions to the Collection are Frederick, Prince of Wales; George III; George IV; Queen Victoria and Prince Albert; and Queen Mary, Consort of George V.

The Royal Collection is on display at the principal royal residences, all of which are open to the public. Unlike most art collections of national importance, works of art from the Royal Collection can be enjoyed in the historic settings for which they were originally commissioned or acquired. Much of the Collection is still in use at the working royal palaces.

The official residences of The Queen have a programme of changing exhibitions to show further areas of the Collection to the public, particularly those items that cannot be on permanent display for conservation reasons.

Loans are made to institutions throughout the world, as part of the commitment to make the Collection widely available and to show works of art in new contexts. Touring exhibitions remain an important part of the Royal Collection's work to broaden public access. 

Over 3,000 objects from the Royal Collection are on long-term loan to museums and galleries around the United Kingdom and abroad. National institutions housing works of art from the Collection include The British Museum, National Gallery, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Museum of London, the National Museum of Wales and the National Gallery of Scotland.

The Royal Collection is the only collection of major national importance to receive no Government funding or public subsidy and is administered by the Royal Collection Trust, a registered charity. 

The Trust was set up by The Queen in 1993 under the chairmanship of The Prince of Wales, following the establishment of the Royal Collection Department as a new department of the Royal Household in 1987.

Income from the public opening of Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace and the Palace of Holyroodhouse and from associated retail activities supports curatorial, conservation and educational work, loans and travelling exhibitions and major capital projects.

These projects include the restoration of Windsor Castle after the fire in 1992, the rebuilding of The Queen's Gallery at Buckingham Palace and the construction of an entirely new gallery at the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

Read more about the Royal Collection.