Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Llywelyn II, also known as Llywelyn the Last, was Prince of Gwynedd, and later was recognised as the Prince of Wales from 1258 until his death at Cilmeri in 1282. Llywelyn was the son of Gruffudd ap Llywelyn ap Iorwerth and grandson of Llywelyn ab Iorwerth, and he was one of the last native and independent princes of Wales before its conquest by Edward I of England and English rule in Wales that followed, until Owain Glyndŵr held the title during the Welsh Revolt of 1400–1415.
Sir Thomas Lawrence was an English portrait painter and the fourth president of the Royal Academy. A child prodigy, he was born in Bristol and began drawing in Devizes, where his father was an innkeeper at the Bear Hotel in the Market Square. At age ten, having moved to Bath, he was supporting his family with his pastel portraits. At 18, he went to London and soon established his reputation as a portrait painter in oils, receiving his first royal commission, a portrait of Queen Charlotte, in 1789. He stayed at the top of his profession until his death, aged 60, in 1830.
The Royal Badge of Wales was approved in May 2008. It is based on the arms borne by the 13th-century Welsh prince Llywelyn ab Iorwerth, with the addition of St Edward's Crown atop a continuous scroll which, together with a wreath consisting of the plant emblems of the four countries of the United Kingdom, surrounds the shield. The motto which appears on the scroll, PLEIDIOL WYF I'M GWLAD, is taken from the national anthem of Wales; it was also an element of the Welsh designs for £1 coins minted from 1985 until 2000. The badge formerly appeared on the covers of Assembly Measures; since the 2011 referendum, it now appears on the cover of Acts passed by the Senedd and its escutcheon, ribbon and motto are depicted on the Welsh Seal.
The Cross of Neith was a sacred relic believed to be a fragment of the True Cross of Jesus Christ that had been kept at Aberconwy by the kings and princes of Gwynedd, members of the Aberffraw dynasty who established the Principality of Wales. They believed it afforded them and their people divine protection. It is not known when it had arrived in Gwynedd or how they had inherited it, but it is possible that it was brought back from Rome by King Hywel Dda following his pilgrimage in about 928. According to tradition it was handed down from prince to prince until the time of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd and his brother Dafydd. A representation of the cross came to be used as a Battle Flag.
Susanna Blunt is a Canadian portrait artist who designed the most former portrait of Queen Elizabeth II on the former Canadian coinage, first issued in 2003. She was the second Canadian woman to design a portrait of a monarch the first being Dora de Pedery Hunt.
Francis Dennis Ramsay, known as Dennis Ramsay, was a Scottish portrait painter, trained in London and Paris, who worked mainly in Australia in the classical tradition.
Marcus Gheeraerts was a Flemish artist working at the Tudor court, described as "the most important artist of quality to work in England in large-scale between Eworth and van Dyck" He was brought to England as a child by his father Marcus Gheeraerts the Elder, also a painter. He became a fashionable portraitist in the last decade of the reign of Elizabeth I under the patronage of her champion and pageant-master Sir Henry Lee. He introduced a new aesthetic in English court painting that captured the essence of a sitter through close observation. He became a favorite portraitist of James I's queen Anne of Denmark, but fell out of fashion in the late 1610s.
Llŷr Williams is a Welsh concert pianist.
Thomas Frye was an Anglo-Irish artist, best known for his portraits in oil and pastel, including some miniatures and his early mezzotint engravings. He was also the patentee of the Bow porcelain factory, London, and claimed in his epitaph to be "the inventor and first manufacturer of porcelain in England," though his rivals at the Chelsea porcelain factory seem to have preceded him in bringing wares to market. The Bow porcelain works did not long survive Frye's death; their final auctions took place in May 1764.
Bryan Organ is a British artist considered one of the leading and most innovative English portrait painters of the 20th century. His paintings have included portraits of prominent public figures and of members of the British royal family. Organ is also known for landscape paintings, such as St Pancras Station, and lithographic studies of animals (Tate). London's National Portrait Gallery holds a total of sixteen of his portraits of which six were commissioned by the Gallery's Trustees.
Robert Peake the Elder was an English painter active in the later part of Elizabeth I's reign and for most of the reign of James I. In 1604, he was appointed picture maker to the heir to the throne, Prince Henry; and in 1607, serjeant-painter to King James I – a post he shared with John De Critz.
Peter Kuhfeld is an English figurative painter. He was born in Cheltenham and is married to the English figurative painter Cathryn Kuhfeld, née Showan. They have two daughters who have often appeared in their paintings.
Margaret Lindsay Williams, was a Welsh artist who was commissioned to paint portraits of the British royal family, European royalty and American presidents. She was best known as a portrait painter and painted portraits of Queen Alexandra, Queen Mary, Princess Margaret and at least five portraits of Queen Elizabeth II. She also painted President Warren Harding, Henry Ford and Field Marshal Slim. Although Williams gained considerable recognition and was famous in her lifetime, her work has been neglected since.
Andrew Carrick Gow was a British painter who painted scenes from British and European history as well as portraits and genre.
Nicola Jane Philipps, sometimes referred to as Nicky Philipps, is a British artist who rose to prominence in the 2000s as a contemporary portraitist. She painted the first double portrait of Princes William and Harry in 2010.
Ralph Heimans, is an Australian-British contemporary portrait painter based in London, England. He is considered to be "one of today's leading portrait artists". He is best known for his large-scale Royal portraits of Queen Elizabeth II, Charles, Prince of Wales, and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, along with portraits of leading contemporary cultural figures. In 2014, Heimans was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia for Services to Portraiture.
Martin Yeoman is an English painter and draughtsman who drew members of the British Royal Family. He was commissioned to draw the Queen's grandchildren and accompanied Charles, Prince of Wales, on overseas tours as tour artist. He is described as one of the finest draughtsmen working today and is a member of Senior Faculty at the Royal Drawing School.
Henry Ward is a British artist, who in 2010 was selected to exhibit his entry of The 'Finger-Assisted' Nephrectomy of Professor Nadey Hakim at the ‘BP Portrait Award’ at the National Portrait Gallery, London, and in 2016 was chosen to paint a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II to mark her 60-year tenure as the longest-serving patron of the British Red Cross.
Diana, Princess of Wales is a 1981 painting of Diana, Princess of Wales, by the British artist Bryan Organ. It was commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery in London following Diana's engagement to Charles, Prince of Wales, in February 1981 while the gallery was under the directorship of John Hayes. It presently hangs as part of the National Portrait Gallery's permanent collection.
Portrait of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge is the first official joint portrait of William, Prince of Wales, and Catherine, Princess of Wales, unveiled at the Fitzwilliam Museum on 23 June 2022 in the presence of the couple. Following an idea by Sir Michael Marshall, Jamie Coreth was commissioned in 2021 by the Cambridgeshire Royal Portrait Fund, which is held by the Cambridge Community Foundation, to paint a portrait of the Duke and Duchess as a gift to Cambridgeshire. The portrait will be kept at the Fitzwilliam Museum for three years, but it will be loaned to the National Portrait Gallery, London for a brief period in 2023 to mark its reopening. It will later on be displayed in different places and galleries across Cambridgeshire. The Duke called the painting "amazing" at the unveiling ceremony.
