A rare drawing by King Charles will be up for sale at this year’s Treasure House Fair in London this June, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
The picture, drawn by the young Prince of Wales when he was a pupil at Cheam school, was given by him as a gift to his matron Stella Jack in 1957.
The late Mrs Jack was known affectionately as ‘Dragon’ by pupils at Cheam, including the nine-year-old prince.
It is thought that the picture, which shows a Dragon class sailing boat, was a humorous choice that reflected the bond between the young prince and his matron.
It was unearthed for the first time last year when the Jack family decided to sell it – and the buyer who snapped it up for just £1,500 in June last year, was Robert Young.
‘I was staggered. Absolutely staggered,’ Mr Young told the Mail on Sunday. ‘We were prepared to pay a lot more because of the provenance. They’re so rare.
‘There are finite source, I don’t know how many more they’ve got.
The picture, drawn by the young Prince of Wales when he was a pupil at Cheam school, was given by him as a gift to his matron Stella Jack in 1957
Mr Young says the drawing is a genuine piece of naive art by a naturally talented nine-year-old child, with significant graphic strength and a strong composition. Pictured: Charles in 1958
‘The auctioneers wouldn’t divulge it, but there’s not going to be more than 10 or 12 of these in the world,’ he said.
For anyone doubting its authenticity, the coloured crayon drawing of the blue sail boat on paper is signed ‘P. Charles’ in blue ink, standing for Prince Charles.
‘We’re asking 16,000 for it. Another pair of drawings he did when he was even younger sold for £59,000,’ Mr Young said.
But the story how the art specialist found the drawing is one of serendipity – he was not even looking for works with any royal connection when he stumbled across it.
‘At the time when we found them, that was not the that wasn’t the governing factor that led us to them,’ he said.
‘I’m looking through, I don’t know, 15,000 images a day or something, for the ones that hit me. And then I saw this little boat.’
Mr Young says the drawing is a genuine piece of naive art by a naturally talented nine-year-old child, with significant graphic strength and a strong composition.
‘I was attracted to it as an image and nothing to do with him [the King] before I read the cataloguing.
‘When we saw it, we didn’t see Prince Charles or King Charles, it was the boat that we saw.’
After Mr Young realised who drew the work, it added to the excitement around the find.
‘I thought it was such a wonderful narrative that it was painted by him. The whole provenance was really exciting,’ he said.
The first ever sale of the drawing went through Clevedon auctioneers on 13 June 2024.
‘The auctioneers told me that the [Jack] family had others. Those, nobody has seen – no images have been published,’ Mr Young said.
‘We don’t know what they are, and we don’t know if they will ever sell them, or how many there are.’
The drawing will be presented on 26th June 2025 at Treasure House Fair, almost a year since its first sale, in Royal Chelsea Hospital, London.
It will feature alongside many other ‘treasures’ presented by 70 internationally renowned exhibitors in the fields of fine art, furniture, jewellery, watches and design.
‘I’m sure we’ll meet with great demand for it, I’m confident that there will be people who want it,’ Mr Young said.
