Picture This: More Wealthy Americans Are Tapping the U.K.’s Royal Painters for Personal Portrait

An avatar, Instagram selfie or AI clone is enough for some people.

But a growing number of Americans are going old school and having their portraits painted—and many are turning to Britain’s Royal Society of Portrait Painters to create those very analog images.

Founded in 1891, the society―whose members paint all portraits of the royal family―reported a 40% increase in portrait commissions from the U.S. in 2024. Americans now make up 20% of its clients.

“They love the connection to the royal family, and they’re excited about the idea of a trip to the U.K. for sittings,” said Martina Merelli, fine art commissions manager at London’s Mall Galleries.

Mall Galleries is the home of visual arts charity the Federation of British Artists, whose nine art societies include the Royal Society of Portrait Painters.

Merelli heads a portrait commission service that matches clients with artists, and guides them from sittings to completion. Private-commission clients range across age groups and location, though many are Americans based in London.

“Clients tell us, ‘When you have everything, what is it you’re missing?’,” she said. “It’s not vanity, which some people think it is. It’s a love thing. Some clients have multimillion-dollar homes full of art, but none of it means as much as a portrait commission of themselves, a spouse or their children.”

The Royal Society of Portrait Painters includes 46 painters chosen through “a tough selection process,” Merelli said. “We want to preserve the quality the society stands for.” Most members are British.

For Will Cappelletti, a 41-year-old Washington, D.C., entrepreneur, commissioning a portrait was “a bucket-list thing”―though he was skeptical of the idea at first.

“An ex had talked about having it done a few years ago, and I thought it was ridiculous and vain,” he said. “Why would you want to do that?”

But over time, Cappelletti “began to see something else. It’s not about being absorbed with yourself. It’s more about the fact that we live in a world with hundreds of thousands of images of ourselves getting created. They’re impermanent,” he said. “The nice thing about a portrait is that it’s meant to capture you.”

Partly inspired by “classic portraits in public spaces like the Ralph Lauren store on the Upper East Side” of New York, Cappelletti reached out to the portrait society about a commission.

“There is definitely a cultural component to why I chose to get the portrait done in the U.K.,” said Cappelletti, whose personal art collection spans American Impressionism, Greek and Roman antiquities, prints and books.

“The word ‘Royal’ in the title has a punch. I didn’t see a parallel organization in the United States. And most importantly, this commission service exists, with a portrait consultant who gets to know you and your preferences, and has an encyclopedic knowledge of the artists. That sealed it,” he said.

While the society usually recommends an artist based on a client’s input, Cappelletti had one in mind. He had seen a news report on Northumberland artist Frances Bell, who had once painted actor Derek Jacobi.

“I tacked on some personal days to a business trip in Europe, took the train to Northumberland, and was a guest of Frances, her husband and her two kids. She made a shepherd’s pie for dinner the first night and the sittings started the next day.”

Close collaboration with subjects “is extremely important,” said Bell, the artist, from her Northumberland home studio. “The view of themselves, or how people close to them see them, is really important. And when I consult them, they don’t say, ‘Can I be thinner? Can you give me better skin?’ It’s, ‘Please use more of that expression.’”

American clients “love the experience, love the sittings and love the interaction,” she said. “A lot of them are Anglophiles. They like hearing about our slightly different worlds. And I wouldn’t be surprised if Downton Abbey was an influence.

“We are the Royal Society of Portrait Painters, with the king as our patron, and the queen before him. I’m also based in Northumberland, which people love to visit. There’s a whole sense of adventure and oddness about it.”

While Cappelletti estimates he spent about $10,000 dollars on his wood-framed portrait―which now resides in his parents’ home in Ohio―commissions can average from £3,000 to £60,000 (US$3,810 to US$76,200), said Merelli of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters.

“The variables include the size, background, head-and-shoulders versus full length. But for an oil portrait, a good starting point is about £5,000 (US$6,350),” she said. About 80cm x 70 cm (31 inches x 28 inches) is a popular size, though some clients go much larger, Merelli said.

“As a charity, we’re here to preserve portraiture. And I’m here to help clients find the right artists. We send the client a very tailored portfolio of three to five artists, coordinate conversations between them, and finally connect them. It’s a bespoke experience.”

While the society charges no fee for the consultation, “we take a cut of 30%, which is much smaller than a commercial gallery. That supports our annual exhibition,” Merelli said.

Some clients also choose to share photos of themselves instead of taking time for in-person sittings, Merelli said. “Photos also work as people tend to be very busy. Of course at least one sitting makes the experience more interesting, but if needed, they can. We also work with posthumous portraits so photos are required,” she said.

Most clients hang their portraits in living rooms, “so people get to admire them,” Merelli said. “If there’s a long hallway, many will put them there, or over a fireplace, if they have one.”

In 40 years of private commissions, she said, the society “has never had a complaint about a portrait. It takes some adjusting to see yourself as someone else sees you,” Merelli said.

“And today, the artist sometimes has to remind them it’s not Photoshop. Some clients even come back over the years, to see the effects of time on themselves or capture changes in time.”

Cappelletti has no plans to sit for another portrait, “but never say never. If I ever have kids, I’d want them to have this experience,” he said. “From start to finish, this is one of those things you’ve got to do in life.”