Ex-chip shop worker becomes first digital royal tour artist

Independent

12-04-2025

A former fish and chip shop worker has become the first official royal tour artist to document a state visit using an iPad.
Fraser Scarfe, 38, said joining the King and Queen on their four-day state visit to Italy this week as the official royal tour artist was 'a real pinch-me moment'.
The artist created digital and physical artworks of Charles and Camilla's engagements in Rome and Ravenna.
Mr Scarfe, who worked at Mantles chip shop in Horncastle, Lincolnshire, before pursuing art, used an iPad to capture much of the visit, marking the first time digital art has been used in the long-running tour artist tradition.
'I didn't have much access to arts and culture when I was growing up, and didn't have a particularly creative community around me,' he said.
'To reflect upon my beginnings, and to have been involved in the events for the past few days, it's a real pinch-me moment, because you never in your wildest dreams imagine that you might end up doing something like this.'
A royal tour artist has been personally selected by the King since 1985 to accompany overseas visits. Mr Scarfe is the 42nd artist to undertake the role.
'It's a huge privilege,' he said.
'Everything that Their Majesties do is documented so well by the press and the media, but I think having an artist allows a different approach and a different way of capturing things.
'You are able to capture the big moments, but there are a lot of things in between that you can record and document, and I think that's really important.'
Mr Scarfe trained at the Royal Drawing School, founded by the King in 2000, where he studied on the fully funded The Drawing Year programme. He now teaches at the school as its head of education.
Mr Scarfe was also commissioned to capture scenes from the coronation, with those works now held in the Royal Collection.
The artist added that the King had long shown his support for the arts and the creative industries.
'I know how important it is to His Majesty to support artists and to be engaged with the creative industries,' he said.
'And I think for him, this is an important way of marking these occasions and historic events and creating a permanent record in a different form.
'As a painter himself, I think he's always interested to see different artists' interpretations of things like the tour.'
During the visit, Mr Scarfe sketched scenes from major state events such as the Colosseum visit as well as quieter moments among crowds gathered to see the King and Queen.
'It was a historic and important visit,' he said.
'I was able to capture not only the important relationship between our country and Italy and some of the important events that took place during the tour but also the really nice moments between the people that had come out to see Their Majesties and the fantastic cultural and historical links between our great countries.'