Samuel Chatto steps out for Riviera art preview after engagement news
Samuel Chatto, the 30-year-old grandson of Princess Margaret, has made his first public appearance since announcing his engagement. He attended a private viewing, an invitation-only preview, of Painting The French Riviera at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. He stepped out solo for the evening, Town & Country reported, in what HELLO! described as his first outing since the news.
Chatto is the son of Lady Sarah Chatto and Daniel Chatto. That family line makes him a second cousin to Princes William and Harry. He keeps a low public profile, and evening previews of this kind are rare sightings.
He announced his engagement to Eleanor Ekserdjian in June. The couple are set to marry next spring. He proposed with a porcelain ring he made himself, a handmade touch that drew attention when the engagement was announced.
The choice of evening fits his interests. The Riviera show brings together works by Claude Monet, Paul Cezanne and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. All three painted extensively on the south coast of France. The subject is light, leisure and landscape.
The Royal Academy of Arts lists Painting the French Riviera as running from 2 October 2026 to 31 January 2027. The dates place the private viewing just ahead of the public opening. It is the Academy’s autumn showcase on its Burlington House site.
What makes this stand out is the quietness of it. No speech. No red carpet interview. Just a solo walk through a new hang, weeks after personal news that put his name back in the headlines.
For fans, this means a first glimpse of Chatto in this new chapter. His fiancee did not attend on this occasion. Further details of the spring wedding have not been published in the sources to date.
If you want to see the paintings yourself, tickets cost £24 to £26, or £26.50 to £28.60 with a donation, according to the Academy’s exhibition page. Opening hours are 10am to 6pm Tuesday to Thursday and Sunday, and 10am to 9pm Friday to Saturday. The building is closed on Mondays.
For extra context, curator Ann Dumas will lead a talk on the show from 11am to 12:15pm on 9 October 2026. The Academy says it will be held in the Benjamin West Lecture Theatre at Burlington Gardens. Dumas is named as curator of the exhibition.
