Prince George has had a drawing published for the first time. A colourful, detailed picture of a kingfisher perched on a branch, which he made at home in the spring when he was 12, appears in this week’s special edition of Country Life, guest edited by his father, Prince William.
The 300-page issue, a gold-embossed collector’s edition that William spent six months preparing, went on sale on November 11. Alongside pieces on the countryside, the Duchy of Cornwall and William’s beloved Aston Villa, it includes the drawing by the prince, who is now 13, and a rare interview with the Princess of Wales about nature. The medium George used has not been specified.
A demanding subject
The kingfisher is a natural choice for a boy who has grown up partly in the countryside, and a difficult one. Its electric blue and orange plumage, and the way it sits bolt upright on a branch before diving, have challenged bird painters for centuries, from the illustrators of 18th-century natural history books to modern wildlife artists.
A family of amateur artists
George joins a long line of royals who draw and paint. Queen Victoria filled sketchbooks throughout her life and took drawing lessons from Edward Lear. Prince Philip painted in oils for decades. King Charles has been a committed watercolourist since his twenties, painting landscapes on his travels and at Balmoral, and lithographs of his watercolours have been sold to raise money for his charities.
The Princess of Wales studied history of art at the University of St Andrews and is a keen photographer. In 2025 she and her three children released portrait sketches of one another, in charcoal and ink, without saying who drew which. George’s interest in art has surfaced before, too, including a reindeer painting shared in 2022.
Part of a royal tradition at Country Life
The magazine has a history of royal guest editors, including the King, Queen Camilla and the Princess Royal. William’s issue is the first to carry work by his son, and the drawing has quickly become one of its most talked-about pages.
Personal glimpses of the future king are rare and carefully chosen. A drawing he made himself, shared by his parents, offers a small, unposed look at how he spends his time.