Behind the Scenes AT THE ROYAL COLLECTION

Caroline de Guitaut, Deputy Surveyor of The Queen’s Works of Art, tells Janet Gleeson about preparations for the Platinum Jubilee

- Janet Gleeson

My present role as Deputy Surveyor of The Queen's Works of Art means that I'm responsible for all the decorative arts in the Royal Collection. This numbers around 700,000 works, including furniture, sculpture, ceramics, metalwork, textiles, fashion, jewellery in other words, anything three-dimensional.

The Royal Collection is one of the great European dynastic collections; one of the most important still in existence. It has been formed over the last 500 years, effectively beginning with Henry VIII and followed by subsequent monarchs. The objects it contains furnish 13 different royal palaces, including those administered by Historic Royal Palaces, such as Hampton Court, Kensington Palace and the Tower of London, as well as The Queen's official residences, Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, Holyroodhouse, and then other residences like Frogmore House, Sandringham and Balmoral.