Sunday Post -
18 November 2001
COPIES OF a watercolour painting by Prince Charles Balmoral
are set to become the bargain of the year.
When they go on sale tomorrow, some of the biggest names
in Hollywood will be among those clamouring for one.
But the lucky buyers won't just have a Royal souvenir. According
to experts they can stand to make up to 2000 percent profit
if they sell them in the future.
The lithograph prints are copies of one of the princes favourite
watercolours. A Balmoral Winter Scene, showing the pine woods
and snowcapped mountains around the castle.
The 100 framed prints will be sold at a fixed price of £2250,
on a first-come-first-served basis, by the Belgravia Gallery
in London.
Prince Charles, who regularly paints while on holiday on
the Royal Deeside, completed the 12-by-8-inch watercolour
last year.
The printing plates were destroyed after the 100 copies
were made, but what really adds to the value is that the
Prince has numbered and signed each one "Charles".
The Balmoral Painting is the latest in a series of limited edition prints he
has chosen to market to raise funds for his own charity, the Prince of Wales Foundation.
Recently, the art world was stunned when two signed limited
edition prints of a Prince Charles painting were sold. Both
were originally bought for £2250. The first went for
£12,000, but at the second auction the price rose to
a staggering £47,000.
To complete the package, the prints are delivered in a custom-built
velvet case made by Asprey, the Royal jewelers and embossed
with the Prince of Wales' feathers.
