The Fan Museum presents Monarchy: An Exhbition of Royal Fans which runs from Saturday 9th May to Saturday 26th September 2026.
This exhibition presents a remarkable display of fans, featuring both fans with royal provenance and fans that depict Royalty.
The Fan Museum is greatly honoured to have Her Majesty Queen Camilla as its Patron and is delighted that she is lending two fans from her personal collection to the exhibition. These have been enhanced by loans from His Majesty the King/Royal Collection, The Worshipful Company of Fan Makers and the loan of a special late 19th century dress from a Private Collection. All of these items – and others in the exhibition – have been, or are, owned by members of British and European royal families. While it is known who many of those owners were, it has not always been possible to identify some of the earlier royal owners though the provenance can be, to some extent, proved by the monograms worked on the fans that are surmounted by crowns or coronets.
Alongside this wealth of royal ownership, the exhibition displays a wide selection of fans, from the 18th century to our own time, that depict royal figures, both British and European. Mainly these fans were made to celebrate royalty or to commemorate particular royal events. Some were unique objects, perhaps commissioned by somebody close to the subject in question, others were produced in quantity as souvenirs.
This exhibition is a snapshot of the sorts of fans that royal ladies used as accessories to their costume, as well as giving a glimpse into the world of how others believed their monarchies should be portrayed.
