The gallery and museum, The Burrell Collection, was opened by the king’s mother, Queen Elizabeth II, in 1983. Today, nearly four decades after Queen Elizabeth II opened Scotland’s Burrell Collection, King Charles III marked the institution’s reopening with a visit. The event also marked his first official engagement in Glasgow as monarch.
The Burrell Collection, which closed in October 2016, reopened to the public earlier this year in March. This move comes after a £68.2 million ($75.3 million) project to increase gallery space by 35 percent.
The collection houses 9,000 objects and was donated to the city of Glasgow by shipping merchant Sir William Burrell and his wife Constance in 1944.
For his visit, King Charles was clad in Royal Stewart Hunting Tartan to be presented with an autumnal wreath by local schoolchildren. Jane Rowlands, senior museums manager at Glasgow Life, took him on a guided tour of the exhibitions.
He also viewed the collection of stained-glass windows and tapestries before meeting with volunteers and workers who contributed to the museum’s refurbishment. To top it off, the king unveiled a plaque commemorating the occasion.
King Charles III’s passion for art began in his youth. He is well known for this interest, which has been continually cultivated through the painting of his watercolors over the last 50 years.