His Majesty The King has visited Royal Collection Trust’s Decorative Arts conservation workshop in London to hear from conservators about their work. His Majesty viewed objects being conserved for the forthcoming exhibition The Edwardians: Age of Elegance, and tried his hand at applying gold leaf to a gilded dragon that will go on display to visitors in Buckingham Palace’s East Wing. Watch some clips from His Majesty's visit here.

The workshop’s expert staff use a combination of centuries-old techniques and the latest technologies to conserve furniture, ceramics, sculpture, giltwood and metalwork from the Royal Collection, ensuring that these objects can be enjoyed for generations to come and can be seen by the public in palaces, museums and galleries across the UK and around the world.

His Majesty practises gilding with Gary Gronnestad, Gilding Conservator. Gilding is the process of applying a thin layer of gold leaf to a multi-layered carved and prepared surface.

This 19th-century gilded dragon is one of a pair that surmount a decorative pelmet above a window in the East Wing of Buckingham Palace. Their gilding had worn away over the centuries. Once their conservation is complete, they will be returned to the Centre Room Lobby, where they can be seen by visitors during tours of the East Wing. Read more about gilding.

Sophy Wills, Senior Metalwork Conservator, and David East, Art Handler, show His Majesty objects that are being prepared for the exhibition The Edwardians: Age of Elegance, opening at The King’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace in April. They include: a silver and enamel bowl given to Queen Alexandra by her Russian relations; an elaborate table mirror, inscribed with ‘To age and youth I tell the truth’; a screen from King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra’s private rooms at Sandringham House, featuring photographs of their glamorous social circle; and a Frederic Leighton sculpture of an athlete wrestling with a python.

His Majesty is Patron of Royal Collection Trust, a charity caring for the Royal Collection and welcoming visitors to the royal palaces. The Royal Collection is one of the world’s great art collections, held in trust by The King for his successors and the nation. With over a million objects, it is a unique record of the tastes of British kings and queens over the past 500 years, with many items still used today for their original purpose.