How Kate Middleton could have influenced Eleanor Ekserdjian’s model – amid rumours of her royal engagement to Samuel Chatto
A royal engagement may be on the horizon, but it appears Samuel Chatto’s girlfriend Eleanor Ekserdjian is already taking style cues from Kate Middleton.
The older son of Lady Sarah Chatto, Princess Margaret’s daughter, Samuel sparked engagement rumours after he brought his lady love to Sandringham for Christmas earlier this week.
Royal watchers noted things must be getting serious between Samuel and Eleanor, who have been dating since 2021, considering she was invited to the Norfolk retreat.
Besides Eleanor, only the Duchess of Sussex has been permitted to join the regal festivities before marrying into the Royal Family.
However, it looks like Eleanor – who, like her royal beau, is an artist – is already dressing for the part.
In 2022, she was photographed alongside Samuel at a fundraiser for The National Gallery in London, with Eleanor opting to wear a midnight blue silk dress for the high-profile event.
The design features a diamond floral motif from which a pendant of four graduating sparklers is suspended. The pendant is surrounded by a diamond frame.
Eleanor Ekserdjian, 28, was seen wearing a pair of diamond earrings that looked very similar to one of Kate’s most beloved pairs
The Princess of Wales wearing Queen Elizath’s Diamond Frame earrings that appear to have inspired Eleanor, who picked a similar pair for a National Gallery benefit in 2022
Featuring the same floral motif design and diamond frame design, Eleanor’s earrings look remarkably similar to the late Queen’s favourite pair that she passed on to Kate in 2016.
Kate has worn the earrings on multiple occasions over the years – including at Trooping The Colour in 2017.
In November 2017, the then-Duchess of Cambridge paired the earrings with the Queen Mother’s Diamond Quatrefoil Bracelet at a dinner for the Anna Freud Centre, hosted at Kensington Palace.
One of the Royal Family’s most stylish members, Kate appears to have inspired Eleanor – who looks well on her way to joining The Firm after she joined Samuel, 28, for Christmas in Sandringham.
Samuel is known for his love of pottery and would much sooner be found in a ceramics studio than a royal event – so it’s perhaps no wonder that Princess Margaret‘s grandson fell in love with a fellow artist.
Since 2021, Samuel Chatto, 28, has been seeing fellow Edinburgh University graduate Eleanor, who is an accomplished painter and not known to have any aristocratic or royal connections.
And with their joint appearance at the regal Norfolk festivities on Christmas Day this year, the happy couple are sure to have sparked engagement rumours, the Daily Mail’s Richard Eden has reported.
Samuel Chatto, 28, has since 2021 been seeing fellow Edinburgh University graduate Eleanor Ekserdjian, who is an accomplished painter. Both in 2022
King Charles appears to have followed the example of his late mother, Queen Elizabeth, who permitted Meghan Markle to join the festive gathering in 2017, five months before she exchanged vows with Prince Harry at St George’s Chapel, Windsor.
Meghan was the first person to be allowed to spend Christmas at Sandringham before marrying into the Royal Family.
Kate Middleton, for instance, had to wait until after she became the Duchess of Cambridge and Sophie Rhys-Jones did not stay before she married Prince Edward and received the Countess of Wessex title.
Samuel and Eleanor, also 28, are both passionate about their creative ventures. The eldest son of Lady Sarah Chatto, Princess Margaret’s only daughter, he completed an apprenticeship in Japan under professional potter Yagi Akira just last year.
And his partner is just as ardent about her work, having her pieces held in several private collections including the Redfern Gallery in London. Her parents are also in the field, with her father being renowned art historian Professor David Ekserdjian, who is married to Financial Times Art critic Susan Moore.
David is Professor of History of Art and Film at the University of Leicester, focusing particularly on the art of the Italian Renaissance.
He is a Trustee of Art UK as well as the Sir John Soane’s Museum. The academic was also once a Trustee of the National Gallery and of Tate.
Eleanor herself has also completed residencies at the Hauser & Wirth Residency in Braemar and the Sokyo Gallery in Kyoto, Japan.
And with their joint appearance at the regal Norfolk festivities on Christmas Day this year, the happy couple are sure to have sparked engagement rumours
In 2021 Richard Eden revealed that Sam had started going out with Eleanor – and he had also become her muse. A sketch of Sam by Eleanor
According to her website, Eleanor is ‘an abstract painter and film artist’ whose practice ‘involves projecting the moving image onto paper or canvas and drawing from and over it, her physical and emotional responses being made visible through rapid mark-making’.
Her most recent project explored ‘cultural memory through landscape’ and was created while she was at a six-week artist residency in Armenia.
A lot of her work is focused around the West Asian country’s diaspora, especially works from last year.
In an Instagram post about the project – which included a video interview with both her and Sam – she penned: ‘Images from the opening night of the exhibition “Imagined Landscapes” with @samchatto.
‘I did a live performance drawing from the film I shot over six weeks travelling through Armenia.
‘I cannot express how much it meant to me to see Armenia for the first time, or what it meant to share the experience with my father.
‘Thank you to everyone at the Yerevan My Love Foundation and to all of the friends we made along the way who made this possible.
‘#yerevan #armenia #drawing #performance #contemporaryart #exhibition #expressivedrawing #abstract #painting #ceramics.’
Princess Margaret’s first grandchild Sam Chatto, pictured in his ceramics studio, turned 28 this summer
Lady Sarah Chatto and Daniel Chatto pictured with sons Arthur and Sam at Goodwood House in 2015
And it would seem other famous faces in The Firm are fans. Just this summer Sarah Ferguson – the mother of Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice – took to Instagram to praise the pair.
‘I believe in supporting young artists and really pushing them to show off the talent that they have to as big an audience as they can,’ she penned.
‘My friend Samuel Chatto’s sculptures and the artwork of both Eleanor Ekserdjian and Nouneh Sarkissian are currently showing at The Redfern Gallery, and I’d urge you to go and have a look up close at the skill and craftsmanship that goes into creating such wonderful art.’
In 2021 Richard Eden revealed that Sam had started going out with Eleanor – and he had also become her muse.
Eleanor told the Diary Editor of the Daily Mail at the time: ‘We are a couple.’
Inspired by her new love, the arts professor’s daughter had started depicting Sam in her work.
Eton-educated ceramicist Sam comes from an arty family himself: his mother, the King’s cousin Lady Sarah Chatto (nee Armstrong-Jones), often submits her artworks for the Royal Academy’s summer exhibition, and his father is the actor-turned-artist Daniel Chatto. His grandfather was renowned photographer Lord Snowdon.
Sam and Eleanor pictured in Armenia, where the artist explored the culture’s diaspora during a residency
Her parents are also in the field, with her father being renowned art historian Professor David Ekserdjian, who is married to FT critic Susan Moore
Sam, who was left heartbroken when he split up with his first serious girlfriend during the Covid lockdowns, was invited to Buckingham Palace earlier this year for the State Banquet in honour of the emperor and empress of Japan.
Some of Sam’s porcelain formed part of an exhibition in Somerset, mounted by Hauser & Wirth, the gallery of which his cousin, Princess Eugenie, is associate director.
Princess Margaret‘s first grandson was born on July 28, 1996 at Portland Hospital – where Sarah Ferguson gave birth to Princess Beatrice and Eugenie – in London.
He weighed 7lb 12oz and was the Queen Mother‘s seventh great-grandchild.
His grandfather Lord Snowdon, Princess Margaret’s former husband, said at the time: ‘Everyone is absolutely thrilled. He is a splendid baby and very hearty.
‘Sarah is very well but very tired. I have spoken to Princess Margaret and she will be going in to see Sarah quite soon.’
Lady Sarah and Daniel met on the film Heat and Dust in India in 1982 and fittingly spent their honeymoon in India too.
Like many of his royal relatives – including younger brother Arthur and Princes William and Harry – Sam was sent to Eton College when he was 11 years old.
Sam, whose mother is a professional artist, went on to study a History of Art degree at Edinburgh University.
Lady Sarah Chatto and Daniel Chatto pictured with Sam and Eleanor at an event in London in 2022
Sam, whose mother is a professional artist, fittingly went on to study a History of Art degree at Edinburgh University. Pictured with Eleanor and his parents
After a three-month stint in commercial art marketing, he channeled his creativity into ceramics.
He has a studio in West Sussex and his work has been displayed in several exhibitions.
Sam is also a qualified yoga instructor – having trained for six weeks in India with then-girlfriend Sophie Pipe, who also studied at Edinburgh University.
Speaking to the Daily Mail in 2019, he said: ‘I’m working in clay to create functional and sculptural wood-fired ceramics from my home and studio in West Sussex.
‘I’ve always had a strong affinity with creating objects, having spent much of my childhood crafting imagined landscapes and sculptural models, which naturally led me to clay during my later years at school.
‘My creative practice took a back seat while I studied History of Art at Edinburgh, but was revived, in the summer of 2017, by a visit to North Shore Pottery [in Caithness].
‘Inspired by what I had seen in Scotland, and completely uninspired by my three-month job in the commercial art market, I spent my weekends setting up a small home studio to rediscover my creativity and built a wood-fired kiln at the bottom of my garden.
‘The decision to start selling my work comes from a strong belief in the power of beautiful, well-made objects to enrich and enhance our lives.’
Sam, pictured with his parents, was born at Portland Hospital on July 28, 1996. He turned 28 this year
Lady Sarah and Sam pictured attending the Christmas Day morning service at Sandringham Church in 2008
Daniel, 13-year-old Sam and Lady Sarah pictured all together at the Opening of Parliament in 2010
Younger brother Arthur with Sam and their parents attending the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey, September 2022
Sam grew up mostly away from the royal spotlight in Kensington, London. As his grandmother once said about his mother and uncle: ‘My children aren’t royal, they just happen to have the Queen as an aunt.’
However, his latest appearance with Eleanor at Sandringham appears to have put the couple on everyone’s minds.
‘This is a clear sign that there will be a royal wedding in the new year,’ an excited observer of the Windsors said on Christmas Day.
After the late Queen broke tradition for Meghan, Princess Beatrice‘s then fiance, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, was allowed to stay at Sandringham at Christmas 2019. The couple were married the following year.
