The Royal Hospital Chelsea opens its State Apartments and their Old Masters for a dinner with the sculptor Hywel Pratley at work, raising money for the Chelsea Pensioners.
The Royal Hospital Chelsea, home of the Chelsea Pensioners, holds its Art Dinner in the State Apartments in Chelsea on Thursday 29 October 2026. The sculptor Hywel Pratley works live through the meal.
The hospital has cared for veterans since 1692. Every Chelsea Pensioner is a retired soldier of the British Army, and the residents live within its grounds on Royal Hospital Road.
The State Apartments hold the hospital’s private collection of Old Master paintings. Works by Van Dyck, Lely and Kneller hang around the tables for the evening.
Pratley studied at the Florence Academy of Art and once made puppets for Spitting Image. His statue of Queen Elizabeth II with her corgis was unveiled in Oakham, Rutland, in April 2024.
He talks guests through his technique as he sculpts, over a three-course dinner. A small auction of works of artistic interest follows, and all proceeds go to the Chelsea Pensioners.