Overview

• Samuel Chatto and Eleanor Ekserdjian joined King Charles III and Lady Sarah Chatto as guests at the Mey Highland Games in Caithness, marking one of their rare joint public appearances.
• Eleanor Ekserdjian’s presence echoes last Christmas’s Sandringham invitation, a privilege traditionally reserved for partners who are engaged or married to royals.
• Their participation illustrates the monarchy’s evolving approach to integrating non-royal partners into ceremonial traditions.
• Samuel is gaining recognition as a wood-fired ceramist in West Sussex while Eleanor is an abstract painter who has exhibited at London’s Redfern Gallery after a residency in Armenia.
• The appearance coincides with King Charles III’s summer stay in Scotland before the royal family’s annual retreat to Balmoral, underscoring the Highland Games’ role as the season’s opening event.