Queen Elizabeth II’s great-nephew Samuel Chatto engaged to Armenian artist Eleanor Ekserdjian

Armenian artist Eleanor Ekserdjian is set to join Britain’s extended royal family after announcing her engagement to Samuel Chatto, the grandson of late Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, and a great-nephew of Queen Elizabeth II, The Armenian Report writes.

Chatto, 28, shared the news on Instagram, revealing that he proposed with a porcelain engagement ring he crafted himself.

“I’m really delighted to say that Ellie and I are engaged. And we couldn’t be happier. I proposed with a porcelain ring which I made,” he wrote.

The couple has not announced a wedding date, though British media report they are expected to marry in the spring of 2027. Reports also say King Charles has been informed of the engagement and is pleased by the news.

Ekserdjian, whose artwork is deeply influenced by the Armenian diaspora, has built an international reputation as an abstract painter. Her work has appeared in private collections, including London’s Redfern Gallery, and she has completed artist residencies with Hauser & Wirth and Kyoto’s Sokyo Gallery. She studied at the University of Edinburgh and comes from a family immersed in the arts. Her father, Professor David Ekserdjian, is an art historian, while her mother, Susan Moore, is an art critic for the Financial Times.

Ekserdjian is also involved in filmmaking. She recently directed her first film, Imagined Landscapes (2024). According to her bio from her recent exhibition at London’s David Messums Fine Art Gallery, the film “portrays her first sight of Armenia, a landscape that she had always imagined but had never seen, as someone who grew up in the UK with a curiosity about her Armenian family.”

In May and June 2026, Ekserdjian held her first solo exhibition, We Are Our Mountains, at Messums London. The exhibition featured landscape paintings depicting Armenia and the United Kingdom, alongside a film and sound installation.

Chatto has also chosen a career in the arts rather than royal duties. A ceramic artist based in West Sussex, he creates wood-fired functional and sculptural pottery. He recently completed an apprenticeship in Japan with master potter Yagi Akira.

The couple has been together publicly since 2021. In recent years, they have attended several royal and cultural events together, including the royal family’s Christmas gathering at Sandringham. Their appearance drew attention because unmarried partners have traditionally not been invited to the annual celebration, signaling the seriousness of their relationship within the royal family.