LONDON.- Her Majesty The Queen has appointed Mr Jonathan Marsden to the position of Director Designate of the Royal Collection. Mr Marsden, who is currently Deputy Surveyor of The Queen’s Works of Art, will succeed Sir Hugh Roberts as Director of the Royal Collection on Sir Hugh’s retirement in April 2010. The Director of the Royal Collection is the most senior position in the Royal Collection, one of the five departments of the Royal Household.

Jonathan Marsden, who is 49, joined the Royal Collection in 1996. He previously worked as a curator for the National Trust in North Wales and Oxfordshire. As Deputy Surveyor of The Queen’s Works of Art he has been responsible for the decorative arts collections in all the royal residences. He has published widely on sculpture, especially French bronzes, and on the history of collecting. He has contributed to a number of exhibitions at The Queen’s Gallery in London, including George III and Queen Charlotte in 2004. He is currently working on an exhibition about Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, which opens at The Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace in March 2010.

The Royal Collection, one of the largest and most important art collections in the world, is held in trust by The Queen as Sovereign for her successors and the Nation. Shaped by the personal tastes of kings and queens over more than 500 years, it includes paintings, drawings and watercolours, furniture, ceramics, clocks, silver, sculpture, jewellery, books, manuscripts, prints and maps, arms and armour, and textiles. It is on public display at the principal royal residences, and is shown in a programme of special exhibitions and through loans to institutions around the world.